New Faith Talks Chapel

A new chapel option has emerged for students at Oklahoma Christian University. Faith Talks, hosted in an interview format, will feature a new student, faculty, or community member each Friday to share their testimony in Baugh Auditorium.

Brian Simmons, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, will be serving as interview host for Faith Talks alongside Neil Arter, dean of students. Simmons has been closely involved with starting Faith Talks at Oklahoma Christian. 

“Faith Talks chapel is intended to share different peoples’ stories, their testimony, their experiences with the broader campus community. We do that because we feel it would be a great blessing to people,” said Simmons.

In recalling how the conversation about Faith Talks started, Simmons said,

“Last Spring, I went to Scott Young and Sarah Bailey, and I shared the Faith Talks chapel idea with them, and they said, ‘wow, that’s a God thing.’ Because for a long time, they thought that a chapel like [Faith Talks] would be really neat to do. We all thought that it  was somehow inspired by the Spirit, so we decided to make it happen this fall.”

The first installment of Faith Talks featured Simmons and Arter interviewing each other as the two hosts of the chapel segment. The second installment featured a student at Oklahoma Christian, Ajaya Macon, sharing her testimony.

Simmons said, “Through the first two weeks we’ve done this, the response from students and faculty has been very positive. We, meaning myself and Neil Arter and the spiritual life office have all heard very positive things about the chapel from those that have seen it.”

Sarah Bailey, Spiritual Life mentor, serves behind the scenes to coordinate chapel. Bailey and Scott Young, dean of Spiritual Life, worked with Simmons to organize Faith Talks. Recalling how Faith Talks began, Bailey said,

“It really was amazing, Scott [Young] and I had talked about the idea of getting campus members’ stories out there, and how we could do that. And then Brian Simmons came and said, ‘Hey I have this idea’. It really was a perfect scenario that Brian, and Neil Arter, help share these stories.”

On the importance of hearing testimonies from members of the Oklahoma Christian community, Bailey said,

“I think that any time we can connect with another human on any level, we’re better for it. We find that as we talk to people and build relationships, we learn a lot about stories and backgrounds. Things that are not just public information, you don’t always get to that in a surface conversation. There’s some really neat ways to see how God is working on this campus, through peoples’ lives and what got them here.”

As coordinator for Faith Talks chapel, Bailey plays a large role in deciding who will be on the stage being interviewed.

“We’re gonna try to get faces that aren’t always seen. There are some faculty members that everybody knows and there are people and faculty members who aren’t in a position to be as public, but they bring a lot of value to the university. We’re hoping to bring out the stories of the unseen,” Bailey said.

Senior Ajaya Macon, majoring in biochemistry, was the student guest in the second installment of Faith Talks. Macon noted the ways Oklahoma Christian has helped shape her faith during her time at the University.

Macon said, “Oklahoma Christian has given me the opportunity to grow so much in my faith. I kind of grew up in the church, and I was not able to really make my faith my own. I had to go through tough times. But I feel like at Oklahoma Christian, with the community and the opportunities there are to get plugged in, I have thrived in my personal time with God, learning more about Him everyday. There’s something I can do every day that’s related to God, I think that really helps me grow.”

When recalling being asked to go on Faith Talks, Macon said,

“I was so excited. I had been waiting for this opportunity, it was perfect.” Macon said, “I had been wanting to talk about my testimony for a long time. Hearing from other people is useful and I felt like maybe if someone heard my story, they would feel a little bit more seen and heard.”

After sharing her testimony, Macon hopes to have reached students in the audience during Faith Talks and provided a positive example.

Macon said, “Maybe a few of the hermit crabs in the audience were able to see that opening up and being vulnerable, while it is a scary thing, is something that we can all benefit from. Maybe they can skip learning the hard way and reap the benefits of the lessons other people have learned throughout their lives.”

Faith Talks will continue this Friday at 11 a.m. in Baugh Auditorium with an interview featuring student guest Gursu Komurcu.