|
September 2008
 |
|
Wynne Chapel 1958-2008
by Dara McCoy
 50th
Anniversary
Sara Bernice Moseley, wife of
Austin College president emeritus John D. Moseley, remembers
watching from her home on Grand Avenue as a crane lifted the Sam
Houston bell and steeple atop Wynne Chapel in 1958. This year, Wynne
Chapel celebrates its 50th anniversary. The College’s connection to
the Presbyterian Church and the Wynne Chapel’s usage have evolved
dramatically since the building’s construction. Yet, its presence
still serves as a reminder of the College’s Presbyterian history, an
important tie to the church, and the nexus of religious and
spiritual life on campus.
It was a generous gift from
Toddie Lee Wynne, Sr., a well-known Texas oilman, civic leader,
active Presbyterian, and former chair of the Austin College Board of
Trustees, that funded the construction of Wynne Chapel. Mrs. Moseley
remembers the excitement on campus of having a new building with a
900- person seating capacity for lectures, musical performances, and
religious activities. On September 15, 1958, Sam Rayburn, Speaker of
the House of Representatives, delivered the keynote address at the
chapel’s dedication. Mrs. Moseley said the chapel’s construction
also had great significance to President Moseley, who led Austin
College from 1953 to 1978.
“It was so important in his
thinking that the College had a chapel, a building that was
centrally located, and the fact that it faces the Administration
Building was a very significant thing,” she said. To the leaders who
today enter Caruth Administration Building and make decisions
concerning the College’s future, the chapel’s location provides a
clear reminder of historical roots and modern ties to the church.
 In 1958, Wynne Chapel was an
important symbol of the College’s Presbyterian history, tracing all
the way back to Presbyterian missionary the Reverend Daniel Baker,
who helped found the College, and to its legal ties. When the chapel
was built, the College was a legal entity of the Presbyterian
Church. In 1962, Dr. Moseley proposed redefining the legal link
between the College and church in order to create more of a
non-sectarian liberal arts college. Four years later, the Synod of
Texas and Austin College severed legal ties and established a
covenant relationship.
According to Austin College:
A Sesquicentennial History 1849-1999, President Moseley
described the covenant as “revisions designed to anticipate and
avoid future problems in Church-State relationships by providing a
broader base and flexibility of support through trustee leadership,
recognizing that the regular benevolent budget of the Church cannot
provide the increased necessary funds for maintaining a pace-setting
institution.”
The mid-1960s also saw a broad
shift in attitude from students and faculty who criticized the
long-established mandatory chapel services, held in Sherman Hall
prior to Wynne Chapel’s construction. The issue was hotly debated
and eventually chapel service requirements were terminated, further
denoting the College’s shift to a non-sectarian institution.
|
|
 |
Wynne Chapel Today
Fifty years later, Wynne
Chapel still stands watch over students and faculty as they
cross the campus, a reminder of the Presbyterian Church ties and
the opportunities for spiritual growth and outreach for all
students. “How Great Thou Art” or some other hymn rings out from
the chapel’s Carillon bells at 4:45 p.m. each day, one of many
tangible ways the chapel touches modern day campus life.
Despite the altered
relationship with the church and changing attitudes about
religious life in general over the past 50 years, Wynne Chapel
remains an important fixture at Austin College. Opening
Convocation, Family Weekend worship, and the annual holiday
Service of Lessons and Carols are just a few College-wide events
held in Wynne Chapel. The chapel is an important venue for
campus music group performances, Austin College Leadership Award
recipients, and special speakers such as Robert Engel, recipient
of a Nobel Prize in Economics. Every year, the chapel is filled
with young people who utilize the campus for Presbyterian youth
events.
The building’s evolution
also is evidenced in the small chapel, which accommodates yoga
classes, provides indoor practice space for the Aussies Dance
Team when bad weather strikes, and hosts the Muslim Student
Association prayers. “It’s a space for the whole student body,
the whole college community,” said John Williams ’84,
college chaplain and director of Church Relations.
Though the chapel opens its
doors to various activities within the student body, traditional
Christian worship and activity in Wynne Chapel occurs regularly
through midday prayers every Tuesday, communion and worship
every Sunday night, and as a headquarters for ACtivators, a
campus Presbyterian mobile youth ministry. “We’re not going to
hit you over the head with the cross, nor are we going to
apologize that there’s a cross on top of the steeple,” Williams
said. “Our commitment as a church-related institution is to take
all students and their spirituality seriously.”
For 50 years, Wynne Chapel
has embodied the religious underpinnings of Austin College. The
activities held within its walls, from mandatory chapel service
with assigned seating to belly dancing classes, exemplify the
transformation of church relations, religious thought, and the
enduring relevance of the building. Mrs. Moseley, who has
experienced the evolution of Wynne Chapel and church relations
at Austin College, still feels as excited about the chapel as
she did 50 years ago. “There’s such activity coming out of the
chapel,” she said. “It’s a real, live connection to the church.”
|
|
September 2008
Feedback? |
Happy 50th
IN CELEBRATION OF WYNNE
CHAPEL’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY:
 |
September 26 – November 16:
Austin College Archives Display in the small chapel
illustrates the 50-year history of Wynne Chapel. |
|
|
September 28: Parent and
Family Weekend Worship Service at 11 a.m., with a sermon by
the Reverend Kary Wilshusen Rawlings ’78. |
|
|
October 26: Homecoming
Weekend Worship Service at 11 a.m., with a sermon provided
by the Reverend Nancy Duff ’73 at 11 a.m. |
|
|
November 13: Austin College
A Cappella Choir Concert at 7:30 p.m., featuring the
premiere of a choral work by Austin College’s first lady Anna
Laura Page, commissioned for the anniversary. |
|
|
November 14 – 15: Grace
Presbytery Meeting, including the 2008 Cunningham
Lectures by Dr. Cynthia Rigby, professor of systematic
theology at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. |
|
|
November 16:
Official
Worship Service in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of
Wynne Chapel’s Dedication, including an A Cappella Choir
performance of the choral piece commissioned for the anniversary
and composed by Anna Laura Page. The Reverend Laura
Shelton Mendenhall ’69 will speak at the 11 a.m. service. |
Back
to the Top
 Printer friendly version
|
 pdf version |
Email to a friend |
|
|
