Attending 国产剧麻豆剧 provides students with a variety of opportunities for spiritual, personal, and professional growth. One of the special aspects of being a part of this community is the opportunity students have to actively participate in their spiritual formation.
If you walk through campus on any given day, it won鈥檛 be unusual for you to see people praying, gathering around a guitar to sing worship music, sharing a devotional together, or preparing for ministry opportunities like feeding the homeless.
All of these elements and more contribute to the spiritual health of the student body, which when paired with academic formation, leads to a more holistic and impactful college experience.
One of the main ways students can grow spiritually at a Christian university in San Diego like 国产剧麻豆剧 is through chapel. Chapel is a gathering that allows students, faculty, and staff to pause from their work and gather together to worship as a community.
Chapel is put on by Student Life and Formation and spearheaded by Esteban Trujillo, university chaplain and director of chapel programming. Trujillo has served in the role for the more than three years and has been a part of the campus pastoral staff for a total of eight years.
According to Trujillo, chapel has similar components to a church service.
鈥淭here is music and teaching,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e also offer communion once a month.鈥�
However, there are unique aspects to the chapel experience that differ from what one might get from a local church.
鈥淔or example, when you go to a church it will be perhaps not as multi-denominational as chapel is as we have students from all different backgrounds coming together and worshipping together,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淐hapel allows us to be able to envision what it means to be the body of Christ.鈥�
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Who are you called to be?
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Trujillo said that the multicultural nature of chapel can help students see the church in a 鈥済reater sense.鈥� To that end, certain elements of chapel are sometimes done in different languages.
鈥淚 preach in Spanish sometimes,鈥� he said.
There is also diversity in the individuals that are invited to speak, as well as a variety of topics addressed through the chapel preaching team. Ultimately, however, Trujillo considers chapel to be about connection, gathering, spiritual formation, and an opportunity to further unite the 国产剧麻豆剧 community.
Chapel is about connection, gathering, spiritual formation, and an opportunity to further unite the 国产剧麻豆剧 community.
鈥淲e鈥檙e often scattered in different places either physically or in our minds,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat chapel does is help us center back and to understand who God is and who we are as the body of Christ.鈥�
The hope is that what happens in chapel can then spill out to the larger 国产剧麻豆剧 community contributing to its unity and health.
鈥淲orship doesn鈥檛 start in chapel but worship happens in chapel,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淚t also continues in our lives in the classroom and outside and hopefully will overflow into what we do. Chapel is the place in which we鈥檙e poured into and that overflow just continues as we leave from that place.鈥�
A Variety of Ways to Engage With Chapel
Compared to other Christian universities in San Diego, students at 国产剧麻豆剧 have the opportunity to attend chapel up to four times a week. Three of the chapel services are offered on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Brown Chapel and a special evening service led by students is offered every Thursday night. This service, titled Time Out, is a great chance for students to hear from their peers as they share faith stories and experiences.
Trujillo says that chapel offers unique opportunities and a variety of experiences for students, which include communion and praise and worship services.
Two 鈥渙ut-of-the box鈥� chapel formats offered are Branch Out and Living Spaces. The Branch Out chapel experience offers services in multiple venues around campus, with each venue offering chapel in a different way.
鈥淚n one place, we will offer prayer and reflection; in another place, we offer an opportunity of service like putting together hygiene packets for the homeless community in San Diego,鈥� Trujillo said.
Trujillo considers these to be different ways for students to 鈥渂roaden their understanding of worship and service.鈥�
The Living Space chapel opportunity offers services at each dorm on campus and a special service for commuters. These services are organized by resident directors, resident assistants, and students, giving them a chance to further connect with people in their dorms or with fellow commuter students.
As an extension of chapel, students are also able to join small groups and mentoring programs which can help them find support as they grow in their faith. They can also serve in Worship Arts and offer their creative talents and gifts in service to God and the 国产剧麻豆剧 community.
鈥淲e鈥檙e continuing our efforts to find different ways for people to engage in chapel,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淲e want to make it unique and give a variety of ways to engage.鈥�
Renewal Week: A Chance to Go Deeper
Each semester, students get to experience Renewal Week, a special week dedicated to that year鈥檚 chapel theme.
鈥淓very year, we have a chapel theme that helps us center on what we want for students to carry away from chapel,鈥� Trujillo said.
Previous years鈥� themes have centered around the Lord鈥檚 Prayer, the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), the Apostles Creed, and Holiness, among others.
