James T. Cleland - "The Chapel in the University" (September 24, 1967)

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-	Let us pray.	0:16
	Let the words of my mouth	0:19
	and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable	0:22
	in thy site.	0:26
	Oh Lord, our strength	0:28
	and our redeemer.	0:31
	Amen.	0:33
	At the opening service of worship	0:43
	in a new academic year,	0:45
	It may be good for us in this sermon	0:49
	to look at the place of a chapel	0:52
	in a university.	0:55
	With particular attention	0:58
	to the university service of worship,	0:59
	at 11 o'clock of a Sunday morning,	1:02
	on our own campus.	1:05
	This is a live issue with many people,	1:08
	gown and town	1:12
	in the light of the previous academic year.	1:14
	For almost all of my 22 years	1:19
	as an officer of this chapel,	1:22
	the service moved along	1:25
	in a more or less unaltered course.	1:27
	Accepted.	1:30
	Appreciated.	1:32
	Enjoyed.	1:34
	But last year gave evidence	1:36
	of a sense of disappointment.	1:39
	Criticism.	1:42
	Even censure.	1:44
	Which was pointed up on several unique occasions.	1:46
	There was the reaction, pro and con,	1:52
	to the lengthy sermon	1:56
	of the dramatic Bishop Pike.	1:58
	One of God's older, angry men.	2:01
	There was the lecture in the chapel	2:06
	because no other space	2:09
	large enough to hold the eager crowd	2:12
	of listeners was available.	2:16
	The lecture by Altizer,	2:18
	that exponent of a lofty view	2:22
	of Jesus Christ.	2:26
	But more popularly known	2:29
	for his death of God emphasis.	2:31
	That caused reverberations	2:35
	in Allen building,	2:38
	even on the second floor.	2:39
	(audience laughs)	2:41
	Then there were the dialogue sermons	2:44
	between Chaplain Wilkinson and a student,	2:46
	a sound innovation which ought to be continued.	2:49
	And then above all else,	2:55
	there was the dramatic, spiritual, free-for-all	2:56
	one Sunday morning,	3:01
	which even aroused the interest	3:03
	of the Durham Police Department.	3:05
	Thanks to a worried radio listener.	3:08
	Now, in the like of that unusual,	3:11
	but stimulating year,	3:14
	what should be said about the chapel	3:16
	and its university service of worship,	3:19
	at the beginning of another year?	3:22
	Let me think out loud with you.	3:24
	The atmosphere of all the colleges on the campus.	3:29
	Yes, true in great part of the college of engineering	3:34
	and in the school of nursing,	3:38
	is that of the liberal arts.	3:40
	Liberal arts is a translation	3:44
	of the Latin (in foreign language),	3:46
	which may be construed as work	3:49
	befitting a free man.	3:53
	Work befitting a free man.	3:57
	It originated independently of Christianity,	4:00
	and its aim had nothing to do with preparation	4:05
	for the making of a living.	4:10
	This viewpoint, I think is epitomized	4:13
	in the Cambridge University toast.	4:16
	To the higher mathematics,	4:19
	may they always be useless.	4:21
	That's liberal arts.	4:24
	(audience laughs)
	It was aristocratic for the upper crust	4:28
	and secular, rooted in the interesting concerns	4:33
	of this world.	4:38
	Now, that is hardly the point of view	4:40
	of Christian faith.	4:43
	Which is for all strata of society,	4:46
	and is not concerned solely with this world.	4:51
	The aim of the liberal arts is a search for,	4:56
	and an appreciation, of truth.	5:01
	Come whence it may, cost what it will.	5:04
	The aim of Christianity	5:10
	is a commitment to the biblical God,	5:13
	as revealed primarily	5:17
	in Jesus The Christ.	5:19
	Now can search for,	5:22
	and commitment to, be reconciled.	5:25
	Some say, yes.	5:31
	The middle ages domesticated	5:33
	the liberal arts in Christian society.	5:36
	Education had three interweaving parts.	5:39
	Bodily exercise,	5:43
	rigorous training of the mind,	5:46
	instruction in Christian piety,	5:49
	according to the Torina of Mantua	5:53
	in the 15th century.	5:57
	Now, that might well describe the curriculum	5:59
	of some colleges today	6:02
	in the USA.	6:05
	Others say, no.	6:07
	They cannot be reconciled	6:09
	and they say it emphatically.	6:11
	There may be a valid place for religion courses	6:15
	in a liberal arts college.	6:18
	But a Christian service of worship,	6:21
	sponsored officially by the college, is absurd.	6:25
	Moreover, they believe that	6:31
	such sponsored worship will disappear.	6:32
	As one member of the Duke faculty,	6:36
	who expects that this chapel	6:39
