Spiritual Life

You are a Jesus follower

At Houghton College, you will live authentically for Christ in our world and serve God with everything you've got. This is a safe place to ask questions and find answers while walking alongside others who will support and challenge you.

Spiritual Formation

At Houghton, students have an active role in spiritual formation. Professors integrate faith into classes, mentoring sessions, and even discussions over coffee. Chapel services intersect academics, community, and faith. Prayer groups and worship services lift God’s name on high. Here, everyday rhythms become opportunities for God’s presence.

Chapel

The purpose of chapel is to affirm our corporate identity as a Christian liberal arts college which is part of the larger body of Christ.

Our times of corporate gathering are expressions of this identity. We desire these gatherings to reflect the varied composition and needs of our community of faith and academic pursuits.

Specifically, we seek chapel times which are:

Participatory: An opportunity for community members to encounter God through music, scripture, prayer, communion and contemplation
Celebratory: An expression of corporate worship and occasionally a time of recognition of those in our past and present who serve as spiritual examples
Revelatory: A time to grow in our understanding and knowledge of God
Expository: An expansion of our understanding of scripture, Christian truths and experience and how these inform our individual and corporate spiritual identity
Educational: Encourage a wider understanding of Christian theologies, worship, art and liturgy.

Chapel Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 11:15-11:50.

Chapel is a chance to worship God together in song, prayer, Scripture and sermon. On Mondays, we'll hear from on-campus and off-campus guests. Most Fridays, Dean Jordan or Dr. JL Miller will speak. And on Wednesdays, we have a variety of music and Bible study.

Watch Chapel Live Chapel Facebook Page Watch Past Chapel Recordings

Worship Opportunities

Daily Morning Prayer

Each weekday at 7:20 a.m., we gather for morning prayer in the Marjorie Paine Prayer Chapel, on the lower level of Wesley Chapel. This is a simple, 15-minute service of singing, Scripture, and prayer for the needs of campus and the world.

Download the Morning Prayer Guide

Daily Communion

Each weekday at 4:00 p.m., we gather for a communion service. This service goes to various sites on campus to accommodate student and faculty schedules throughout the week.

Koinonia

Koinonia is a student-led, informal praise gathering of college students who desire to encounter Jesus Christ through worship in songs, scripture, prayer, and testimony. Koinonia meets in the Wesley Chapel on Sunday evenings from approximately 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Mercy Seat

Mercy Seat is a student-led prayer movement which meets Monday–Friday from 8-9 p.m. in the basement of Wesley Chapel to intercede on behalf of the campus, the county, and the nations and to seek intimate encounters with the Lord. Meetings are led by a worship team, combining worship songs, intercessory prayers, meditation on scripture, and various forms of art.

Logos Bible Studies

Logos Bible Studies are student-led Bible studies that meet in community members’ homes every other week and focus on applying Scriptures to daily life. Lifeline Bible Studies meet under the auspices of Houghton Wesleyan Church. For more information call (585) 567-2264.

Student-Led Groups

A wide array of student-led Bible study, accountability and covenant discipleship groups meet in the residence halls and are coordinated by the Office of Residence Life and the Dean of the Chapel’s Office.

Global Christian Fellowship

Global Christian Fellowship seeks to challenge the community to involvement in God’s work around the world by informing the community of God’s work, and by encouraging and supporting involvement in short- and long-term missions. It meets weekly on Wednesday evenings.

Gospel Choir

The Gospel Choir committed to expressing its Christian heritage through fellowship and celebrating the richness of African-American culture through gospel music.

Houghton Wesleyan Church

The village church provides a vital link in the community of Houghton because of the mutual sharing, blessing and benefits among students, faculty, staff and neighbors of the college. The pastoral staff leads three Sunday worship services: contemporary services at 8:20 and 9:40 a.m., and a more traditional service at 11:00 a.m. Students are invited to participate in the mid-week and Sunday evening service as well as the many and varied opportunities for ministry and service.

A Passion to Serve

Service is a cornerstone of the Christian life – and Houghton is no different. Our students travel to Buffalo to help refugee families read, volunteer as a Big Brother/Big Sister for local kids, teach soccer to children in Africa, visit and perform for elderly shut-ins, and more. Our students touch lives locally, regionally, and internationally – and, in turn, leave Houghton changed.

Allegany County Outreach

Allegany County Outreach (ACO) is an organization that provides students with the opportunity to engage in community outreach through connecting with the children of Allegany County. Students are paired up with one child and are given the chance to mentor him or her throughout the school year. This includes participating in group outings and events, and helping with school work.

Global Christian Fellowship

Global Christian Fellowship reminds the Houghton students to look not only to those directly around them, but to be globally aware as well. GCF coordinates weekly prayer topics that focus on one campus issue and one global issue that are prayed for by the campus community daily. GCF also holds weekly meetings to promote global awareness and action, hosting missionaries as well as students who have a global outlook.

OMS International

OMS is a missionary-sending agency represented at Houghton by Bruce and Donna Hess.

Salvation Army Student Fellowship

The Salvation Army Student Fellowship (SASF) allows students to be involved with the Salvation Army and its mission. By sponsoring a Salvation Army store in the basement of the Reinhold Campus Center every semester, SASF members have the chance to help further the charge of the Salvation Army.

SIM (Serving In Mission)

SIM is represented at Houghton by Benjamin and Christine Hegeman.

School Year Ministry Teams

Houghton students serve throughout the academic year at youth retreats, youth events, youth group gatherings, and other events as teams. They lead worship, help with activities, teach lessons, and more. Students are recruited, equipped, supported, and sent out for these opportunities by Houghton’s Office of Ministry Resources.

Summer Ministry Teams

Houghton students travel each summer from camp to camp to serve youth in Jesus’ name as part of Houghton College Summer Ministry Teams. These are paying summer jobs that are recruited, equipped, supported and sent out by Houghton’s Office of Ministry Resources.

Young Life

Houghton students work with the Young Life group in Springville, NY to make a difference in the lives of youth. Through weekly meetings as well as a Young Life conference, students have the opportunity to minister to youth who need someone to care about them.

Youth for Christ

Houghton students, working with the Youth for Christ chapter in Belfast, are able to meet and mentor children in Allegany County through weekly meetings and trips to the local public schools. Youth for Christ allows local children to get to know positive role models while Houghton students, likewise, are provided with opportunities to learn and grow through working with these children.

Houghton College

The official website of Houghton College