Why chapel

It requires faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism of water and of the Spirit, and enduring in faith to the end. In the Church we not only learn divine doctrine; we also experience its application. As the body of Christ, the members of the Church minister to one another in the reality of day-to-day life.

All of us are imperfect; we may offend and be offended. We often test one another with our personal idiosyncrasies. This religion is not concerned only with self; rather, we are all called to serve. One of the men in my ward grew up not only without parental support but with parental opposition to his activity in the Church.

In the Church, we are all on the same journey, and I am inspired in that journey by strong youth, pure children, and what I see and learn from other adults. I am strengthened by the association and excited with the joy of living the gospel. The wards and branches of the Church offer a weekly gathering of respite and renewal, a time and place to leave the world behind—the Sabbath. One of the greatest blessings of being part of the body of Christ, though it may not seem like a blessing in the moment, is being reproved of sin and error.

We are prone to excuse and rationalize our faults, and sometimes we simply do not know where we should improve or how to do it. Repentance is individual, but fellowship on that sometimes painful path is in the Church. In this discussion of the Church as the body of Christ, we must always bear in mind two things. One, we do not strive for conversion to the Church but to Christ and His gospel, a conversion that is facilitated by the Church.

Neither supplants the other, and certainly the Church, even at its best, cannot substitute for parents. The point of gospel teaching and priesthood ordinances administered by the Church is that families may qualify for eternal life.

In chapter three Sunquist looks at all the dimensions of what it means to come. We come to Jesus in conversion. We come to be part of the body of Christ in a local church.

And, finally, we come to worship God. But, how do we worship God? We stand to praise him. In chapter 4, Sunquist explains the nature and necessity of praise. Most importantly he says that praise is the natural and necessary response to recognizing what God has done for his people in Christ. Chapter five is an argument for the necessity of confession in Christian worship. After standing to praise God, and kneeling to confess our sins, we are ready to sit and receive the Word.

And so, in chapter 6, Sunquist describes the role of the Word in the weekly gathering. Finally, in chapter 7, we leave church to go into the world to tell people about Jesus. He did just that. The word pair, worship and witness, as well as the five body movements come, stand, kneel, sit, go are quite memorable.

He provided thoughtful explanations on the content of praise and the necessity of confession. Many church services today are theologically vapid and man-centered.

Worship songs tend to be focused on us, and there is little talk of sin. Sunquist, though, unfurls the necessity of God-centered praise and corporate confession of sin. I especially loved that he took time to enumerate exactly what we should praise God for. We praise God for what he has done. We praise God for what he has done for us. The Chapel, in partnership with the Division of Student Affairs, convenes, supports, and advocates for all of the recognized Religious Life groups on campus that serve students, including Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, and Protestant organizations and groups.

Chapel programs provide students with opportunities to learn about other faiths as they explore their own. The Chapel is also a vibrant center of interdenominational Christianity. About one thousand people participate in services in the Chapel each week, encountering deep traditions of compelling preaching and stirring choral music.