*Republished from the September 2016 issue of The Kayseean
By The Kayseean Staff
For as long as almost anyone can remember the chapel requirement has always been the same: Students must complete 10 hours, and any and all of those hours may be community service. New hours are in effect as of this semester, Fall 2016. Chapel hours increased from 10 to 12. Additionally, only seven of these hours may be from community service; the remaining five must come from attending chapel.
“At the end of September 2015, after discussing the importance of convocation, chapel, and service to King University as a Christian University, the CCS Committee recommended these changes,” said Dr. Brian Alderman, Chaplain and an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at King University who serves on the CCS committee. “Members of the committee wanted to find a way to encourage participation in chapel and convocation events,” said Alderman, “both are such important expressions of King’s identity as a Christian University”. He said they changed the community service CCS (to only seven hours) because the CCS committee wanted there to be more balance between convocation, chapel, and service.
“I see these three categories as our ways of living out together what Jesus described as the greatest commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’” said Alderman. In the middle of classes, tests, sports, and all the other extracurricular activities in which students are involved, some students may be wondering why chapel is such an important part of their experience at King.
Alderman said he believes it is a time for students, faculty, and staff to gather together as a community and, “worship the One who has called us here and makes it possible for us to be here.” In other words, Alderman said it is one hour out of a week where King’s small community can clear their minds and pray for one another.
“I think the more we participate together in these things, the stronger King will be as a community in faith and learning,” Alderman concluded.
