Black Culture Club & Calvin Wind Ensemble

HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL

Tuesday: The Black Culture Club led chapel today. The theme was Bridge Builders. Ms. McNeil asked questions to a student panel. It was great to hear students give their perspectives on race and being a bridge builder. Some of the points of discussion were “what do you love about your culture?”, “describe a time when someone made a wrong assumption about your culture” and “why does building friendships with people of a different race matter so much?”.

We also watched a great video, We All Bleed the Same:

Thursday: With the teachers seated behind her, Ms. McNeil shared a spoken word piece she had written. It was filled with poetry, emotion and beautiful singing. The chapel concluded with students invited to the stage to write how they can be bridge builders. What a wonderful sight as students in unity came forward to write notes and display them.

MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL

Friday: Special chapel today! The Calvin College Wind Ensemble led us in singing, sharing and playing beautiful music.

NEXT WEEK

High School Tuesday: TCHS band; Thursday: Aaron Foster

Love Enemies, Singing, the Church

HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL

Tuesday: Small Group chapel. Laughter was heard in the groups with the opening activity: make up a story by going around the circle with each person adding a sentence with the theme of loving our enemies. One of the questions discussed was about how to show kindness (love) to those who bother/annoy/frustrate us.

Thursday: A chapel of singing! The student chapel band led us. Our worship included these songs: Holy is the Lord, Indescribable, Reckless Love and Revelation Song. The Scripture reading was Hebrews 12:1-2. We also spent time in confession of sin.

MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL

Friday: Mr. Ridder and his homeroom led chapel. The theme was the importance of the church.

NEXT WEEK

High School Tuesday & Thursday: Bridge Builders

Middle School: Calvin College wind ensemble 

Rev. Hesham Shehab & Ben Jorden

HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL

Tuesday: We were blessed to have Rev. Hesham Shehab as our speaker. He shared his story of how he went from a Muslim intent on killing Christians to a devoted follower of Jesus in Lebanon. Currently, he is the pastor of Salem Christian Fellowship in Lombard. As he spoke of how the gospel of Jesus Christ transformed his life, he encouraged students to be the light of Jesus in this world.

Thursday: Ben Jorden, ministering with Child Evangelism Fellowship of Chicago, spoke. With great energy and passion, he challenged the students to respond to the call of God in Acts for all believers to be a witness for Jesus. He also let students know how they can be missionaries in Chicagoland through Child Evangelism Fellowship.

MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL

Friday: Snow Day!

NEXT WEEK

High School Tuesday: Small Groups; Thursday: Student chapel band

Middle School: Mr. Ridder’s homeroom

President Dykstra, Students Only Prayer, Sytsma Homeroom

HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL

Tuesday: Trinity Christian College’s President Kurt Dykstra spoke. The title of his talk was intriguing: Abe, Gus & Us. He told stories of Abraham and Gus. At the end of the talk, he revealed that Gus was actually St. Augustine. God wants to use each one of us for his kingdom work!

Thursday: We saw a video of students singing the doxology in a racquetball court. A slide show highlighted students’ thoughts on prayer. Then all the teachers were dismissed to pray for the students in the hallway. Students were invited to move throughout the auditorium and spend the remainder of chapel in prayer. It was a beautiful, peaceful time in the midst of a busy school day.

• The video is at the top of the blog post.
• For slideshow of student prayer thoughts CLICK HERE

MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL

Friday: Mrs. Sytsma’s homeroom led chapel. The theme of the chapel was racial reconciliation. They read a children’s book, shared Bible verses and showed a video entitled Do Something.

NEXT WEEK

High School Tuesday: Hicham Chehab; Thursday: Ben Jorden

Middle School: Mr. Ridder’s homeroom