An integral part of Lutheran education is the emphasis on faith formation. While we can do this in many different ways in our schools, one of the biggest ways of doing this is through school chapel services. I still remember when I was in Lutheran elementary school going down to the kindergarten class to pick up our “chapel buddies,” singing hymns, and—my favorite—participating in special services. For example, I will never forget the chapel service in third grade in which two of my friends were baptized.
Chapel as a Practice
From the students’ perspective, chapel can be exciting or challenging. If students aren’t accustomed to regular participation in worship, chapel services might feel foreign, difficult to get used to, or maybe even a little uncomfortable. But for students who are familiar with church, chapel can be a comforting and routine experience. Regardless, the focus of chapel is to instill in our students the longing to worship our heavenly Father alongside other believers.
For pastors, teachers, and others who help organize school chapel, it’s important to make sure that chapel is both a meaningful and interactive experience. If this is somewhat new to you, it might feel daunting or you might be unsure of where to start. Something I find helpful is to add different elements of worship to not only add variety but also encourage student involvement throughout the service.
Planning Your Chapel Schedule
Part of planning your weekly chapel services is to outline what every week is going to include. In our school, I focus on planning the whole school year in advance. Our pastors and other called staff take turns leading the message and signing up for the weeks that work for them. We also add other special guests to our schedule, like Lutheran summer camp staff, other local LCMS pastors, our district president, and various organizations we support with our chapel offerings.
Class Chapels
Another element we incorporate into our chapel planning—and one of my favorite aspects of planning—is class chapels. Having individual grade levels lead parts of the service encourages students to take an active role in worship, focus on sharing their God-given gifts with others, and realize that they, too, are a vital part of the church.
Our class chapels vary, depending on what each class wants to focus on. To illustrate, here are some things we include every year at my school:
- One class leads our Christmas chapel
- Our kindergarteners lead a service based on Psalm 23
- One class leads a hymns-and-carols chapel
Other classes pick their chapel topic based on Bible stories they have been learning in religion class or other pertinent themes of the teachers’ choosing.
In these class chapel services, everyone has a part. Some parts are smaller, others larger, but they all take into consideration the unique abilities and personalities of the students.
When teachers ask for help with chapel content, one of my favorite resources to utilize is Enduring Faith Religion Curriculum.
For example, in the included digital materials for teachers, there are kindergarten puppet skits for each lesson. This could be a great starting point for younger-grade-level chapels—and kids will love acting out the different parts!
Also in the digital materials are chapel templates for each unit. These outline the unit theme and include a responsive Psalm, hymn options, Bible passages, and two messages to choose from. If your school is using Enduring Faith® Religion Curriculum across the board, this is a great opportunity to further unite your school community on themes everyone is learning.
Middle School Serve Teams
Another fun way we help kids understand their role in church is by implementing middle school Serve Teams. Each year, I talk with our seventh and eighth grade students, teaching them the importance of serving God through the church. We currently have three Serve Teams for chapel, and all students must sign up for at least one of them.
Team 1: Tech Team
This team helps our tech person run slides, sounds, and lights for the service. Our tech leader teaches the students how to run the technology—and after some experience, many students learn how to run everything by themselves.
Team 2: Worship Team
Our second Serve Team helps with different elements of worship. These students can lead our weekly call and response, prayers, or Scripture readings. I usually get to them what they are reading by Monday so they have time to read over it before chapel on Wednesday.
Team 3: Offering Team
This third and final team facilitates the process of bringing students’ offerings back to God. Our classes bring their offerings to the altar at the beginning of chapel, and the offering team brings these offerings to the school office afterward.
God has created all of our students with their own unique gifts and abilities and has called them to serve in a variety of ways. Some thrive while speaking in front of others; others excel at more behind-the-scenes tasks. These teams allow students to discover their talents and abilities, not just for serving in chapel today, but also for serving the church for a lifetime.
Engaged and Focused on Christ
However you choose to develop your chapel services, it is sure to be an exciting experience for all. It’s wonderful to see how students use their God-given talents to share in worshiping and praising our great God. While it can be a daunting task, by encouraging student involvement and adding other aspects of your service, you can keep students engaged and focused on praising and worshiping our God! It’s my hope and prayer that through your chapel services, your students will realize how important it is to be in relationship with Christ and worship Him together in His house.
Looking to support faith formation outside of the church sanctuary’s four walls? Shop our broad range of religion curriculum today.
