Girls' Response to New Devotions Schedule
Tia Sherman and Leah Hohman
Issue date: 10/4/04 Section: On Campus
|
"Devotions!" shouted the DDL from the lounge of the unit. All the girls dropped what they were doing and gathered together for an intimate time of worship, Bible study, reflection, and prayer.
This year, Clearwater Christian College is trying something new during the dorm devotions meetings. In previous years there was both a DDL (daily devotions leader) and an ADL (assistant devotions leader) leading each unit in devotions. Now there is only one devotions leader living in each unit. The DDLs are chosen by faculty, proctors, and other leaders.
In previous years, female residents almost always met within their own units for devotions. Now, each week, the girls meet once with their resident advisor, once with their proctor, and twice with their DDLs.
Why the change? Miss Lemon answered, "Because devotions are four nights a week, some DDLs felt overwhelmed as they put so much time and effort into their devotions messages." This caused some DDLs to be less consistent with their groups. So, the main reason for this change, according to Miss Lemon, is to ensure consistency. She hopes that the new schedule will increase the spiritual impact of each devotions meeting.
There have been some mixed feelings among the student body regarding this change. Almost all of the girls liked "devos" better last year. They said, "The devotions time is less personal now. We have various schedules throughout the day. So the short time in our small devotions group is one of the only times when we interact with our roommates. Now that we meet in the unit less often, we feel like we hardly know our roommates and unitmates."
On the other hand, some girls said, "We enjoy the variety in the schedule because it provides a good change of pace from previous years." "We like it because we get to meet more people, and it means devotions do not become routine."
The DDLs reported, "The new schedule places less demand on us, so we can concentrate on fewer messages. We hope that the quality of devotions is improved, and will make a greater impact on the groups."