I’ve had readers ask what happens at the chapel services we’re required to attend if we stay at the Mission. So I decided to type up this summary.
We attend chapel every evening at 6, following dinner at 5.
The chapel is in a brand-new building known as “Phase 2” of the shelter’s redevelopment. One of the pastors told us the entire redevelopment project cost about $40 million, all privately-raised funds, not one government dollar taken.
As a result, the new chapel is state-of-the-art.
- It has 11 rows of movie theater-style seating, accommodating about 300
- It’s fully air conditioned
- It has a modern sound system which visiting choirs have described as the best they’ve ever worked with
- It has an Internet-connected computer connected to 2 huge video screens
- There’s a baptismal pool with water warmed to 98 degrees
- There are a baby grand piano and a professional-quality drum set (Yamaha, with Zildjan cymbals) on the stage
Confession: I want SO BAD to get on those drums and bang out the intro to Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.” I suppose that’d be frowned upon, though.
Men start arriving from the dining room as much as 40 minutes before the service is set to begin. Our pastors get on their YouTube Premium account and play contemporary Christian videos on the screens.
- “Holy Forever” by CeCe Winans is a popular one among the men at the shelter. Hey, whatever happened to BeBe WInans? How come they’re not a duo anymore?
- “Worthy Is the Lamb” is another popular song. I forget the band’s name. The lead singer wears a “Calvary” football jersey and looks like Tim Tebow.
The service starts with annoucements
Unless it’s his day off, our main pastor starts the service. He asks the audience to put away cell phones, earphones, newspapers, and anything else not pertaining to the service. (Bible apps on smartphones are allowed.) “And please, guys, for the love of Jesus, keep your shoes on.”
He often takes a few minutes to tell new guys about the shelter’s faith-based drug & alcohol recovery program. It’s entirely free of charge and lasts 7 months, 6 of which are spent in a country-style facility near Shelby Forest. While in the program, men have the chance to get their GED and a two-year college degree, free of charge.
If there is a guest speaker, our main pastor leads the room in prayer for him, that the word of God may be revealed through him. (I can’t recall ever having a female guest preacher.)
After that, one of three things generally happens:
Option 1: The guest speaker delivers a lesson
One of my favorite church groups that volunteers at the shelter has a pastor who couldn’t be much over 30. He preaches in a T-shirt and jeans.
He’s currently leading us through an exploration of the Bible book of James. “It’s one of my favorite books because it contains so many life lessons that are still applicable today,” he explained.
Recently, he spoke about one of those life lessons: the need to accept those who are different than us. “If you don’t, not only do you hurt the ‘other’,” he said. “You hurt yourself, and you weaken the church.”
By no means am I implying that all the best guest speakers are young. One of our favorites is 81. He speaks at 201 Poplar as well, where he is given a rock star’s welcome, the inmates chanting his name.
He likes to do a “word of the month” and expound on what it means. A recent word was “faith.”
Then there are those who went through the same drug or alcohol addiction many in the audience are battling. They have inspiring stories of redemption to share. Their sermons are usually fiery and emotional.
As a former teacher, I love learning things. So I like it when our guest speakers come bearing lessons.
Option 2: The guest speaker delivers an invitation
“Every head bowed, every eye closed,” said the gray-haired preacher visiting from a suburban church. “I have a question. I’m going to survey the room.”
“How many in this room know that you know that you know that you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are saved? That you’re a believer? That you’ve accepted our Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, and if you died today, you’d go to heaven?”
I hate that little survey for a couple of reasons.
One is that I was raised to believe that whether you’ve accepted Jesus is a conversation between you and God – no one else. If you choose to include someone you trust and respect, like a parent or a pastor, in the conversation, you can certainly do so – but that decision should be YOURS AND YOURS ALONE, free from the influence of that third party.
A second issue is that while I do believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost, I do not hold EXACTLY the same beliefs as the people who preach to us at the shelter. There’s one belief in particular – I won’t go into it here but it’s a pretty big one – on which I differ from them and most of mainstream Christianity. So I don’t know if I’d be considered a believer or unbeliever in the guest preachers’ eyes. And again, I consider the matter none of their business.
The guest preacher continued, “Now, to those of you who didn’t raise your hand – meaning, you haven’t accepted Jesus as your savior or are not sure you have – I’m going to give you the opportunity to take care of that at the end of this service.”
And sure enough, toward the end, the guest preacher invited anyone who wants to be “saved” to come up to the stage, where he led them through a prayer. “Men, if you said that prayer and meant it in your heart of hearts, congratulations,” the preacher said. “You’ve been saved.”
But you wanna know the funny thing about all this?
Most of the 13 or 14 men who came up to be “saved” were the SAME PEOPLE who came up to be saved when there was a call to the stage two nights ago, and five nights ago, and eleven nights ago!!!
Do they not get that “saved” only has to be done once? Are they simply seeking attention from the speakers and pastors? I don’t know.
BUT HERE’S THE THING… As much as the surveys and the calls to the stage annoy me personally, I concede they are not a bad strategy for two reasons:
One – Most of these men have never been told about religion or pondered their connection to the spiritual world. Whereas, I was taken to church from age 3 and have spent considerable time in my adult life focusing on spirituality. So I’m not exactly the target audience.
Two – The shelter is a TRANSIENT shelter. Some men have been there for 10 years, but you can’t guarantee any particular man will be there longer than tonight. So there’s a need to strike while the iron is hot.
Option 3: No guest speaker; an in-house pastor speaks
These are some of my favorite days in the chapel. The pastors (and one shelter supervisor who has been ordained) know us well and have developed a personal connection with us. They reach us through humor and preach relatable messages.
They also understand that 25-40 minutes is the sweet spot for sermon length for this audience. I wish a few of our monthly guest speakers understood that.
Wrapping it up
If the main pastor is still in the chapel, he comes back up to “pray us out.” He prays that the speaker’s words fell on fertile ground. He asks the Lord to bless us, keep us, and smile upon us as we sleep.
He then dismisses our guest church, if there is one. Next he dismisses those in the recovery program; they have chores to do around the building. “Holy Rollers, you can start rolling out too,” he says, meaning those who have a wheelchair, walker, or cane. After they have a minute or two head start, he reminds the rest of us to go get a shower if we haven’t had one yet that day. Then we’re all dismissed.
Miscellany
There’s also a morning chapel service at 11, but I’m hardly ever there for that one – I’m most always at the library with my MacBook, typing a post for this blog. The incentive to show up for morning chapel is that attendees get lunch afterward. And it’s not the typical soup kitchen lunch of a peanut butter sandwich and a cup of water. It’s a hot meal with an entree, a side, and dessert.
Some of the men staying at the shelter – way more than I’d have expected, actually – get really into the chapel services. They know all the words to the Christian songs that play on the big screens and they sing along. They respond to the sermons, holding their palms out and shouting, “Come on with it, preacher!” “Amen, preacher!”
By shelter policy, you won’t get thrown out if you get caught falling asleep in chapel. Sleep is considered by the pastors to sometimes be the blessing a man needs the most.
The drum set and piano do get used. A few times a month, guest church members perform live music. Shout-out to Brother Lance who sings and plays guitar the first Monday of the month. One of his songs convinced me to kick a long-time “friend” out of my life. Music really does make a difference.
Our pastors are no slouches. One has a Ph.D. and the pastor who runs the recovery program is working on his.
In the 6 months I’ve been coming to the shelter, chapel has only been canceled once. That happened the night of the Super Bowl.
That wraps up my summary. Let me know if you found it enlightening. Maybe I’ll do more posts like this. Feel free to share with anyone you think should see it.
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