Students' responses to this semester’s overflow chapel alternative, the Advent Prayer Project, have been overwhelmingly positive as the number of available chapel credits dwindles towards the end of the week.

CCCA CHAPEL RECEIVES POSITIVE RESPONSE 

Presented by Biola’s Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts — CCCA — website, the multimedia prayer project celebrates this Advent season with art, music, videos and Biola faculty reflections in each entry. Most students are drawn to the depth that the interactive calendar brings to the history and meaning of the Advent season, and others appreciate the flexibility of the interactions.

“I like the fact that it’s pretty open to giving you your own time of prayer. There’s a bit of guiding, but it more just kind of gives you some suggestions. For the most part, it just lets you just go spend time with God, so I like that,” junior English major Hannah Schaller said.

Of those who completed last fall’s chapel overflow alternative, there seems to be no comparison between this prayer project and last year’s. Sophomore human biology major Rochelle Paz said she could not recall any of the overflow projects she completed as majorly memorable and enjoys this year’s much more.

“I really like the passages, and I really liked the pictures, and the music. I feel like you can pray and just listen to what God has to say to you in that. I really like it overall,” Paz said.

ADVENT PROJECT WELCOMES CHRISTMAS SEASON 

For some, the CCCA’s Advent Prayer Project is a refreshing reminder of the reality of the season.

“My church talks about advent, but it’s still kind of whimsical, and it’s not very in-depth … The Advent calendar lets us dig into it and see a new level of what Advent means, and what it’s all about. I approve,” said Chris Hughey, senior worship major.

The original purpose of the Advent Prayer Project is not for chapel alternatives, but as a community devotion for anyone to utilize as a celebration of the season.

“I knew [president Barry Corey] was interested in having, at some point, a community devotional that everyone could … read during a season of the year. I came up with the idea of adding music and visual art. And there’s some videos in there too,” said Barry Krammes, CCCA Program Director and creator of the Advent Prayer Project.

When the Spiritual Formation Department discovered what Krammes put together, they gravitated towards the community aspect of the daily devotionals that also allowed for students to spend individual time with the Lord.

“If we have to turn students away and give them a prayer project, we want to connect them with something that everybody’s involved in,” said Lisa Igram, associate dean of spiritual development.

While this is not a permanent solution to the problem of overflow, the Spiritual Formation Department regards this option as more beneficial to students than the previous fall’s.

“It’s definitely a different way of connecting students at Biola and still bringing people together in worship,” Igram said. “Next fall, we’ll see what happens. If there’s something similar to this, we would love to jump on board. Or if we could find a solution where people could actually physically gather together in the same place, we’d prefer that; we just haven’t found one yet.”

Though chapels end on Friday, daily entries will continue to be uploaded on the CCCA’s website until the Advent calendar ends on Jan. 6.