Wesleyan students, faculty, and parents gather for largest all-school chapel ever
Wesleyan students, faculty, and parents gathered in Yancey Gymnasium this morning for the largest all-school chapel ever.
The chapel began with the beloved Wesleyan tradition of Evergreen seniors escorting kindergarten students into their first-ever Wesleyan chapel. By contrast, on average, Evergreen seniors have attended nearly 400 Wesleyan chapels.
As evidence of the J.O.Y. motto, which calls students to think of Jesus first, then others, then themselves, seniors gave their seats up for other students and community members and instead sat on the floor during chapel.
Student-led worship included a proclamation that the Lord “turns graves into gardens, gives beauty for ashes, and turns shame into glory.” As one body, the Wesleyan community also worshipped through the words of Numbers 6:24-26, which asks the Lord to bless and keep His people.
Director of Christian Life Greg Lisson revealed the 2022-2023 Christian Life Theme: Revive. The theme will focus on the prefix re-, which simply means “again.”
“The Macmillan dictionary adds that it could mean ‘again in a different way’ or ‘back to how something was before.’ In our case, I hope it means both,” shared Lisson.
Lisson encouraged students, faculty, and parents to remember that the start of the school year brings an opportunity to “renovate” or to “do something again in a different way."
“To do the same thing over and over in a different way may sound like drudgery, but it is actually faithfulness, steadfastness, and perseverance,” reflected Lisson.
He explained that when we faithfully love in repetitive but different ways, we reflect the Lord who is faithful to love us with new mercies every morning.
As he closed the service, Lisson asked chapel attendees what it means to give our lives to Christ so that He may revive them. He explained that the answer is found in dying to ourselves and our old ways. He then encouraged attendees to think of a caterpillar who must give up its life as a caterpillar to become a beautiful butterfly.
“Maybe this is an image that will resonate with us as a community,” explained Lisson as he thought of the new life caterpillars receive as they become butterflies. “The last few years have been challenging, but in the hands of God, the difficult times can become beautiful.”
The service closed with a benediction from Psalm 51 as the Wesleyan community asked the Lord to restore us to the joy of our salvation.
We are excited for the ways God will revive our faculty, students, and community this school year as He brings about new mercies.
