Worship

The Streyffeler Chapel, houses daily and weekly worship services on the BTS campus. It was built with assistance from the Iowa Nigeria Project and is large enough to hold the entire student body.

Pews in the chapel each hold several United Methodist Hymnals, many of which have come from churches in the Iowa Conference.

The Streyffeler Chapel is wired to the campus generator so that worship is conducted with the aid of lights, ceiling fans and a PA system.

Dancing in the aisles is the norm at BTS worship.

Chaplain Isa and Provost Yahuda looking serious before worship.

Who says you need a pipe organ to sing hymns?

Slightly bowed walls and lots of open windows are designed to catch any available breeze to make worship more comfortable.

This student took his job as head usher very seriously.

Singing, dancing and drumming are staples of worship in the Nigerian church.

Banyam Seminary is a school, a village and a congregation. Daily chapel services, Sunday worship, meetings, assemblies, and nearly-constant choir practice are held in the Streyffeler Chapel. Nigerians excel at passionate worship and evangelism. Choirs in pitch-perfect harmony are accompanied by drums and rhythm instruments. Sermons, prayers and offerings are not limited by time, and go on as long as the leader feels the proper inspiration.

Learning how to worship authentically and without inhibition is perhaps the greatest lesson that Americans can learn from our Nigerian partnership.