Christ Chapel is a church located in the center of Gustavus Adolphus College

Gustavus Adolphus College

Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. A coeducational, four-year, residential institution, it was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans. To this day the school is firmly...

. Constructed from March 2, 1959 to fall 1961, the chapel was dedicated on January 7, 1962. Construction of the chapel was made possible by gifts from the congregations of the Lutheran Augustana Synod

Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church

The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was a Lutheran church body in the United States that was one of the churches that merged into the Lutheran Church in America in 1962...

, a predecessor body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...

, which is affiliated with the college. Ecumenical

Ecumenism

Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...

 services are held each weekday and on Sundays during the academic year.

The chapel and surrounding grounds are adorned by the sculptures of Paul T. Granlund

Paul Granlund

Paul T. Granlund was an American sculptor. His creative career spanned more than 50 years and more than 650 different works. Most of his work is figurative and made from bronze...

, the former artist-in-residence at Gustavus Adolphus College

Gustavus Adolphus College

Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. A coeducational, four-year, residential institution, it was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans. To this day the school is firmly...

.

Chapel organ

The organ in Christ Chapel was originally built by Hillgreen-Lane at the time the Chapel was built. It has been significantly altered in the last 30 years. These renovations, carried out by David Engen and more recently by the Hendrickson Organ Company of St. Peter, include a new console with solid state combination and relay, moving several ranks of pipes from an antiphonal position in the basement into the main organ above the balcony, restructuring the Swell mixture, and extensive repairs following the tornado of 1998. It currently contains 55 speaking ranks of pipes, played from a four-manual console, and has a preparation on the new Great chest for a mounted Kornet V stop.

The Chapel also houses a small portative organ of three stops on one manual which is used for accompanying and especially for continuo playing in Baroque compositions.

Attendance

Although attendance by the campus community is voluntary, it is encouraged by the chapel break time set aside each weekday morning. College policy dictates that classes and meetings take a 30 minute break from 10:00 a.m. until 10:20 a.m. to provide an opportunity to attend chapel.

Capacity

There is seating for 1,500 people in the chapel, with 1,200 on the main floor and an additional 300 in the balcony. It is the largest seating area on campus

Events

Christmas in Christ Chapel is held every year in the chapel, which also hosts college band, orchestra, and choir concerts throughout the year.

History

On June 9, 1967 John Denver

John Denver

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

 was married to his first wife, Annie Martell, at Christ Chapel.

On March 29, 1998, the spire, which towers above the chapel, was toppled by a tornado that left most of St. Peter, Minnesota

St. Peter, Minnesota

St. Peter is a city in Nicollet County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 11,196 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Nicollet County.St...

in ruins. On March 17, 2008, the cross that was atop the spire was hung from the ceiling in Christ Chapel during a service marking the 10-year anniversary of the tornado.

External links

• Christ Chapel at Gustavus Adolphus College