	will be a repository for old books	6:41
	within 50 years.	6:45
	The morgue of the library.	6:47
	There are yet others who give a qualified, yes,	6:52
	to the possibility of a genuine reconciliation.	6:57
	They would claim that a liberal education	7:02
	can be illumined by Christianity,	7:04
	provided that the Christianity	7:09
	which compliments it,	7:11
	is unbigoted in its commitment.	7:13
	For an education requires religious insight,	7:18
	as well as the hindsight,	7:24
	and the foresight,	7:27
	which the classroom is supposed to offer.	7:29
	The present situation even at Duke	7:33
	is an understandable, if tangled, eclecticism.	7:35
	It is rightly realized that commitment	7:41
	and search are not inseparable.	7:44
	Yet, there is a valid hesitancy	7:49
	to identify the viewpoints	7:53
	of the liberal art researcher,	7:55
	and of the confident Christian witness.	7:58
	It's simple to be either.	8:01
	More difficult to be both.	8:04
	Duke is still willing to accept	8:07
	the possibility of both.	8:10
	Therefore, there is a chapel,	8:14
	several chapels,	8:16
	as well as classrooms and labs	8:18
	and libraries on the campus.	8:21
	The chapel then, is the place	8:26
	where the committed people of God	8:28
	in our community	8:30
	may meet together	8:32
	at the university service of worship,	8:33
	to express that commitment.	8:36
	But there is a sharp	8:40
	difference of opinion among us,	8:41
	revealed in last year's unusual experiments	8:45
	and resulting turmoil,	8:48
	as to the intent and content	8:50
	and shape and conduct	8:54
	of the 11 o'clock service.	8:56
	The difference may be represented	8:59
	in two Latin phrases.	9:01
	(in foreign language)	9:04
	and (in foreign language)	9:07
	(in foreign language)	9:12
	literally the house of God	9:14
	considers his house	9:18
	as a piece of real estate	9:20
	dedicated to him,	9:23
	occupied by (in foreign language),	9:25
	erected to his glory.	9:28
	And the most likely place in the world	9:30
	where contact with him may be made.	9:34
	It is the sacred place where	9:38
	God dwells in a unique way.	9:39
	It is a temple.	9:43
	A shrine.	9:45
	A divine domicile.	9:46
	God's earthly quarters.	9:49
	And therefore, holy ground.	9:52
	(in foreign language)	9:57
	that is the house	10:00
	of the people of God is holy.	10:01
	Not because of the building.	10:06
	Which may be a room in a home	10:09
	or in a store.	10:12
	But because of the congregation.	10:14
	The gathered community.	10:18
	United because of their	10:21
	voluntary commitment to God.	10:23
	The building per se, is not sacred to God	10:25
	or because of God.	10:29
	The sacredness is in his people	10:32
	worshiping him there.	10:36
	Which means that they can worship him anywhere.	10:39
	It's interesting to notice the influence	10:45
	of these two views on architecture.	10:47
	And in turn, of architecture on these two views.	10:50
	If the structure has a Holy of Holies,	10:56
	or a sanctuary at one particular	11:00
	spot in the floor plan,	11:02
	or a series of symbols and lights	11:05
	which focus the attention on one place,	11:08
	then the house of God idea	11:11
	(in foreign language)	11:14
	is inevitably, even if unintentionally, emphasized.	11:16
	If the structure has no symbols	11:21
	and movable chairs,	11:24
	and is devoid of stained glass	11:26
	and a special table,	11:29
	and ignores candles and a cross.	11:31
	Then the house of the people of God,	11:34
	(in foreign language)	11:38
	is obviously intended.	11:41
	The early church was a (in foreign language).	11:43
	The holiness resided in the people.	11:48
	The church had no special buildings.	11:52
	It was a politically persecuted minority	11:55
	for at least 200 years,	11:58
	and wisely kept itself inconspicuous.	12:00
	But when it became an accepted religion,	12:03
	the accepted religion	12:07
	of the Roman Empire,	12:09
	it began to build.	12:10
	And its choice of architecture	12:13
	influenced its view of its essence	12:16
	and transformed its thinking.	12:19
	The Roman basilica	12:23
	and later the Gothic Church	12:25
	overwhelmed the worshiper	12:28
	with a sense of all	12:30
	majesty and mystery.	12:32
	A cathedral congregation is a far cry	12:36
	from a kitchen meeting	12:39
	in self understanding.	12:41
	Now, thanks to James B. Duke's high opinion	12:45
	of Princeton University,	12:48
	the Gothic revival	12:51
	was imposed on West Campus.	12:52
	Oh, lucky East.	12:56
	(audience laughs)	12:59
	This magnificent chapel with seats for,	13:01
