Do Students like Chapel?

By Miriam Babálová

The Chapel is when the Evangelical Lyceum students meet every Wednesday in the canteen. Every Wednesday there is a homily by a chaplain.  Each class from the school has to sing and play the musical instruments (piano, drums, guitar) at least once in a school year when there is chapel.  Students like the chapel, because they have one free hour at school.

The history of chapel comes from the previous century. The chapel began by the director Kuruc. The first chapels were in a school gym, but because of the bad acoustics, it was moved to the canteen. For a long time the chapel was more liturgical and the songs were sung only from the old dark blue songbook. Eight years ago the Lyceum began the first music band. This band didn´t play only the piano, but also other musical instrument as a guitar or a flute and they singed youth songs, not songs from the blue songbook. That year there were made new songbooks with youth songs, and they are used untill now.

The chapel is divided to two groups. The first group has the chapel from 10.00- 10.30. a.m. (younger students) and the second group has it from 10.30- 11.00. a.m. (older students). The chapel isn´t always in the canteen. Every two months it is moved to the school gym, where the two groups can be together and it is familiar.

How the normal chapel work? Students come to the canteen. The class, which is responsible for the music on the chapel starts to sing a song. After the song, the chaplain has an appeal. Then the students (from the class which sing on the chapel) read readings from the Bible in Slovak and also in English. In the middle of the chapel the chaplain has the homily, which is often about the reading from the Bible. At the end of the chapel there is time for some announcements. Then the chaplain gives us God´s  blessing and then the final song is sung.

I´ve asked three questions to some students to get their opinion about chapel.

Here´s the first question:  What do you think about the chapel on our school?

And here are the responses:

- I like it, because it is good to have some devotions once a week. I can think about what God wants to say to me through the preacher.  (Lucia)

- It´s boring. But it´s also good, because we don´t have one class on Wednesday.

  - I think that sometimes it is good, but only for people who are Christians, for people who believe in God. 

- This is the evangelical school so it´s important to remind the students of what our school is about. I don´t believe in God, but I think that the chapel in our school is great thing.

- I think that it isn´t bad idea to have chapel.

-  I don´t like it because we have eight  lessons.

- It is good that we have also spiritual education and we can show our talents.

Another question was this: What do you like the most on chapel?

These are what students said:

- I like the most the songs which are singed.

- I think the music is good.

- I like the most singing on chapel, because I love music and when I can worship God it is fantastic for me.

- I like the most that we can relax and meet other students.

- I like the singing.

- I like it when there good songs are sung.

Finally I asked this: Would you like to change anything on chapel?

Here´s what they said:

- Maybe I would like to change the place. I would prefer gym to the canteen.

- No, but sometimes there should be shorter homilies.

- Maybe yes. I´m not sure, but I think that people in our school could do more for the chapel and maybe some students could say stories about  their relationships  with God.

- I really don´t want to change anything on chapel. In my opinion the time of chapel is good. Half an hour is enough. And what about place of chapel? The School canteen is big enough for crowd with students.

- I would like if chapel would be in gym. It would be one hour and the whole school would be there.

- No. It is perfect.

The seven students whom I asked say that they like Chapel, and it is good idea to have it on our school.