COTR Theological Seminary – Chapel
Worship is central to life at COTR. In and through worship, we individually and corporately encounter, experience, and celebrate the God to whom the rest of our intellectual, contextual, spiritual, communal, and ministerial activity is directed.
In worship, God gathers us to God’s own selves, especially through the celebration and remembrance of baptism. God establishes our lives and our community on God’s Word, which reveals our need for God’s grace and freely offers it. God nourishes us with spiritual food, where we experience now the fulfillment of God’s reign, to which God continues to draw us and all that is. Finally, God sends us to live as Christ’s body in the world. Through worship, the church witnesses to and is drawn into God’s own purpose of reconciling the world to God’s own self. Worship is the way God gathers people to witness to and participate in God’s work of reconciliation.
In its mission statement on worship, the seminary claims its identity as the Church of Jesus Christ, sustained by the Word and sacraments of the Church in the power of the Spirit. Seminary worship seeks to be contextual and inclusive. Planned by the community itself, it incorporates the diversity of gifts and people in the seminary community.
The seminary community worships every day: morning service at 6:30 am, Monday through Thursday at 10 am, and evening service at 6:30 pm. Apart from this, every Friday at 10 am we have Mission Chapel. The normal rhythm of worship is a service of the word with faculty and a more innovative worship service with student preaching, as scheduled in the chapel rota by the chaplain. During these services and devotions, students are allotted time for preaching, leading, and worship.
The chapel always encourages students to fast and pray. Apart from the academic schedule, students get ample opportunities to experience the presence of the Lord during these services. Fasting prayer each Friday evening from 7 pm to 9 pm is an integral part of community life. Every first Saturday of the month, we conduct a one-day fasting prayer, where faculty and students receive spiritual equipping during these services. We also have Sunday service from 8 am to 10 am. Both faculty and students get opportunities to share God’s word, and lead the service and worship.
The chapel always encourages students to be equipped not only academically and spiritually but also to show their talents in various arts programs. On the first Sunday of each month, we conduct Talent Night in the Chapel in the evening, where students are provided opportunities to perform singing, skits, choreography, group songs, and other talent programs. Additionally, the chapel department provides opportunities for students to learn keyboard and guitar. Every Wednesday evening from 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm, we conduct keyboard classes. Similarly, every Saturday evening, we conduct guitar classes. Students can learn both instruments systematically.
Further, the chapel department provides ample opportunities for the students to be part of the choir and worship team. They get opportunities to lead all the services. The worship team is divided into three main groups. These teams are really helping the community experience the presence of the Lord in all the services by leading worship, facilitating prayers, and creating an atmosphere of spiritual connection. The choir is mainly formed to perform in special programs inside or outside the campus. Thus, the chapel is a place where the faculty and students can be equipped spiritually, encouraged by the Word, and submit to the Lord to be engaged in the expansion of His kingdom.