	we don't know, 1800 to 2000,	13:04
	is good Gothic.	13:07
	It is true Gothic.	13:09
	Splay-footed, goggle-eyed Saints	13:12
	fill its colorful windows.	13:15
	You know, since the hail storm,	13:18
	(clears throat)	13:19
	one Saint in the great window back here,	13:20
	James The Elder,	13:26
	has a monocle.	13:30
	(audience laughs)	13:31
	It's very English. (clears throat)	13:37
	(audience laughs)	13:39
	Maybe we leave it.	13:42
	Carving of the finest in wooden stone	13:44
	offer a sense of grandeur even awe.	13:47
	A great organ extols God.	13:50
	The table where bread is broken.	13:53
	The table of the uncommon common meal,	13:56
	is topped with a cross and candles,	14:00
	half hinting that it may be a shrine.	14:03
	So, unconsciously, unintentionally, inevitably	14:06
	the (in foreign language)	14:11
	conception dominates,	14:13
	almost obliterates,	14:14
	the (in foreign language) idea.	14:16
	The house of the people of God	14:19
	is subordinated to the house of God.	14:21
	This in part,	14:24
	lay behind last year's experimentation.	14:25
	And it does raise a question	14:29
	as to what we can do and should do,	14:31
	in the intent and content	14:35
	and shape and conduct	14:38
	of the university service of worship	14:40
	on Sunday morning,	14:42
	in this type of a ecclesiastic building.	14:44
	What then shall be the dominating view	14:49
	of the (mumbles) chapel,	14:51
	which shall control the kind of service	14:53
	we have here on Sunday mornings.	14:55
	For many, if not most of us,	14:59
	the (in foreign language) conception dominates.	15:03
	The chapel is God's house.	15:08
	It is the holy place.	15:13
	Not because of the congregation.	15:16
	Because of him.	15:20
	It is the place to which we come	15:22
	when we want to make contact with him.	15:24
	Either in company with our fellows,	15:27
	or in isolation from our fellows.	15:29
	Let me illustrate.	15:31
	A housemaster called up at 1:30	15:34
	in the morning this past week,	15:36
	to find if the chapel could be opened	15:40
	to allow a freshman to sit there.	15:44
	The freshman had just heard	15:48
	that his fiance had been killed.	15:50
	The chapel was opened.	15:55
	People who seldom, if ever,	15:59
	worship here or anywhere	16:02
	want to be married in the chapel.	16:03
	And not only for cast or aesthetic reasons.	16:06
	They wish to acknowledge	16:12
	at a focal point in life	16:13
	that which is ultimate	16:16
	and somewhat unknowable,	16:18
	but worthy of reverence.	16:21
	They believe God is here	16:23
	and they hope he is here for them.	16:26
	Now, with that view of the chapel,	16:30
	such people will desire a service	16:33
	which is fitting, majestic, and dignified,	16:35
	and stately and grand.	16:40
	Worthy of God and of Gothic.	16:43
	For other people,	16:48
	and perhaps for all of us on occasion,	16:50
	the (in foreign language)	16:54
	is the controlling idea	16:56
	that comes to the fore on special occasions,	16:59
	or at a service of Holy Communion,	17:03
	following a wedding rehearsal.	17:07
	At the school of nursing capping service,	17:11
	where the recessional ends	17:15
	in feminine shrieks of mutual joy.	17:16
	At a service of infant baptism	17:21
	or of infant dedication,	17:23
	when Christian vows are publicly spoken	17:26
	in the presence of witnesses.	17:30
	Now, can these two views	17:33
	be reconciled in the chapel	17:36
	and particularly at the Sunday morning	17:38
	university service of worship?	17:42
	Let me offer a thought for your consideration.	17:45
	Let the chapel be,	17:50
	by conscious intention,	17:52
	the central house of God.	17:56
	For the various,	17:59
	numerous congregations of the people of God,	18:01
	which are scattered all over the campus.	18:05
	The wise, the interest groups of the	18:08
	new University Christian Movement.	18:12
	The Newman Club.	18:15
	The Cabot Society.	18:17
	The Fellowship of Christian Athletes.	18:19
	The Student Christian Fellowship.	18:22
	The full members group.	18:24
	All the multifarious	18:27
	and diverse, and valid,	18:29
	and useful communities	18:34
	of fellow Christians on our campus.	18:36
	And let the university service of worship	18:40
	be the united affirmation	18:43
	of our common worship	18:46
	of the God and Father,	18:49
	who is God and father	18:52
	of all the groups	18:54
	and of each of us.	18:56
	Now, because the chapel has the build	18:58
	and bearing of a Gothic Cathedral,	19:00
	the ritual and ceremonial of the service	19:04
