NW Valley Times

Many alumni of Christian colleges remember chapel services as an obligation, a required function to check off their weekly list. That may even be true of some Arizona Christian University (ACU) alumni.

When ACU alumnus Grant Botma (class of 2005) was recently asked to speak at ACU’s chapel, he recalled, “To be honest, I wasn’t overly excited about it. I remembered my days as a student. There were times when I stayed up too late the night before and I’d be quite tired. During many chapel sessions, I struggled to stay awake and often wished I could go back to my dorm to take a nap.”

Grant is not the only college student who has struggled with chapel engagement. These days, at chapel services across the country, many college students are more likely to be on their smartphones than in their Bibles.

But not at ACU.

Starting in the Fall of 2022, ACU Campus Pastor Travis Turner tried an experiment. He called it “Testimony Tuesdays,” and carved out five minutes from each Tuesday chapel to allow a student to share how God had transformed their lives.

“As students shared their stories, I watched people put their phones down and saw their heads turn up,” he said. “Our students want to hear from each other.”

That experience inspired Pastor Travis to invite students to take on an even larger role in planning and implementing ACU chapel services.

“Students were leading worship already... why not invite them to speak from the platform as well,” Turner states. “I sensed God leading me to get out of the way and let them lead. My vision became ‘fan the flames – don’t pull the reins.’”

So, he looked for a student who had the character and ability to lead the process.

“I found a young man named Reggie Robinson who loves the Lord and has a sweet humility about him,” he recalls. “I chose him as our first student chapel coordinator. Within weeks, he had put a committee together and they selected the book of Matthew as the focus for the upcoming semester. From the platform, over the course of the semester, students led the student body (line-by-line) through the Sermon on the Mount. It was extraordinary.”

Then, during the following semester, Reggie and other student leaders taught each Tuesday through all the parables in Matthew.

To prepare their chapel messages, students meet with ACU’s Bible professors to discuss scripture from which they are teaching and then rehearse their presentations with each other.

This year, Reggie and his team continued fine-tuning and improving the chapel experience. Starting in fall 2023, they decided that services on Tuesdays would continue featuring a student speaker while Thursday services would feature an ACU alumnus.

One of those alums was Grant Botma. Although Grant confessed that he wasn’t initially enthusiastic about speaking at chapel, his experience surprised him: “Throughout my sermon, I saw engaged faces and focused eyes,” he recalled. “The students audibly responded to my questions, laughed at my bad jokes, and took notes. They were genuinely interested in God’s word and eager to be there.”

He continued: “I initially accepted the request (to speak), thinking I was doing my college a favor. But truth is they did me a favor; it was an absolute blessing being on campus worshiping with enthusiastic students.”

Reggie Robinson's team also initiated new traditions resonating with students such as closing each service by singing Doxology—a custom solidified when visiting band unaware didn't end service this way; resulting silence led lone student's acapella start joined by congregation moved Pastor Travis recalling goosebumps moment vividly felt by all present reverently standing reading Bible minimum expression devotion Spirit-driven movements spontaneous often youth-led notably campuses happening now Arizona Christian University exceeding expectations according Pastor Travis urging alumni parents friends join Tuesday Thursday mornings 10am school year witnessing firsthand

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