What it Means to be a Faith-based Student Leader

VU is an Assemblies of God institution that was created to prepare students for ministry. Over time, Vanguard transitioned into a university with different majors so students could apply for jobs in all areas.

But SFD strives to maintain Christ at the center of Vanguard University.

Vanguard’s Spiritual Formation Department (SFD) continues to play an active role in incorporating Jesus Christ into students’ everyday lives. There is a great amount of thought and hard work put into every chapel, Shine chapel service, and other events. Students should understand what these spiritual roles entail and what they mean for our campus. What does it mean to be a faith-based student leader? 

In an interview, Peyton Smith; administrative chaplain, Theology Major, and Junior, explained that a chaplain is a student who can facilitate chapels and holds background responsibilities.

There are different roles within the chaplain title and one example Smith gave is a small group chaplain. They construct small group opportunities for all students to be a part of.

A major aspect of taking on faith-based student leadership is guiding students on their spiritual journey whether it is through conversation or prayer. According to Smith, it can be nerve-racking to be seen as a person of influence among your peers.

“I’m a student first,” Smith explained and continued to mention, “I understand the student aspect more than the chaplain aspect because I’m walking the walk with you.”

She went on to discuss in our interview how just like other students she also goes through the same seasons of midterms and having a job. SFD does take up a great amount of time, but many other SFD student leaders have responsibilities alongside SFD and a full class schedule.

Other than the great amount of discussion and planning that goes into chapels, Shines and, other activities, these student leaders prepare individually for their tasks at hand. Each spiritual leader is on their own journey with God and is able to tie it into how they facilitate speaking and worshipping.

Smith mentioned that for the Shine she lead she just had to sit and listen to God. She continued on to say, “Sometimes it takes stepping away and being in a quiet place.”

She continued on to mention that she wanted her work to be intentional. These chaplains are on real journeys with the Lord and are opening up to the student body to share their experiences.

It has been more difficult because SFD had to completely alter how they approach faith-based events since last year. They navigated filming chapels, but now they are adapting to the requirements of COVID-19 for in-person chapels.

Smith talked about how there were a few questions SFD had to take into consideration as the Fall semester began including: How do we want SFD to look like this year? and How do we reshape everything?

This position can bring on pressure whether it is completing tasks, focusing on individual growth, or focusing on the growth of the student body as a whole.

“I’m learning a lot of time management,” Smith explained and proceeded to say, “I’m learning to be intentional with myself, and learning to be intentional with the other people that I want to invite into my life is very real right now.”

This position teaches valuable life skills to students as they move to graduation and start their careers. It also helps students who want to go into faith-based careers and prepares them for what may come in the future.

Smith hopes to go into missions coordination or missions pastoring. Through this position, she has been able to see what actually happens in ministry rather than what volunteers or attendees see.

There are students in attendance at Vanguard who just want to get their chapel credits done. This can make it difficult to connect with students who go to chapel for credit. To conclude the interview, Smith was asked how it felt that some students don’t take chapel seriously?

She responded, “ For me personally, it’s like an ‘Aw man dang,’ there is such a value to chapel but also understanding that that is okay. It is not a priority to some people but we love you anyway. We are glad you showed up.”

SFD wants to accept all students and give them the opportunities to connect with the Lord.

Here are previous articles on Chapel at VU:

Watching Worship

Chapel Requirements hurt, not help spiritual lives