	cannot be comfortable	19:07
	to that of a Harlem Storefront Parish,	19:09
	or a Quaker meeting.	19:13
	We had better co-operate	19:16
	with what Mr. Duke gave us.	19:18
	The service should open with a procession.	19:22
	With the cross if not the flags	19:26
	carried before the choir.	19:28
	The emphasis should be upon praise and prayer,	19:32
	with the sermon minimized in length.	19:36
	I'm a good one to say that.	19:39
	(audience laughs)	19:40
	The ushers and collectors should be gowned.	19:43
	This flower they always just look like	19:48
	strays from a wedding.	19:50
	(audience laughs)	19:52
	There should be more congregational participation	19:54
	in hymns and prayers.	19:57
	Now, there is room for experiment.	20:00
	Carefully planned and worthily executed.	20:04
	Even for guitars.	20:08
	If the National Cathedral once a year,	20:12
	can stand bagpipes leading the choir	20:15
	and clergy into the chancel.	20:18
	We can surely risk unusual	20:20
	musical accompaniment on occasion.	20:23
	After all, the bagpipe	20:27
	is the one musical instrument	20:29
	for which no sacred music has been written.	20:31
	(audience laughs)	20:34
	In Robert Burns,	20:37
	it is the devil who plays the pipe.	20:38
	There is no valid reason why	20:43
	God should not be addressed in prayer as "You",	20:44
	rather than as "Thou".	20:48
	Though one does shudder at "You" and "Thou"	20:51
	indiscriminately in the same prayer.	20:55
	A sign of the careless and sloppy preparation	20:59
	of an untidy mind.	21:02
	A service which remembers the elements	21:05
	of adoration and confession,	21:07
	of forgiveness and Thanksgiving,	21:11
	of intercession for others,	21:14
	and supplication for ourselves.	21:17
	Of the reading and interpretation of the word,	21:20
	of dedication and benediction,	21:24
	can unite the scattered companies	21:27
	of the committed people of God,	21:30
	once a week,	21:32
	in a great outpouring of our united	21:34
	and ecumenical recognition.	21:38
	Affirming that we are not divided.	21:41
	All one body, we, under God.	21:44
	Now, this demands the combined resources	21:49
	of the ministries, of music and prayer,	21:53
	and the word.	21:57
	Of ushering and collecting.	21:59
	Of all the people of God	22:04
	in this house of God.	22:07
	The scripture lesson of the morning,	22:10
	the 84th Psalm,	22:11
	told of the joy that a Hebrew found	22:14
	in the temple.	22:17
	How lovely is thy dwelling place.	22:19
	Oh, Lord of hosts.	22:22
	That's (in foreign language).	22:25
	Blessed are those who dwell in thy house	22:27
	ever singing thy praise.	22:31
	That is (in foreign language).	22:33
	That somewhat unites the two ideas.	22:37
	Now, the Psalm has been put into meter	22:40
	and the first five verses	22:43
	are our closing hymn.	22:46
	They express the joy of the people of God,	22:48
	all kinds of people of God,	22:52
	who stand united as the people of God,	22:55
	in the house of God.	22:59
	And don't be surprised about the sparrow	23:00
	finding a house where into rest and the swallow,	23:03
	because birds have been	23:06
	coming through that window,	23:07
	and finding a place here.	23:10
	But before we sing that hymn, let us pray.	23:12
	We praise Thee, O God.	23:18
	We acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.	23:21
	Accept the worship of thy people and thy house.	23:25
	For, to Thee, we ascribe honor and majesty,	23:29
	dominion and power,	23:33
	as is most due.	23:35
	Amen.	23:39
	(organ music playing and people singing a hymn)	23:44
	(background organ music playing softly)	26:26

Item Info

Title:

James T. Cleland - "The Chapel in the University" (September 24, 1967)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4w66f94t

Date:

September 24, 1967

Speaker:

Cleland, James T. (James Tough), 1903-1974

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0400
ref6003_noo
uachapelsermaud
duke:627968
dcrau002394
ark:/87924/r4w66f94t
2ee035a9-d0c2-43d8-b68b-f18167674ab3

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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James T. Cleland - "The Chapel in the University" (September 24, 1967)

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1. James T. Cleland - "The Chapel in the University" (September 24, 1967)

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James T. Cleland - "The Chapel in the University" (September 24, 1967)

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