Mandi Mooney
Assistant Editor/Web Administrator
Milligan’s chapel services have undergone several changes this semester in the
diversity of chapel speakers.
The spiritual life committee has attempted to bring more diversity to the
services and make the service more applicable to the students. Plans are also
currently in the works for even more changes for the fall semester.
“I think more this semester we were trying to focus on the diversity of speakers
and on having men and women, having people from different religious traditions,
and also people from different racial backgrounds,” said campus minister Nathan
Flora.
The most noticeable change has been the increased amount of women speakers who
addressed the student body this semester. During last fall semester, the only
female speaker was Assistant Professor of English and Humanities Rosemarie
Shields. Exact numbers of how many female speakers Milligan has had over the
past few semesters were not available when The Stampede went to press. However,
Flora stated that he was certain that in past semesters, the most they have had
was two or three. This current semester’s schedule saw an increase as five
female speakers were featured.
“I would say we had the highest number of women speakers per semester than we’ve
had in a while but I wouldn’t say that’s unusual,” said Flora. “I think we had
maybe five this semester out of 13, 14 weeks. So you can see it’s not a lopsided
figure by any means.”
According to Flora, female ministers are becoming a growing trend throughout
churches of today.
Therefore, because of extra financial support from the Lilly Endowment that
Milligan received last fall, the campus ministry program was able to have the
opportunity to engage more female speakers. They were also able to expose
students to speakers from different backgrounds and topics as this semester’s
theme has been “finding God in unexpected places.”
“I think that it should be natural for women to be included,” said junior Bible
ministry major Melissa McGovern who is also teaching a house course next fall
about women in the church, “I think it’s a really good idea and I hope they
continue including women.”
The campus ministry program and the chapel committee have also been discussing
ways to continually improve chapel services.
“As a member of the Milligan community for 22 years, I am saddened when students
don’t appreciate the opportunities that chapel provides. It can be a wonderful
time of Christian unity and worship,” said chapel committee member Charlene
Kiser. “The chapel committee is discussing ways to convince students that chapel
is really a privilege, not a chore.”
One of the changes being discussed is to no longer allow students to bring
backpacks or materials into the chapel because they disturb the students and
hinder their attempts to participate in the service. However, the logistics
behind this policy have not been completely decided on as of yet.