Page 31 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 3 Spring 2013

holiday Ramadan; one from Hebrew Scriptures to recog-
nize Rosh Hashanah; the words of Swedish pacifist and
late U.N. Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold; an
invitation to engage in voluntary Buddhist meditation;
and the singing of the School Hymn, “Love Divine.” The
week of April 18, 2011, recognized the religiously polar
celebrations of both Good Friday and Passover and
invited community members to attend both a Maundy
Thursday liturgy and a Passover Seder. The fourth week
of Winter Term 2008 focused on Quakerism while the third
week of Winter Term 2012 explored the life of Martin
Luther King Jr. And Chapel routinely hosts visitors as
wide-ranging as former Episcopal Bishop of New Hamp-
shire Gene Robinson to Iraq war veteran Robynn Murray.
“It’s more that the people coming in are from different
traditions, so the ability to accommodate diverse student
bodies is important,” says Daniel Heischman, the executive
director of the 450-member National Association of Epis-
copal Schools (NAES). “The changes we see with students
coming in reflect the larger culture. The question for
schools like St. Paul’s is how to appropriate the tradition
to those changing realities. We may also see Episcopal
schools with an ever-increasing role in carrying on the
tradition of the Episcopal Church because our numbers
are dwindling.”
The offerings of the Chapel Program answer that nag-
ging question for prospective families, who wonder if
sending their children to an Episcopal school means
indoctrinating them into the Episcopal faith. While
emphatic that is not the case, the Reverend Michael
Spencer, SPS dean of Chapel and religious life, believes
firmly in the grounding principles of an Episcopal school.
In a 2013 Chapel self-assessment authored by Spencer
and the School’s other chaplains in preparation for the
visiting review team, the chaplaincy identified five pri-
orities for the Chapel Program that have guided the past
five years and will continue to set the course for the
future: pluralism and the study of religion; spiritual
life and pastoral care; a commitment to social justice;
environmental stewardship of creation; and leadership
through service.
Today in Chapel, students hear about sustainability
and service, the war against AIDS, and the heroes of
human rights. Artistic exhibits periodically adorn the
Chapel’s oak walls; a social justice club and film series
have been developed as arms of the Chapel Program;
a partnership has been formed with Haiti through an
Episcopal schools network; service trips send students
to rural America and to downtrodden areas of Panama
and Nicaragua; students must meet the 40-hour service
requirement to graduate; and Earth Day is celebrated
through nature’s connection to religion. All are branches
of the Chapel Program.
“The chaplaincy program remains central to the hol-
istic education at St. Paul’s School,” said the report,
authored largely by Spencer. “Four mornings a week,
students and faculty gather in the School Chapel to
celebrate community, engage in prayer and meditation,
and begin the academic day just as the first three stu-
dents did 157 years ago. While many of the School tradi-
tions have remained constant throughout the years, the
chaplaincy has also adapted to encourage
more open inquiry into the variety of
religious beliefs and perspectives,
support the spiritual development of
an increasingly diverse community,
and support initiatives in community
outreach and social justice.
PETER FINGER
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