Dothan Christian schools reach students through joint chapel event

Dothan Christian schools reach students through joint chapel event

Dothan’s joint-Christian schools chapel event, now in its third year, initially sprung from a desire to quell a rivalry between two schools. The most recent event was held Nov. 6 at Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Dothan, and more than 800 students were in attendance.

Matthew Johnson, minister of administration for Ridgecrest Baptist, was the head of school for Northside Methodist Academy during the event’s inception in 2012. Johnson was upset by the competitive nature Northside and Emmanuel Christian School shared and was concerned that the competitiveness wasn’t teaching students the right message.

‘Be examples’

“We needed to bring them together and be examples instead of letting things tear us apart,” Johnson said. “Having parents fight and get kicked out of sports games? That’s not a good message to be sending and it doesn’t glorify Christ at all.”

Johnson felt moved to do something to bring the two schools together, but an opportunity to do so didn’t present itself until a student at Emmanuel unexpectedly died on the court during basketball practice.

“When he passed away students came to me and said they wanted to do something for Emmanuel,” Johnson said. “We took all our students to Emmanuel for an assembly and, coming out of that get-together, the students from Northside expressed interest in a joint chapel service with Emmanuel.”

The two schools’ praise bands got together in advance of the combined service and practiced. They both led music during the event. The service was well-received by students and faculty alike and so a second combined chapel event was held in the fall of 2013, this time including four area Christian schools along with a group of homeschooled students.

At that point, though, Johnson left his position at Northside for his current role at Ridgecrest Baptist.

“When I left Northside I wondered if they were going to do this event again,” he said. “Someone has to be the one to coordinate the event and as much as God has worked on this and the way kids responded to the event, I couldn’t just let it go.”

So Ridgecrest Baptist became the location for the 2014 combined chapel service.

Lloyd Blank, youth pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist and guest speaker at the service, heard several positive comments about the message and entire service.

“This service offered the schools time to gather for a time of worship and community,” Blank said. “Often the only time these schools come together for anything is as opponents in a sporting event, and with that comes the intensity that is common between rivals. It helped them see that while they do compete against one another they also share the common ground of being part of the body of Christ.”

Positive responses

Johnson said he continues to receive positive responses from students about the event.

“They have a chapel every week, but there’s something about getting off campus and doing the same thing but differently and with different people,” Johnson said. “I looked at the audience at this massive amount of kids and knew someone was being changed. It’s worth it for that — even just for one.”

Emory Latta — head of school for Providence Christian School, also in Dothan — said this event is a good reminder of how Christian education stands out.

“We believe that there is nothing that can be taught from a neutral perspective,” Latta said. “Some worldview is going to be conveyed, as there is no neutrality in education. An event like this gives us the opportunity to remind ourselves and our community of that truth.”

Johnson is excited to see God continue to use the annual combined chapel event. “I want this to change lives and can’t wait to see how we can evolve this.”