The beauty of holiness: PHC's chapel enhancement project

PHC recently hired alumna Hannah Davidsmeier as the Associate Director of Chapel Worship and Arts at PHC. The creation of this position marks an important development in an ongoing project to improve collegiate corporate chapels. 

“There are a host of technical, musical, and set-up issues that can either support or hinder the time of worship,” said PHC President Jack Haye, who is actively involved with the chapel ministry department. The Chapel Enhancement project seeks to minimize such hindrances. 

The project began primarily as a result of changes caused by COVID-19 restrictions during the 2020-2021 school year. Chapel services moved from Town Hall to the gym in order to meet physical distancing requirements. Music Director Rebekah McCormick recalled that trying to musically fill the larger space while maintaining reverence in worship created a new set of challenges.  

“COVID left the school with a bunch of [chapel guilds] that needed to be reworked to fit the new space and the changing needs of the school,” McCormick said. Additionally, McCormick and Haye wanted to minimize distractions caused by tech issues, musical mistakes, and lack of ensemble cohesiveness. The goal? A general improvement of the chapel experience for students. This led to the Chapel Enhancement project, spearheaded by Haye.  

A big part of the chapel improvement project was hiring a part-time staff member to work alongside McCormick and the individual chapel guilds. This role would include helping with auditions, attending guild rehearsals, and offering feedback on musical choices.  

“After interviewing several candidates, it was apparent that this new position would need to be someone who understands the PHC community and has credibility with our student musicians,” Haye said. “Hannah [Davidsmeier] was the perfect candidate given her versatility as a musician, heart for worship, and history as a Chapel Guild member.” 

Davidsmeier graduated from PHC with a degree in Economics and Business Analytics in May of 2024. The Assistant Director position (ADW) was brought to her attention at the beginning of her last semester as a student. Davidsmeier loved the idea, but she needed more than part-time employment. Shortly before graduation, however, she was offered the part-time position of Assistant to the Dean of Academic Affairs in combination with that of ADW. She accepted. 

Davidsmeier is an accomplished musician. She plays several instruments, sang in the PHC Chorale, and served as a chapel guild pianist during her last year as a student. She has also contributed to worship ministry at various churches over the years.  

PHC’s wide variety of denominational backgrounds and worship preferences mean that it can be difficult to please everybody within the confines of a single chapel service. Davidsmeier and McCormick both hope to balance these preferences by putting together chapel guilds that cover a spectrum of musical styles. Davidsmeier also wants to make sure that the members of each group work well together and that the sound they produce—melody, harmony, and instrumentation—is something beautiful that glorifies the Lord and places the attention of the congregation on him.  

Psalm 29 is an integral part of how Davidsmeier thinks about musical worship.  

“Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,” the psalmist proclaimed. Davidsmeier believes worship should be beautiful without drawing undue attention to the musicians. She sees worship musicians not as performers before an audience, but as instruments that can help the congregation to express praise.  

“You [as a musician] are being used to draw out the joy and the beauty and the worship of everyone in the room.”  

This story was originally published in PHC's student-run publication The Herald.

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  Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.