The Lawless Chapel is looking to inspire hope, renewal, revival and transformation within the student body with its empowerment week and campus retreat from Nov. 3 to Nov. 9, 2025.
The chapel is hoping to reach people who typically wouldn’t come to a Sunday night service, said University Chaplain, Reverend Herbert Brisbon III.
“Church is not for everybody, but what I will say, love is for everybody and community is for everyone, in spite of what some people may say,” he said. “Even fleas know how to congregate on a bad dog.”
With this semester being his last at Dillard, Reverend Brisbon hopes that students have the opportunity to encounter God in whatever way that they decide, he said.
“It’s not my decision for you to encounter, but it’s about you creating this space or embracing the space that we create for you to have a lawless experience,” he said.
During the week, Lawless Chapel will partner with Senior Senator Makiya Hill for her Voices Unplugged event, which she hosts every Monday. There will also be a Wednesday night live service and a Terrace Takeover on Thursday with affiliate student organizations.
The real retreat kicks off on Friday with a game night. On Saturday, the chapel will host men’s and women’s sessions starting at 9 a.m.
The women’s session, titled ‘Lord Make Me Over,’ is based on the premise of a spiritual makeover and will feature a consultant from Mary Kay.
“We have a tendency to focus on the external, but what about the internal?” said Rev. Brisbon.
The men’s session is focused on the Bible scripture, “Obedience is better than sacrifice,” said DeJuan Fuel, a junior political science major.
The sessions will give a more personal and intimate one-on-one experience, unlike a typical chapel service.
“It gives them an opportunity to ask questions that they would normally not be able to ask and engage in hearty engagement,” said Rev. Brisbon. “One of the things for the empowerment is just giving them the opportunity to ask those hard questions.”
The Reverend wants to inspire real conversations around how to support one another and use vulnerability to discourage superficial relationships, he said.
“That intimate environment will give us an opportunity to kind of build some relationships that we can kind of lean on in our distance and just be reminded that we’re only a text or phone call away,” he said.
The week wraps up with a Sunday Night Revival service with New Orleans’ Rock of Ages Baptist Church’s pastor, Jonathan Everett.
“His support has been significant during my tenure here at Dillard, and he was willing to come and bring his congregation to worship with us, as kind of like my final service,” said Rev. Brisbon.
Even in the midst of this transition, the chapel community is empowering each other and making sure to have each other’s backs.
“I pray that this is a moment where we all can come together as a family, despite some of the things that’s happening,” said Fuel.
