Chapel is held three times a week at Asbury - Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 11am. So far I've only made it to the Tues/Thurs ones, since I have a class that lets out right before chapel. Chapel has been good so far, but today was definitely the best so far.
Reverend Anthony Graham (pastor of, I believe, the East New York Wesleyan Church in NY) spoke today - he spoke on the Holy Spirit and the necessity of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. He's definitely the most dynamic preacher they've had so far, and his message was excellent. I'm not sure I've heard such a good message on the Holy Spirit since I've come to Kentucky. He preached on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and of healing - I definitely think it was an excellent sermon, and I'm hoping that there are more preachers like him that are invited to chapel this semester.
And not only was it a good service, but it was also somewhat amusing to have a Pentecostal preacher at a primarily Methodist seminary. These people know when to stand and when to sit and how to find the hymn in 3.2 seconds, but I'll be darned if they know how to move with the flow of a service. :) He'd make an excellent point and there would be silence, and it was obvious that he was used to much more reaction from his audience - but by the end he'd gotten into the habit of prompting us, and people seemed to be picking up on his cues very quickly... People here are just too used to being quiet in church, I think. Obviously, that's not everyone, but I'd definitely say the majority are used to sitting quietly in chapel and listening, not interacting with the preacher.
Really, though, it was the best chapel so far, and it was a pleasure to hear preaching on the Holy Spirit - something that I don't get nearly enough of here.
(If anyone is interested, Asbury Seminary does offer podcasts - go here for instructions - on past chapels... I do recommend downloading this service, as it was a good one.)
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