Jane Quanbeck and Marian Christopherson, Sunday school teachers at New Luther Valley Lutheran Church, McVille, ND, share how "opening chapel time" has shaped their students and helped them engage more deeply with Scripture, missions, and prayer. Read their responses in our interview below.

What is opening chapel time?

Marian: Opening chapel time is a way to gather all the Sunday school classes together to hear God’s Word, sing, pray together, etc., before dismissing students and teachers to their individual classes. When I was growing up, our church called it opening exercises. Others may call it a gathering time or assembly. In some churches adults are included, so the gathering can be multi-generational. Our structure allows for flexibility, but we try to limit our opening time to 10-15 minutes.

Could you describe your opening chapel time and what it looks like? What happens during each section?

Jane: Our opening is structured around four main parts (this year we added an extra to go with our theme). Marian made five simple illustrated 8" x 11" posters that we display so that the children can see and follow the structure. The structure is as follows:

Hear – We focus on memorizing a portion of Scripture (a verse or two) that centers around our theme for the year. This year our theme was “Walk,” and so we memorized verses that had the word “walk” in them or anything related to walking, such as path or feet. We used simple actions to help students remember the words. Some of the verses we memorized were Psalm 119:105, Ephesians 5:1-2, 1 John 1:7, and Proverbs 3:5-6.

Sing – We choose songs relating to our theme and a song to help us memorize the books of the Bible.

Pray – We spend some time praying for a missionary family, first learning about their ministry and their needs. We give the children the opportunity to pray, and we have watched them grow in their confidence and faith in this area. Their sweet and thoughtful prayers have been such a blessing.

Share – We take an offering that goes to support the missionary family. One of the children passes the offering plate as we sing a simple offering song.

Walk – We added this section this year to go with our theme. As we leave our opening exercises, we encourage the children to walk in faith to their classes and into the coming week.

Marian: A few times throughout the year, the children share during the Sunday morning worship service some of the songs and Scripture they have been learning. On our last day of Sunday school this year, the children sang “Thy Word Is a Lamp unto My Feet,” “I Just Keep Trusting My Lord As I Walk Along,” and the “Books of the Bible” song we have been using from the Level 1 Ambassador curriculum. The children also recited Proverbs 3:5-6 with the actions Jane had taught them.

What inspired your ideas for opening chapel time?

Jane: It was often difficult to come up with something for each week to share. We don’t have a large number of children, but they were very active and vocal. I think Marian came up with the structure. I love having a theme, as it gives me direction in planning. Our Christmas program also is centered around our theme.

Marian: We were both trying to think of ways to help keep the children more focused and to creatively teach them biblical concepts in a limited amount of time. Seeking God’s help, I asked myself questions such as, “What are our goals? What are the important things we want the children to do during this time and why?” The words hear, sing, pray, and share succinctly captured our intentions and provided structure.

How did you go about choosing a theme for this year? Will the theme change each year?

Jane: The theme “Walk” came to me during my daily devotions. As I thought about it, many Scripture verses came to mind, and I felt a deep desire for these children to learn to walk with Jesus all though the week and all through their lives. I’m praying about a theme for the coming year.

How have the kids responded to opening chapel time? How have they grown as a result?

Jane: Some may think that having a very structured opening would become boring for children, but I believe it gives them a sense of security. It has helped with some of the behavior issues we were having. Each part of the structure gives them opportunity to participate actively—reciting verses with actions, singing songs, participating in prayer, and giving their offering. We have seen the children growing in knowledge and confidence, learning verses and becoming more and more comfortable talking to God in prayer.

Marian: This is the second year we have used this structure. Each year we have chosen one AFLC missionary family to pray for and support. One of the areas of growth that has been a blessing is hearing the children ask about the missionaries we were focusing on the previous year and wanting to pray for their special needs too. They are gaining a greater awareness of missions and hopefully becoming more others-centered through their prayers and giving.

Why do you think it’s valuable for the individual classes to come together for opening chapel?

Jane: I grew up loving opening exercises in my own childhood. I love sharing that experience with the children in our church. Memorizing Scripture together and singing songs as a whole group unites us as a body, and supporting a missionary family together allows us to all share in that mission.

What are other benefits of opening chapel time?

Marian: One of my hopes is that our intentional structure for our gathering time establishes a pattern or habit for life—that the children would continue to hear God’s Word, sing praises to God, pray for others and freely bring their own needs to Jesus, be missionaries wherever they are and support mission ministries financially, and walk with Jesus all the days of their lives.

What have you enjoyed or appreciated most about facilitating opening chapel time?

Jane: Hearing Scripture recited, songs sung, and sweet prayers prayed by the voices of children has blessed me more than anything. I pray that the Word of God would be written on their hearts and would be their source of wisdom and hope always. 

Jane is a K-6 Title 1 teacher at Midkota Elementary School in Binford, ND, and has been teaching the new Level 2 Ten Commandments curriculum published by Ambassador Publications in her Sunday school class this year.

Marian serves as AFLC Parish Education Director and has been teaching Ambassador curriculum Level 3 on the Lord’s Prayer in her Sunday school class.

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Do you have an opening chapel time in your Sunday school? What does it look like? What has worked well for your congregation? Share your ideas with us at parished@aflc.org

Note: Click on "Hear," "Sing," Pray," and "Walk" for the downloadable PDF images Jane and Marian have used during their opening chapel time.