By The Editorial Board
While every student at Baylor is here on their own academic journey, there are a few classes one must take — one of them being Chapel.
As of late, the subject of Chapel and its validity have been put under a microscope. A recent Lariat column suggested that Chapel be changed or canceled, arguing that students simply do not have enough time for Chapel, it doesn’t offer any value for those who don’t practice Christianity, and it causes discomfort for some.
This was refuted in a recent Lariat letter from the Rev. Dr. Erin Moniz, associate chaplain and Chapel director, who said Chapel is meant to “invite you to a space where you get to come as you are, be seen for your value without any weights or measures, in a caring community of your choosing, so that, for a short time every week, you can turn down the volume on all that tugs at you.”
Some students undoubtedly enjoy Chapel as a chance to enrich themselves spiritually, and Baylor has notably expanded its efforts to offer 63 Chapels at various times and in different settings. In theory, Chapel is a great opportunity for quiet time and a loving community. However, it is impossible to escape the fact that these goals are idealistic. Some students are not Christian and simply don’t have an appreciation for Chapel — and other students are Christian but just don’t feel Chapel is their style of worship. The expectation that students will commit to being fully present and put in effort to get something out of the time is not realistic.
Those of us who have taken an in-person Chapel class have all seen it before: students playing on their phones, sleeping and even ditching the scene when they’re meant to be engaging with speakers and singers up front. It’s inevitable. There are always going to be students whom Chapel fails to reach spiritually — only showing up for attendance and then resenting it the whole time.
This leaves us with a question: Why doesn’t Baylor follow suit like several other Christian universities and simply drop Chapel altogether? Doing so wouldn’t cause Baylor to lose its reputation as a Christian school. Students would still take Christian Scriptures and Christian Heritage courses. And if students are looking for time to worship, there are plenty of local churches and youth groups in Waco to get involved with — and they’re probably involved with them already.
While this is an option worth considering, there are also solutions available to improve Chapel. For example, Baylor could rework Chapel to be a lab of sorts for Christian Scriptures and Christian Heritage courses — similar to how language and science classes have labs to put their lessons into practice. That way, Chapel would count for credit and reflect topics discussed in required religion courses.
Each week, the lab could bring in a guest pastor from the Waco area to discuss the passages and ideas covered in the required religion courses that week in light of the gospel. Doing so would feature another more spiritual perspective while preserving the academic nature of Christian Scriptures and Christian Heritage courses, so students could continue to study them from the objective perspective of a historian as intended.
The continued lack of interest in Chapel may not be a fault on the students’ part. It could be a call for Chapel to change and cater to those who fall through the cracks, bringing in guest speakers with diverse backgrounds and stories to reach them on a deeper level. With intentional reforms like these, the reach and engagement of Chapel could be improved.
