By Cooper Nelson
GCU News Bureau
Grand Canyon University will continue its fall Chapel/theGathering theme, “Making a Difference,” in the spring semester with a new crop of pastors from West Valley churches scheduled to speak at the popular Monday morning service in GCU Arena. Chapel will remain at 11:15 a.m., with message-board announcements beginning at 11.
Students and staff will hear messages from pastors from Fellowship Church, Catalyst Church, New City Church and Bethany Bible Church of Phoenix, along with Faith Bible Church and Church of the Cross of Glendale and Gateway Church of Scottsdale. Pastors from East Valley parishes, including The Grove Church and Redemption Church, also will be on campus next semester.
GCU’s Director of Spiritual Life Danielle Rinnier said a conscious effort was made to bring in pastors from churches near campus to encourage students to join local church communities and expand their worship habits.
“We know Chapel isn’t a church service and we really want students to get involved with local churches,” Rinnier said. “We really want to allow students to hear the message from pastors of great local churches so they will hopefully reach out and try these churches and find a good fit.”
Jared Ulrich, worship coordinator, held freshman-only auditions in October to add a third student-led worship band and increase the total number of student musicians to 35. Each band will rotate to lead worship once every three weeks at Chapels and Tuesday night student-focused theGathering services.
The bands will continue to play covers of popular Christian worship music, such as Hillsong and Chris Tomlin. They eventually may play songs written this semester by Center for Worship Arts students, who make up the majority of band members.
The plan is for each band to bring a different style of worship to each service, Ulrich said.
“We have a lot of talented students on this campus and we wanted to give everyone a fair shot,” Ulrich said. “We want continuity but we want to get away from playing the same types of songs, so having such a large group with a wide range of styles and approaches allows us to make worship a cool experience.”
Dates and speakers for Chapel and theGathering, which meets at 8 p.m. Tuesdays in Antelope Gym, follow.
Chapel:
Jan. 5 – Brian Mueller, GCU
Jan. 12 – Albert Tate, Fellowship Church
Jan. 19 – Martin Luther King Day, no school or Chapel
Jan. 26 – Mark Mittelberg, Author and Speaker
Feb. 2 – Palmer Chinchen, the Grove
Feb. 9 – Tom Shrader, Redemption Church
Feb. 16 – President’s Day, no school or Chapel
Feb. 23 – Tim Griffin, GCU
March 2 – Preston Morrison, Gateway Church
March 9 – Samson Dunn, Catalyst Church
March 16 – Spring break, no school or Chapel
March 23 – Chris Brooks, Evangel Ministries
March 30 – Kent Delhousaye, Bethany Bible Church
April 6 – Final Chapel
theGathering:
Jan. 6 – Micah Brechtel, Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Jan. 13 – Jeff Skeens, Kineo Urban Renewal
Jan. 20 – John Ramos, Love International Ministries
Jan. 27 – Brent Thomas, Church of the Cross
Feb. 3 – Billy Thrall, GCU
Feb. 10 – Adam Thomason, New City Church
Feb. 17 – Justin Unger, Bethany Bible
Feb. 24 – Paul Copan, Palm Beach Atlantic University
March 3 – Erik Thien, Faith Bible Church
March 10 – Tim Griffin, GCU
March 17 – Spring Break
March 24 – Tanita Maddox, Young Life
March 31 – J.P. Moreland, Talbot Seminary
April 7 – Final theGathering
Contact Cooper Nelson at 602-639-7511 or [email protected].
