A familiar chapel is making a comeback.
A group of students has been working to bring back Taking Sides chapel.
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Brian Simmons explains how students worked to bring Taking Sides chapel back.
“Two students began a grassroots effort to enlist other students who might be interested in making the time commitment that it takes in bringing Taking Sides chapel back,” Simmons said.
Simmons describes how dedicated these students are to supporting Taking Sides chapel.
“A couple of students who love Taking Sides chapel,” Simmons said. “One of which was very involved in Taking Sides until the end of it was being overburdened by it and another student who always wanted to be in it has found some time in her schedule to participate.”
He explains what the purpose of Taking Sides chapel is.
“Taking Sides Chapel is about airing opposite sides of a topic that has some relevance to Christian faith, and doing so in a very civil, kind, Christ-like manner,” Simmons said.
He reflects on the history of the chapel.
“It was discontinued after 10 years of existence because it requires a large number of students to produce the chapel, which means we need a large number of students to commit to meeting each week and preparing the presentations in chapel, and then also being the ones to stand up to speak in chapel,” Simmons said.
Simmons describes the difficulties the chapel faced.
“The problem was the number of students that could commit to that level of investment had begun to reduce, and we got to a point where there just weren’t enough students who could commit the time that it took for it to happen,” Simmons said.
Taking Sides chapel introduces students to topics they might not have considered before.
“We try to choose topics that are either not often talked about or topics where people may not have ever heard the other side of it,” Simmons said. “For example, one topic we’ve done in the past is whether or not parents should force their kids to go to church.”
Simmons explains that some topics aren’t appropriate for the chapel.
“There are some topics we just refuse to talk about in Taking Sides chapel because they don’t fit the 20-minute time footprint,” Simmons said. “You can’t really talk about them in that time footprint, or they’re just so controversial that we don’t want to be controversial just to be controversial.”
Simmons describes why the chapel is essential for the university.
“We do Taking Sides chapel because we believe it’s what a university should do,” Simmons said. “It’s educational, both from the standpoint of the audience hearing what we do in Taking Sides chapel, and from the standpoint of the people participating.”
Simmons discusses the advantages students gain from being involved.
“For the students that participate, they get to practice the preparation that goes into speaking in front of large groups, and they get the camaraderie, the fun, the friendships that come from meeting each week and being part of this project,” Simmons said.
Currently, Taking Sides chapel was approved as an official chapel for the remainder of the 26-27 academic year.
Students can follow Oklahoma Christian University Taking Sides Debate Chapel on Instagram for more details on its return.
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