Hallelujah! Back to Chapel

Apr 29

Over the last two years, video platforms like Zoom, Google Meet and others have become commonalities in all of our homes, workplaces, and schools. The virtual age effectively digitized the way that each of us does life in many ways, and for better and worse that has been especially true across the educational landscape. But as our area of the world has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of COVID cases, we are starting to return to some of our pre-pandemic norms. While our school has continued our ‘Morning Assembly’ virtually each day since 2020, today was monumental as it was our first day to return to in-person chapel in the sanctuary as the entire TRS student body!

Psalm 122 says “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord!” Pivoting to a virtual Morning Assembly model was both necessary and encouraging in many ways, but it is clear that God’s Word emphasizes the importance of consistent worship as a collective. We were delighted to be together with our School Chaplain, Pastor Zack Owens of Redeemer Church, PCA, leading our time together.

For many of our students, being back in chapel was like a blast from the past. “I missed being in person together in one room,” said 7th grade Adewole Adelana. “It feels like we are slowly coming back to how we were before the pandemic started.”

Some of our students are newer to the school and had not yet had an opportunity to participate in in-person chapel. “It reminded me of God’s people,” said 7th grade Faith Eke when asked her thoughts on the shift to in-person worship. For our K4 and K5 students, it was their very first time experiencing in-person worship with the rest of the school community.

“God is calling us to this work... to develop and cultivate the spiritual lives of our students,” says Mr. Kelle Menogan, Sr., TRS Head of School. “Several of the ways that we do that at The Redeemer’s School is through daily devotions, biblical teaching throughout the school day, and partnering with people like School Chaplain & Pastor, Zack.”

“Leading Chapel at TRS has been the highlight of my week for 8 beautiful years,” says Pastor Zack. “It is such a bonding time for the students and staff to be all together worshiping, singing, and digging into God’s Word. After such a long time of being apart, it meant the world to me that we were able to return to in-person Chapel today.”