Listen
Order of Service
- Prelude
- Hymn 33, We Now Implore God the Holy Ghost
- Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5 (select verses)
- Homily
- Litany for the New Academic Year
- Hymn 425, Light of the Minds that Know Him
- Benediction
- Postlude
P: Almighty God, the everlasting Fountain of all wisdom:
C: You desire that all pure arts and true knowledge would be consecrated to Your service and the welfare of mankind;
P: We pray that Your hand of blessing would rest upon this institution, and all those who serve You in the various callings
among our staff, faculty and administration.
C: Grant us Your Holy Spirit, and give us wisdom, humility and patience as we carry out our labors in Your name.
P: May Your holy Word of truth continue to be proclaimed and defended in our midst, that the wonderful knowledge of Your grace in Christ our Savior may be impressed into the hearts and minds of the students in our care.
C: Guide all of our professors and instructors in their work, that they may faithfully teach the earthly truths of their
disciplines in the light of Your sacred Word.
P: We thank you for the blessings You have given to the members of our faculty - the gifts of scientific knowledge, of language, of modern technology, of history, of the visual, musical and theatrical arts, of speech, language and communication, of mathematics, of athletic skills, competition and human health, of business and industry, of psychology and sociology, of education, and religion.
C: Sanctify and bless all areas of study that our students may grow in the knowledge of You and the world which You have created.
P: Grant all of us a spirit of harmony and unity that we may carry out our duties with diligence and care so that Your kingdom may be increased.
C: Bless those who proclaim Your truth in our Chapel services that the One Thing Needful may be preserved in our midst. We ask this all in Christ's saving name. Amen.
Scripture
Ephesians 5 (select verses) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is accept-able to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. …See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.