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by Bruce William Colwell (Author)
Carleton's Skinner Memorial Chapel celebrates its centennial anniversary in October 2016. This history of the Carleton chapel and chaplaincy chronicles the story of the College's most iconic building, and the evolution of the place of religion and student spiritual life at Carleton, one of the nation's premier residential liberal arts colleges. The central place of religion at Carleton College was implicit in the details of its founding and explicit in the pages of early college catalogs which declared that the school was "a true Christian College -- not denominational, but distinctly and earnestly evangelical."
Student religious and spiritual life was an important component of the educational experience at Carleton since its founding by the Congregational Conference of Minnesota in 1866. Throughout its 150-year history the college has supported student religious life in three ways: a) with a facility, the Willis Chapel before 1916 and the Skinner Memorial Chapel since then, dedicated to community worship and student religious life; b) with college staff, clergy presidents, and faculty before 1945, and chaplains thereafter, to lead, direct, and support student religious life; and c) by providing students with co-curricular programs, organizations, and opportunities.
The college chapel has always served as the college's primary public gathering space, a venue for community worship, official institutional events (convocations, presidential inaugurations), weddings and memorial services, and musical and theater performances. The Skinner Memorial Chapel, dedicated in October 1916, has served Carleton as a church, performing arts center, and auditorium, hosting activities solemn and festive, large and small. Just as the college library has served and symbolized the life of the mind, knowledge, and reason, the college chapel has served and symbolized the life of the heart, soul, and spirit.
