Page 34 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 3 Spring 2013

love for morning Chapel “not so much as a religious pro-
gram, but seeing everyone in the morning.” Her formmate
Tekla Monson ’14 says that, while she is “uncomfortable
with saying the Lord’s Prayer . . . morning Chapel and that
feeling of oneness with the community has played a huge
role in my life.”
Contemplating the School’s Episcopal identity, Hirschfeld
identifies three levels of connection through the Chapel
Program. “Everyone engages on the level of community,”
he says. “That’s the heart; that’s where community literally
happens four days a week. I don’t think we could find
someone who would disagree with that.” Hirschfeld offers
“humility” and the idea of a “greater power” as the second
level of engagement.
“The third level has to do with service,” he says, “under-
standing the example of Jesus, whose story – whether you’re
a Christian or not – is one of service and ultimate sacrifice. I
don’t know how many students make the link to our general
talk about service as deeply as I’d like.”
Hirschfeld’s observations are not far from those in the 1966
Horae article, which further reported that “Rector [Matthew
Warren] indicated that going to Chapel is an institution which
is needed to provide stability and a ‘sense of community.’”
Students at that time strongly favored the radical, if not
periodical, altering of the service format and more oppor-
tunities for student leadership in Chapel, indicating that
“. . . some would like to see students give talks or read from
pertinent literature during services.” The Rector was de-
scribed as standing “behind students’ requests for popular
music and drama [to] help ‘bring theology up to date.’” Also
in that survey, 85 percent of students answered that they
“enjoyed traditional church music.”
Although the community may have been surveyed be-
tween 1966 and 2013, no record exists in School archives.
But echoing its 1960s counterpart, the 2013 chaplaincy
survey revealed that 70% of students like to sing in Chapel.
And, perhaps responding to the voices of the 1960s, oppor-
tunities to participate in Chapel have expanded over the
years from acolytes and Choir members to include 12 Chapel
prefects, a student Chapel vestry, student lectors, and weekly
invitations for students to share reflections, music and drama
(new and old), and faith traditions in Chapel. Every Sixth
Former has a chance to speak in Chapel, if he or she desires.
Asked in the 2013 survey what they most valued about
Being a
religious
school allows
us to talk
intentionally
about being
a good
person.
“
“