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Closing Convocation Brings Worship to New Chapel

Closing Convocation at Duke Divinity School on April 20 marked the official move of school worship from York Chapel to the recently completed Goodson Chapel.

May 4, 2005

As part of the service, which began in York, liturgical furnishings were carried to Goodson Chapel, which housed most of the worship. Hundreds of faculty, staff and students processed from York Chapel to Goodson Chapel, singing “Prepare the Way of the Lord,” as they walked. More than 300 people participated in the service.

Goodson Chapel, with its 55-foot-high ceilings and Gothic-style architecture, serves as the anchor of the divinity school’s 53,000 square-foot addition project. It is named for the late Bishop W. Kenneth Goodson, who served as bishop-in-residence at the divinity school and, among other distinctions, was a Duke University trustee and served on The Duke Endowment’s board of trustees.

Divinity school leaders said they were eager to begin using the space for worship, adding that the transition was more than they had hoped for.

“The most thrilling moment for me was walking in the procession from York Chapel carrying our cross and liturgical furnishings,” said school Chaplain Sally Bates. “As we entered the lobby of the new building, it was as if we had crossed a spiritual threshold.  The song of departing we had been singing – ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, and all people shall see the salvation of our God’ – was overtaken by a new song coming from our new home.  As we approached Goodson Chapel, we heard the refrain ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo, Alleluia!’  It was like the confluence of two great rivers, the old giving way to the new.”

Dean L. Gregory Jones was the preacher, The Rev. Susan Pendleton Jones, director of special programs (and who worked closely with architects and builders throughout the project), was the celebrant, and Bates was the presiding minister.

“I felt a sense of overwhelming gratitude, joy and humility to preach the first sermon in Goodson Chapel,” Dean Jones said. “It was profoundly moving to see this dream become reality and to remember Bishop Goodson, who was both a mentor and a friend, as well as a remarkable leader. It was also special for Susan (Pendleton Jones) to celebrate communion in this chapel that she had given so much time to help design and bring to fruition.”