When the editor of the Sewanee Purple asked what message I might want to share about the national elections on November 5, the image that came to mind immediately was of All Saints’ Chapel and how it is always open to the community —24-7! It is available for pondering, prayer, celebration, grief, reflection, pacing, playing the piano, or even singing. The doors are rarely locked, only for special events such as the upcoming Festival of Lessons and Carols — this year December 6- 8.
The Chapel is in the center of campus. We hope people experience it as the heart of our campus in terms of welcome, hospitality, love, refuge, safety, and community welcoming all. So many prayers through the years have been lifted up from this sacred space. It is holy ground. Visitors to our Mountain often say they are drawn first to our Chapel as a place of solace, comfort, pondering, and wonder.
The following prayer for the nation from the Episcopal Church’s Book of
Common Prayer was used on the days leading up to the election as well as election day. We continue to use it at our weekday services in St. Augustine’s Chapel for Morning Prayer (8.30 a.m.) and Evening Prayer (4 p.m.), and offer it to the community for pondering and prayer:
Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Know that the Chapel staff are available if you want to talk about this or other matters. The Chapel staff includes: Nancee Martin (interim university chaplain), Leigh Preston (interim university associate chaplain), Amanda Gott (interfaith chaplain), Mary Margaret Murdock (lay chaplain), Geoffrey Ward (university organist and choirmaster).
In these challenging times, let us persist in love.