Every Wednesday morning, the sound of voices fills the arena at Westminster Academy as over 1,000 students, faculty, and staff flood into the room to join together in worship of the Lord. Ever since Westminster’s founding, weekly chapels have been a tradition that not only aim to deepen the spiritual lives of the students, but build a wider sense of unity within the community as well. 

Each week, a new speaker addresses the student body and shares their testimony with the school. Whether a teacher, student, or even a follower of Christ from a different community shares their message, every speaker introduces a new point of view or example of God’s faithfulness.

Westminster has made weekly chapels a priority ever since the school’s founding. According to David Ottolini, Director of Spiritual Life at Westminster: 

“So since the beginning of the school, they’ve always had a chapel. I was talking to Mr. Hall and he recalled sitting in an open space or a hallway area […] on the floor during events. So from the very beginning of the school, chapel was a part of the fabric of Westminster.”

Chapel gives students a chance to escape from the chaos of high school life and reconnect to God in an attitude of worship. It has helped students refocus themselves and has even allowed them a chance to directly participate in worship as student-led programs contribute to chapel in a variety of ways. From set up and take down to the messages and worship themselves, the school has allowed students to become involved in every step of the process. 

The introduction of more advanced technology has added to the chapel experiences, allowing members of the Westminster community to tune in from anywhere. Han Kim, the director of the chapel band and broadcast teacher comments on the evolution of technology usage in chapel over time: “The fundamental technology to support the chapel doesn’t change often, but over the years it has changed dramatically in different steps. It is clear that technological advancements have added to the chapel experience over the years, but the purpose and goal remained steadfast.”

In order for the chapels to resonate more with people, Westminster’s spiritual leadership has sought to include a variety of speakers from different walks of life with whom the diverse student body could connect. Ottolini recalls, 

“I think in the beginning, it was more of a devotion teaching, like I mentioned before, people sitting on the floor and someone just talking. So it was a more small groupish feel. […] I’ve also tried to shift the rhythms of the chapel, so splitting the chapel into groups, those things are different than it was originally, just one chapel every week. With the addition of more modern technology the expectations of chapel have changed […] So the beauty is that we’re one community, so we should have a chapel altogether, but then also it matters how you talk on different levels.”

Westminster’s community includes teachers and students from all ages and walks of life. Therefore, Westminster has invited several student speakers in addition to the adult speakers who the students can relate to on a more meaningful level. Ottolini explains the importance of having student speakers in the chapel:

“Students are all very very similar in what they are going through and share a lot of the same interests [as students from older generations], but the way they go through life has changed. So the message has been the same, but the way you deliver it is different. […] I think the expectations are different now. […] It’s just different because we are trying to empower and train students to lead students.”

As times change, so do people’s expectations of what a chapel should look like, but despite the changes it has undergone over the course of the school’s history, the goal has always been to glorify God. During the 50th anniversary celebration, we should enjoy and cherish the opportunity we have to worship God as a school community and how this has been consistent for fifty years.