New series takes on different perspectives about liberation and God

This semester MC’s chapel theme “Liberating God” will bring speakers from various religious backgrounds to the CCM. Here Anne Mckee leads students Halle Hill, Emily Randles, Molly Hamant and Molly Ridgeway in worship during chapel on Tuesday Sept. 8. Photo courtesy of Tobi Scott.
This semester MC’s chapel theme “Liberating God” will bring speakers from various religious backgrounds to the CCM. Here Anne Mckee leads students Halle Hill, Emily Randles, Molly Hamant and Molly Ridgeway in worship during chapel on Tuesday Sept. 8. Photo courtesy of Tobi Scott.

MC’s weekly Chapel service is a forum that meets every Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. in the Center for Campus Ministry. Different speakers come from week to week. Professors frequently speak  throughout the fall semester, while seniors often share their senior studies in the spring semester.

Among the speakers for the Fall semester of 2015 are Dr. Tricia Bruce, Dr. Terry Simpson, Dr. Andrew Irvine, Rev. Anne McKee, Dr. Phillip Sherman, President Tom Bogart, Dr. Michelle Weedman, Dr. Jenifer Greene and Dr. Bill Meyer.

In addition to the lineup of speakers, students can look forwards to changes in the service’s worship style this semester. A more traditional order of worship will still be held while contemporary songs and instruments will be incorporated into the service’s music.

The Worship Committee is a group composed of your peers. They help with getting speakers for Chapel as well as actually participating in the service. The committee also decides on an annual theme for Chapel services.

This year the committee decided on the theme “Liberating God.” The theme appealed to the Committee because it can be taken to a variety of different places.

“Liberating God” can be interpreted as referring to a God who liberates us from bondage and an unjust society. The theme can also be interpreted as relating to how we sometimes put God in a box, and it is time we liberate God from our unmerited preconceived notions and ideas.

Alexandra Stewart, Senior Religion major and regular Chapel attendee, has a different take on the theme. Stewart said the theme makes her think of “the freedom that we have through God and the grace God gives us.”

She interprets liberation as being “in the sense that we are free to worship God, free to understand and free to relate to God how we do best.”

The Worship Committee seeks to represent the diversity of not only the Christian spectrum, but the religious/spiritual spectrum in general. Stewart, when asked about this, said that the schedule so far for this year has a number of different speakers lined up, with the majority of them being Christian.

While the majority of speakers will be Christian this year, Stewart said, “We are still maintaining diversity in the different Christian denominations lined up.”

Ra’Sham Dickson, Senior Worship Committee Member, was asked about what he gains when attending Chapel. Dickson said, “I gain a sense of metaphysical satisfaction. I get a feeling that I have come to know God a little more than I did before in that someone has shared some deep insight, sometimes vulnerability, with us all in the hope to progress our journey for spiritual completion.”

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