FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- After three years of worshipping at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School, Chapel Next has found a new home at Bayonet Chapel. The contemporary Christian congregation celebrated its first service there Sunday in front of a packed house.
When Chapel Next contemplated moving, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Bart Physioc, 193rd Infantry Brigade chaplain, offered his brigade's chapel as a new place of worship.
Physioc has been involved with Chapel Next for four months and has also been working on converting Bayonet Chapel into a place of fellowship.
He created a bistro that is open the fourth Thursday of each month and is slowly converting the outdoor space into an area with the ambience of a European-style cafe.
"It's like going to a restaurant," Physioc said. "Sometimes it's not just the food they're serving, it's the atmosphere."
Physioc said the atmosphere of fellowship he hopes to create at Bayonet Chapel matches the style of worship at Chapel Next.
"We want to engage with people who are coming - that they would be participants, not spectators," he said. "When we worship, it's collective. It's an informal and yet respectful manner."
Chapel Next is open to everyone.
"I think it's really, really wonderful to have such a mixed group. We have permanent party (Soldiers); we have civilians who work on post; we have Soldiers who are in training. It's a whole lot of different people," Physioc said. "It has been said, 'Birds of a feather flock together.' I want this to be a lot of different birds flocking together, not because we're all just like one another, but because we have a common center of gravity."
Physioc shares preaching duties with four other chaplains who rotate each Sunday.
Second Lt. Kevin Meyers, who attends the Chaplain Basic Course at USACHCS, was a first-time attendee of Chapel Next, but said he is considering coming back regularly while on Fort Jackson.
"Before I heard the message, with the worship and the atmosphere I already felt like this is home," Meyers said.
Another USACHCS student, 2nd Lt. Randy Barlow, agreed.
"When I walked in, I noticed that people -- even though nothing had started yet -- people seemed happy to be here," he said.
Social Sharing