I am very fortunate to have taught at Windham Christian Academy for the past 12 years.  I have been a regular in the school's chapel speaker rotation from the start.  This year, with covid-19 wreaking havok on the world, we have been unusually blessed in that our school has stayed open all year.  However, one of the reasons we've stayed open is that we have been vigilant about keeping it a closed campus, which means chapel 'regulars' have not been available.  This, in turn, has created more opportunities for me to do what I do best for all three of our levels: elementary, middle and high schools.  Recently, I did chaples for all three in one week.

My theme for all three services has been "worshipping God with our stuff".  I did my juggling routine to Tom Frankak's "Stuff" in all three programs.  Franzak is a mostly unknown Catholic music minister, but ths 80's synth-rock tune is perfect for juggling random "stuff": basketballs, hula hoops, tennis rackers, lassoes.  Of course, as the age groups got younger, I did more entertaining and less speaking.  I loved playing with the elementary kids as I did the six bill repeat as another jumping off place to address our need to appreciate material blessings and keep them in proper perspective.  I also did my Psalm 150 juggling, and a variety of other routines, some with and some without any deeper point.

For middle and high school, I also included additional routines, including "Do not love the world", a close up trick you can see on my you tube channel.    However, I supplemented the show portion of the service with a power point presentation that highlighted the story of Mary annointing Jesus' feet with the very expensive oil of the spikenard plant. (This gave me a chance to take a rabbit trail, and introduce the teens to Spike Nard, lead singer of the 90's punk band Crashdog.) 

The real point, though, was that Mary worshipped Jesus not just with word, song or prayer, but with her most valuable 'stuff'.  But Jesus is not here physically today, so how can we worship God with our stuff today?  We looked at giving to the poor, being grateful, being content, taking care of our possessions, and using them to advance the Gospel.  Without getting into specifics, I have seen and heard that this message has led to further discussions among teachers and students at all three levels within the school.  And that's what chapel's all about!