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History of the Chapel at Acadia
In the beginning...
Construction of the Building: Overview
The Window
The Organ
The Rev'd. Dr. I. Judson Levy Memorial Bell
Fortieth Anniversary
Chapel Renovations
In the beginning...
Before the autumn of 1963, Acadia University (founded in 1838) had no chapel on the campus but used for daily worship the large auditorium in University Hall, shared by such other activities as concerts, plays, light operas, assemblies, political meetings and student examinations. These services were conducted by Dr. Charles Taylor, who was a member of faculty in the early 1950’s, and was given the responsibility of supervising student spiritual life on campus. He was known for his meaningful worship services. However, the space was not suitable so students began, with his encouragement, a campaign to raise money for the construction of a chapel.
In February 1960, the student managers of Acadia's first Winter Carnival began in a small way to collect funds towards an interdenominational chapel on the campus. "Dear Sir:," wrote Gordon Lummis '59 to the late Harvey Crowell, then chairperson of the Board of Governors, on 4 February 1959. "This year we are initiating a Winter Carnival at Acadia [which] will encompass such activities as intercollegiate hockey and basketball games, inter-class broomball, snowshoe and ski races, a Beard Growing Contest, a Variety Show and a Winter Carnival Dance."
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Lummis explained to Crowell that the students thought the Winter Carnival should also have a more serious side. "Thus," he continued, "we are holding a non-denominational Chapel Service on Sunday." In conjunction with that service was the Winter Carnival Chapel Fund that was initiated to raise money for the "down payment on a non-denominational Chapel to be built on the campus." The students sold the stamps pictured here for one cent each, donating the proceeds to the fund.
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Four months later, the distant dream became a practical project, when the Fred C. Manning Charitable Fund, of Halifax, announced that the building of a university chapel, in memory of the late Mr. Manning, would be the first charge against an annual grant of $55,000.00 to Acadia University. The winter carnival funds raised by the students, along with a donation from the Acadia Students' Union a few years ago, provide for a bursary given by the chaplaincy.
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Fred C. Manning
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Mrs. Manning having expressed a desire for an architect with an international reputation for the "Colonial" style, the President sought the advice of Mr. Harry Atkinson, of New York, long the building counsel of the Northern Baptist Convention, who recommended Mr. Harold E. Wagoner of Philadelphia. Mr. Wagoner was engaged in December 1960, and the meticulous care that went into the planning of the chapel resulted in an interval of almost three years before the dedication of the completed building on 6 October 1963.
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