New Theme and Experience for HSU Chapel

For some students, chapel is a requirement for graduation, but Dr. Travis Craver is setting a new theme for this year’s chapel services to make them more personal and engaging. On Aug. 28, Dr. Travis Craver, Director of Chapel and Spiritual Formation, spoke at the first chapel service of the year. His message highlighted the theme of “the narrative”—how each person has a story within God’s plan.

Molly Warren ’18 said that Craver is leading from a place of honesty and vulnerability.

“He said ‘we are not the main player in [life’s] narrative. God is.’ It’s so refreshing to hear the reminder to not give in to the lie constantly fed us that ‘it’s all about me’ or ‘it’s about what feels right to me.’ When we speak truth – it’s all about God – we’ll set people free,” she said.

Dr. Travis Craver, HSU’s Director of Chapel and Spiritual Formation

Craver said that his goal is to create a positive culture in chapel.

“I want chapel to be a diverse, yet fruitful, experience,” he said. “I want [students] to feel comfortable, to have a sense of community, but a place where they can engage with the Lord in a variety of ways whether it be music, speakers, prayer, a message, or communal participation. My primary objective as the director of spiritual formation is to create an environment that engages people in positive reflection, learning, and development of their Christian faith.”

Craver invites chapel speakers who will benefit and challenge the HSU community.

“They get a chance to hear about God in scripture and about a God who is working in and through our lives,” he said. “We have a ton of exciting speakers from various backgrounds coming; we have a fun video series that we are working on as well. We have a spiritual formation band that is being poured into and mentored by someone we hired, so you can expect a lot of growth, as well as exciting and different things to come.”

In addition to HSU’s new theme, new audio/visual equipment makes chapel more immersive than ever. Thanks to new lights, projectors, and projector screens, students will be able to experience chapel with increased clarity. A new soundboard and new speaker fibers will also improve the sound quality of music and speakers. All chapels will now be streamed to the HSU YouTube page.

On Sept. 4, Wade Aaron from ReviveTX will lead HSU chapel. While many chapel speakers give a sermon or lecture, Aaron will prepare students to engage their campus and community with the love of Christ.

“If you study revival, it almost always starts with college students,” Aaron said. “We want to equip people with a practical way to share the gospel to cultivate a long-term lifestyle instead of a single event. We believe that it is time to see God move in Abilene and create a unified community of believers with a common goal, instead of focusing on our individual denominations”

HSU’s chapel service is just one part of a movement throughout the Abilene area called Revive TX: Big Country: Abilene. The program will officially begin Sept. 7 with a kick off at New Hope Church at 6:30 p.m. Find the full event schedule here.

Other unique chapel speakers include professor and author, Rev., Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles (Nov. 6) and Ken Medema, a blind pianist and storyteller (Sept. 11).

See our full chapel schedule here.