Chapel

The mission of Geneva College is to glorify God by educating and ministering to a diverse community of students for the purpose of developing servant-leaders, transforming society for the Kingdom of Christ.

The Scriptures indicate that the primary place for our spiritual growth is in the local church. Students are encouraged to become involved in a local congregation of God’s people.

Chapel at Geneva seeks to serve the mission of the college by providing an opportunity for the campus as an academic community to gather together to praise God, pray, hear his Word and respond to Him.

Chapel is guided by three key principles: educational, devotional, and universal. These terms are explained below.

Educational- Chapel provides the Geneva community with an opportunity to understand the nature of the Triune God, be instructed on different aspects of the Christian life; be encouraged as we deal with issues and temptations that confront us; and be challenged to address the needs of the community and the world in which we live.

Devotional- Chapel provides an opportunity to focus on Jesus Christ and His work for us and in us; to praise Him, and to pray for His leading as we follow and serve Him.

Universal- Chapel provides an opportunity to recognize and experience the breadth of the worldwide Christian community, incorporating contributions from various cultures and Christian traditions.

The universal church recognizes that the Psalms reflect the spirit of God's people and they are a fundamentally appropriate pattern for our corporate expressions in Chapel.  We come to praise Him for His glorious works of creation and redemption, for His faithfulness to His word, for His goodness and justice, for the beauty of His handiwork.   We come to confess our sins.  We come to plead for grace in times of human distress. Since all of these are profoundly evident in the Psalms, we joyfully take this opportunity to explore the Psalms together.

For 2008-2009 the Chapel Leadership Team has chosen the theme: "Becoming more like Jesus- Overcoming the 'respectable sins' we tolerate." Author Jerry Bridges in his book Respectable Sins notes “In our current culture it is easy for [us] to become so preoccupied with some of the major sins of society around us that we lose sight of the need to deal with our own more “refined” or “subtle sins.” Jesus challenged his followers to look beyond the externals and examine their hearts from God’s perspective. The subtle or “respectable sins” include things like ungodliness, discontent, unthankfulness, pride, selfishness, impatience, anger, judgmentalism, envy, gossip, slander, and worldliness. As we see the depth of our sin, we are urged to believe the gospel. God has dealt with the guilt of our sin through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus sends his followers the Holy Spirit who produces his fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) in our lives by which we can overcome these “respectable sins.”

A variety of internal and external speakers, along with Chapel Coordinator Dean Smith, will address topics related to this theme.