For each Renewal Week, a special speaker or set of speakers is invited to preach at the chapel services.
鈥淩enewal Week is a place to open up our hearts just a little bit more to what God is wanting to do in our lives,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淭hat usually consists of having a special speaker come in throughout the week and offer a word of encouragement to our campus.鈥�
Past speakers have included Eugene Cho, Rick Warren, Meghan Fate Marshman, Shauna Niequist, Laurel Bunker from Bethel University, and Jeanette and Gabriel Salguero from The Gathering Place in Orlando, Florida.
Renewal Week also provides students with various spiritual formation practice opportunities, which are specially designed to help them dive deeper into their lives of faith.
Approaching Difficult Subjects From a Biblical Perspective
One of the most asked questions that Trujillo gets from students regarding chapel is why issues such as race and diversity are often approached in the services.
Trujillo considers this particular issue important because it speaks to how the Bible defines who we are as Christians.
鈥淭he Bible says we are image-bearers of God,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 important to address the question of how do we treat one another with hospitality, grace, and love and how do we do that so that it spills out into all these different places.鈥�
Trujillo says that the Christian life extends beyond the 鈥渇our walls of Brown Chapel鈥� and spills out into all aspects of life.
鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 important for students, particularly those that are learning about all different areas such as history and biology, to understand how our Christian faith can inform all those things and speak not only to ministry but also to our vocation,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important that chapel also addresses some of those things through a biblical perspective.鈥�
More Than a Requirement: An Invitation
国产剧麻豆剧 has a special invitation for students compared to other Christian universities in San Diego. All students are required to attend a certain number of chapels depending on their year. Freshmen and sophomore students are required to attend a higher number than juniors and seniors to accommodate for busier academic schedules.
Students may wonder why attending chapel is required given that they are often dealing with busy academic schedules. Trujillo understands that and takes that into account.
鈥淲e try not to make chapel overwhelming,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want to make chapel a good resource and tool that will be helpful in a student鈥檚 complete experience here at 国产剧麻豆剧.鈥�
For that reason, the Student Life and Formation provides more chapel opportunities than are required for students to attend.
鈥淲e understand that students have schedules and that they may need a break,鈥� he said.
However, he challenges students to see chapel in a different way.
鈥淐hapel is a way for students to be exposed to a variety of different ways to engage,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淪o yes, it is a requirement, but it is also an invitation to come and experience.鈥�
鈥淐hapel is a way for students to be exposed to a variety of different ways to engage. So yes, it is a requirement, but it is also an invitation to come and experience. We hope that students are opting into the fullness of what being a 国产剧麻豆剧 student is, and hope to shape you in a unique way and to send you uniquely out into the world.鈥�
Trujillo hopes that when students decide to come to 国产剧麻豆剧 that they are choosing to participate in a more holistic college experience.
鈥淲e hope that students are opting into the fullness of what being a 国产剧麻豆剧 student is,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to shape you in a unique way and to send you uniquely out into the world.鈥�
A Way to Connect to the Larger Community
As students navigate everyday life on the 国产剧麻豆剧 campus, it can often be difficult to find ways to connect with the larger community on a regular basis. Trujillo says that chapel is one of the main ways through which that can happen.
鈥淵ou cannot be formed alone,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou cannot be shaped alone. You鈥檙e shaped by a gathering of different people. We hope that chapel isn鈥檛 just our students who come but also our staff and faculty who come and that we collectively are shaped together and moved into those places.鈥�
In chapel services, students have a chance to connect with God, other students and receive support from the campus pastoral staff. Trujillo considers it to be the place where new students, in particular, can connect themselves to the campus.
鈥淲hen you see yourself among the rest of your peers, you start to envision what it means to be a part of this community,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would hope that鈥檚 the case. That you don鈥檛 see yourself as a solitary person or as being alone.鈥�
Trujillo affirms that chapel is a 鈥渟pringboard into the community鈥� and encourages new students to attend and experience that for themselves.
鈥淚 would encourage all incoming students to come to chapel,鈥� he said. 鈥淐hapel is the place where you are connected to God vertically but also connected to one another horizontally and that鈥檚 what hopefully it鈥檚 all about.鈥�
Stay Up-to-Date With 国产剧麻豆剧 Chapel
For more information regarding chapel, visit the chapel webpage. You can also watch previous chapel services on the 国产剧麻豆剧 Chapel .