Video by Elena Maldonado

Texas Wesleyan’s Spiritual Life program holds Chapel every Thursday during free period in the Polytechnic United Methodist Church.

Students attend service to hear positive messages from guest pastors, eat lunch, and talk with each other in a welcoming environment.

Dexter Collins, a senior music major, said he has been attending chapel for nearly two years.

“[Chapel] is very welcoming and we feed you, so those are two good reasons to come,” Collins said. “If you are having a bad day, it’s always [nice] to hear a good word.”

Collins also plays the guitar at the end of chapel each week. He said he started doing this last year.

The Oct. 4 service started with Haley Arnspiger, a junior religion major and chaplain assistant, welcoming guests, faculty, and students.

“We have (Dexter Collins) and Jackson (Christenberry) here who are our music guys,” she said. “Today we have Pastor Ashley [Gonzales] who is with Roots Ministry, and we have Andy and Steven from Perkins School of Theology at SMU.”

Pastor Joseph Nader from First Methodist Weatherford delivered the service.

“I am really glad to be here,” Nader said. “We have been praying for the campus of Texas Wesleyan.”

Nader said he has been following Wesleyan’s Spiritual Life.

“For the last couple of years, it’s been exciting to see movement here under Dr. Gladys [Childs] and the co-chaplain’s care,” he said.

He encouraged students to make time to attend service and to bring others along.

“[Chapel] is where you grow in community, it’s where you learn to live life together,” Nader said. “You are going to argue together here, you are going to get into little fights and tiffs, but you are also going to find great love here and commitment like you have never known.”

Nader read a message from John 16:12.

“‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot hear them now,’” he read. “‘When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth for he will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears.’”

After the service, all attendees are invited to the multi-purpose center on the third floor of PUMC to eat a free lunch.

Pastor Ashley Gonzales, who attended chapel, is the pastor to some Wesleyan students.

“The reason I am actually here is simply to support the spiritual life that is here,” she said. “I see a lot of vision and a lot of growth going on on campus. I like to in community, I like to see other young adult millennials defining what their purpose is in life and figuring out those question marks in their life and putting a check mark next to it and go, ‘This is what I am doing’ rather than being daunted and afraid of what’s next. That is why I am here.”