A.C.T.S. Chapel

We have chapel twice a week at PIU.
Tuesdays are pretty conventional--announcements, prayer, worship music led by our praise team, and a message. Fridays the program varies, but it is generally more interactive.
Today's chapel was built around the A.C.T.S. model for prayer.
Alex Tavarez, our VP for Student Development gave an introduction.

There was a station for each of the letters in the A.C.T.S. pattern for prayer.

Students started out at one of the 4 stations, so not everyone followed the order in the acronym, but I'll share them in that order.

At the Adoration station there was a cross, a supply of cards, and some markers. When you look at the cross, of what do you think?

 Participants were instructed to write that on a card and pin it to the cross.

The praise team led in a song to let the groups know when it was time for the students to proceed to the next station.




At the Confession station, chairs were arranged around a small table with a container of bleach on it.  At this station students were invited to put a drop of red dye in the container. As they watched the red cloud vanish from the liquid, it reminded us of God's forgiveness and cleansing that comes after confession (1 John 1:9).


 The Thanksgiving station featured a white board with markers available to write that for which the participant is thankful. It was encouraging to see the board fill up. After chapel students were still lined up to add notes of thanksgiving.

We usually begin, and often end our prayers with Supplication. The station that reminded us about this aspect of prayer was simple, but effective. A place to sit, write our requests, and silently pray. The fact that our asking took place within visual range of our adoration, confession, and thanksgiving made it less of a "Gimme" time. The God Whom we adore--if we take time see His good gifts, in particular The GIFT--to Whom we confess our sins, in confidence of His forgiveness, and the one to Whom we offer thanks is the same God Who tells us to ask for our "daily bread" and to make our requests known.

I'm thankful to Scott Refilong, Alex Tavarez, and the rest of our chapel team for the great job they are doing. Yes, PIU is a school with books and classes, term papers and exams, but we are also a place where we foster the spiritual growth of our students. People with changed hearts will change the world. Find out more at piu.edu. We invite you to partner with us.