Geneva College is a missional institution, being student focused and emphasizing Christ, comprehensive education, and service to God and neighbor. A major way this mission is worked out in the student experience is the practice of weekly chapel services.

Traditionally, the college holds chapel at 10:10 a.m. on Wednesdays. Students, faculty, and staff meet in the Metheny Fieldhouse to sing several psalm selections, pray, and hear from the Word of God. It is an opportunity for the entire campus to pause in the middle of each busy week to gather as a community and to realign our focus on heavenly things.

As our president, Dr. Calvin L. Troup, has often said, the strength of a Geneva education lies in life-on-life instruction. Chapel is one of the tangible ways for members of the campus community to minister to one another by praying, singing, and listening together—to encourage and be encouraged. For me as a staff member, chapel is a highlight of my week.

Dr. Troup often speaks to students about going off the grid during chapel. He instructs students to put away electronic devices that connect them to a plethora of distractions so they can focus together on the God who made them, knows them, and loves them. Being off the grid for at least an hour each week has become a staple of the Geneva experience.

But, as with every other large gathering in the U.S. this spring, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a disruption to our normal chapel routine.

On Mar. 4, the Geneva community met for its last chapel before spring break. Shortly thereafter, students left campus to enjoy a 10-day respite, unaware they would not return that semester. By Mar. 16, Pennsylvania government officials had directed colleges and universities to eliminate all nonessential, in-person activities, meaning classes would be delivered online for the remainder of the semester and all on-campus events were suspended indefinitely.

For many students, the COVID-19 disruption was a real hardship. Dr. John Stahl, who is a chemistry professor; chair of the chemistry, math, and physics department; and an elder in the College Hill (Beaver Falls, Pa.) RPC, explains: “It took me a while to realize the home environment challenges of some students, since they did not readily open up about this. Also, some of them became depressed over the isolation from college friends, and I think they failed to realize it themselves at first.”

As the college scrambled to adjust its ministry of education while abiding by the government guidelines, finding a virtual way to deliver the ministry of chapel became a high priority for Geneva leadership. Considering the extra stressors and distractions of home life, providing students ongoing engagement with chapel was important. And so, just as many churches have had to increase the effective use of technology due to the coronavirus, Geneva decided to move a traditionally unplugged event “on the grid.”

Dr. Troup worked with the chapel committee and members of the Geneva community to develop a revised chapel schedule of three shorter sessions per week, which took place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. In a time when connection was more important than ever, expanding to three touchpoints each week helped to provide more regular care, engagement, and encouragement for students.

Annie Dawson, College Hill RPC member and now a graduate who was in her senior year during the transition online, expresses, “I am very thankful that Geneva continued to hold chapel online. What’s more, I am impressed that, rather than cutting back in this time of uncertainty, Geneva recognized our needs and expanded their ministry by adding more and varied messages of encouragement throughout each week.”

Dividing chapel into three broadcasts (streamed via Facebook) meant the chapel committee could develop a varied chapel program with different content for different days of the week.

On Mondays, Dr. Troup led a devotional time based on being a Geneva core person in a COVID-19 world. Each Monday morning, he livestreamed a fireside-chat meditation on one of Geneva’s core values and the Scripture passage on which it was based. Geneva’s core values are included in the statement:

With Christ as King and under Scripture, we:

• Serve with grace

• Pursue godly wisdom

• Foster academic strength

• Engage culture faithfully

• Inspire vibrant hospitality

• Honor one another

He began each session with a question, such as, “What seems particularly ‘upside down’ to you at the moment?” He would then engage with the Scripture and chosen core value of the day, helping students to engage with the challenges of the current situation with a new perspective.

“We want to have chapel because it is an important time in the life of the college, the life of our nation, and your lives,” Dr. Troup said to the college community during one session. “We are at a time when people are puzzled about what’s happening and why it is happening…but God has been preparing us for this. This is not something that has come as a surprise to Him, and because He loves us and is faithful to us, we are right where we are supposed to be right now.”

On Wednesdays, the livestream was hosted by one of several regular chapel speakers, including local ministers Pastor Titus Martin (College Hill RPC) and 2018 Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary graduate Rev. Will Baker, as well as members of Geneva’s department of biblical studies, ministries, and philosophy. These “Pastoral Devotions on Emerging Questions” responded to some of the inescapable questions we are facing with a message from God’s Word and a time of prayer.

Friday virtual chapel sessions were hosted by the director of the Center for Student Engagement, Randon Willard, and consisted of interviews with members of the Geneva community who shared their testimonies of God’s faithfulness, especially amid times of trial. These sessions were particularly joy filled, as Geneva’s faculty and staff told of the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and the special experience of Jesus’ love during suffering or tribulation.

In one such session, Director of Sports Information Chris Mathews, also a member of College Hill RPC, shared what he has learned through trials. “No matter what happens in the future, I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but the Lord does. He knows and is in control of it, and so whether that means good things or hard things, they are ordained by the Lord for my good and for His glory. So, I know that the Lord will be with me and sustain me, not only in this life but in the life to come.”

In the previous article I wrote for the Witness (“A Strategic Advantage,” Mar./Apr. 2020), I mentioned the way Geneva’s community has embraced Psalm 117B from The Book of Psalms for Worship as a doxology at the end of each chapel service. Students, staff, and faculty alike are used to singing “Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, all you nations!” with particular gusto on a weekly basis. That corporate experience was greatly missed over the course of the semester. However, Dr. Troup never failed to close his messages with his own rendition, with his wife, Amy, joining him on many occasions. I heard several reports of students singing along, continuing the tradition through this trying time. Each of the members of New Song, one of Geneva’s music ministries, recorded their own version from home, patching together a “COVID-19 edition” recording that was used to close the Wednesday chapel sessions.

The disadvantages of virtual meetings and livestreamed services are many, and the loss of the ability to meet in person was felt deeply by all. There are, however, at least two distinct advantages to a “Chapel on the Grid” broadcast: 1) Our alumni, members of the community, and friends of the college were able to experience chapel with us, as the streams were available to all, and 2) Every livestream was recorded and is available for anyone to view at Geneva.edu/chapel. The messages are helpful and still very relevant to our current situation, and I encourage you to experience the rich devotional messages that we received from March to May.

At the time of this writing, Geneva is poised to return to in-person instruction for the fall. We have taken many steps to ensure that our students will be able to live and learn in a safe environment, and our campus will abide by all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local, and federal guidelines. Large-group gatherings are still discouraged, and so the chapel committee and college leadership are working to craft a new chapel delivery format to help us to come together (albeit in groups of 25 or less) to keep our hearts and minds focused on our God, who is constantly faithful.

For the time being, providing a chapel program continues to demand creativity and energy, but we are perpetually encouraged to meet these challenges, knowing it puts our mission to work: Pro Christo et Patria. With God’s help and blessing, we will continue loving our students and our neighbors, whether at a six-foot distance or across 600 miles of cable.

Caleb McCracken is the content, communication and social media coordinator for Geneva College. He graduated from Geneva in 2016 with a degree in communication. He and his wife, Katie, also a 2016 Geneva grad, live in Beaver Falls, Pa., and are members of College Hill RPC.