As a forum of the students, The Stampede seeks to reflect many of the opinions and recommendations of the student body within its pages. What do most students say about Milligan’s Spiritual Formation Program (SFP)? Some are not incredibly passionate about it.
When I talked with a few seniors, SFP seemed almost at the back of their minds. Unless, of course, they had not yet finished their 150 credits. Having mostly completed the program, seniors seemed almost nostalgic of it. However, a couple recommended a couple of ways to improve the program.
Senior political science major Matt Owens said, “I believe that Milligan is doing its best to share the gospel with its students.”
According to Owens, the speakers chosen for convocations and chapels can and do have a wonderful impact on the students. These speakers are often chosen by Brad Wallace, the campus minister and head of the SFP program. Owens does, however, believe there can be “better ways to bring the good news of Christ to Milligan students without forcing them to earn 150 SFP credits.”
“Becoming ‘spiritually formed’ by receiving a certain amount of credits doesn’t settle well with me,” Owens said. “And I do not think people that come in, especially people that do not know Christ, will be encouraged by this method.”
Some students, like Owens, feel as though we should not put a numerical value on “spiritual formation.”
Along with convocations and chapels on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively, students have the opportunity to also attend events in the evenings that are approved for the SFP program. Some of these events include Campus Conversations and My Two Words.
Hannah Morgan, a senior child and youth development major, said she prefers attending the evening SFP events over the morning chapel and convocation services.
“Those events tend to be created by people our age. People our age know what we are interested in, and so those events are sometimes more interesting.”
She did note that sometimes convo speakers are very engaging and interesting but also explained that “sometimes chapel can turn into something like a humanities lecture, and in those cases it’s not about spirituality, it’s about how we have to be there for the credits.”
Morgan is hoping that future students and faculty will seek out ways to get people more involved in the SFP program and host events that will allow them to engage more.
“With all this said,” Owens continued, “it would take a lot to change the format itself.”
Both seniors genuinely appreciate the SFP program and what it can offer students. It’s also worth being grateful that it is not a requirement—like it is at many other Christian schools—to attend every single chapel service.