As a Christ-centered college, part of the Houghton community is engaging in spiritual life together. This year Dean of the Chapel Michael Jordan is hoping to revitalize spiritual practice on campus by providing new channels to come together in worship.
When asked about these changes, Jordan replied, “Well, some of it’s new, some of it’s just tweaking what we did before. This semester I moved morning prayer earlier (7:30am) so it doesn’t conflict with classes at all.” What was known as evening prayer last year is now communion at 3:45 pm in the 3rd Floor Library. Jordan discusses his reasoning for the time and building adjustments: “I moved evening prayer out of the basement prayer chapel, I wanted it to be a little more integrated with the academic stuff that we do. It’s before people have left, before faculty have gone home so they can still participate.” The decision to shift from an evening prayer service to a daily communion service is one motivated by Jordan’s passion for Christian practice. “Changing evening prayer to communion was a desire to integrate ritual more into our life together…practicing it every day says communion is really important here, without making it something where everyone is forced to come.”
Student Government Chaplain Melissa Maclean (’17) and Chapel Deacon David Gordon (’16) are both students working alongside Jordan to engage students in spiritual life on campus. As chaplain, Maclean acts as a liaison between students and faculty in spiritual life, as well as plans events that serve to bring them together. She’s currently working on United, a night of worship with our sister college Roberts Wesleyan. “I’m hoping to have a night of prayer, worship, and communion with Roberts. We’ve never done anything like this, which is crazy. I think putting everything aside and coming together with other parts of the body of Christ is critical…Half the worship team will be from Roberts, and the other half will be made up of Houghton students.” United will be held in the recital hall October 23.
As a chapel deacon, Gordon is part of a small group of students who meet every two weeks with Jordan. Though Houghton has had a chapel deacon program in the past, its role was adapted as Jordan “decided to re-envision [the program] as a sort of personal mentoring, with an eye towards vocation.” Each chapel deacon is in charge of one substantial project/event for the year that ties into spiritual life on campus, as well as having additional responsibilities, such as leading prayer or reading scripture in chapel. Gordon tributes the chapel deacon program as a way for him to engage with spiritual life more directly, “Becoming involved in liturgical life on campus is definitely something I have a passion for. I’ve seen the effects it can have to really bring peace to those who need it.”
Jordan is adamant in his belief that shared practices, in spiritual life as well as liturgical life, contribute to a community on a foundational level. “I think there are limitations in saying that our shared belief holds us together; shared practices can form a more coherent base for life together.”
As a collegiate community of faith, we are offered the chance for spiritual cultivation; to be rooted in spiritual practice. Jordan urges us to thoughtfully engage with the unique environment Houghton provides: “If you are serious about wanting to become the kind of person who is appropriately opinionated and convicted, and at the same time open to the views of others, not made anxious by people who disagree with you, corporate worship is a strategy you can use to become that kind of person. So, neglect chapel at your peril.”