Duke Chapel,nThen and Nownby Mark TooleynI n December, tlie dean of the chapel atnDuke University in North CaroHna,nalong with the school’s president, announcednthat same-sex “weddings” couldnbe celebrated at Duke’s imposing Gothicnchapel. The announcement came asnsomewhat of a surprise: Duke is affiliatednwith the United Methodist Church,nwhich officially disapproves of same-sexnunions. Moreover, the dean is WilliamnWillimon, a United Methodist ministernwho is usually an ally of evangelicalsnwithin his denomination. Duke will nownjoin the ranks of Harvard, Yale, Stanfordnand other prominent universities whosenchapels are open to homosexual “weddings.”nAccording to Duke’s reasoning, “diversit)'”non Duke’s campus requires tolerationnof same-sex ceremonies conductednby religious denominations that do notnoppose them. Potentially, this could includenservices led by clergy from thenUnited Church of Christ, the UnitariannUniversalist Association, some Jewishngroups, and perhaps a few others. MostnChristian clergy would be forbidden byntheir own denominations from conductingnsuch ceremonies, including any elerg}’nfrom the United Methodist Church.n”It is not, in our opinion, a matter ofnthe Chapel approving or disapproving ofnthis liturgical innovation, but rather anquestion of how much religious diversitynwe should accommodate,” explained anstatement from Willimon and Duke’snpresident, Nannerl Keohane. Willimonnhad previously opposed same-sex ceremoniesnin die chapel. He now says thatnallowing the ceremonies “in no way legitimizesnthese unions from a United Methodistnpoint of view.”nThe recommendation from Duke’snCommittee to Explore Blessing of Same-nSex Unions admitted the chapel’s “rootednessnin specifically Christian tradition.”nBut its statement notes that many of itsncommittee members believe that it is thatnver’ tradition that mandates the chapel’snoffer of “hospitality” to same-sex couplesnwho “seek support in pursuing their faithndevelopment.” The committee generouslynpromises that no clergy will be compellednto perform homosexual “marriages”nif their consciences preclude it.nMost of the verbiage from the chapel’sndean, the university’s president, and thenSame-Sex Unions Committee presumesnthat Duke Chapel is a crossroads of interfaith,nsocial, and sexual diversit}’. Dukenofficials grudgingly admit that it is primarilyna Christian church. But their definitionnof “church” is noteworthy. Fornthem, the chapel, as a church, is assumednto be a religious marketplace where therenis a cacophony of divergent voices, withnno single unif}’ing message but tolerance.nThere seems to be no thought tiiat UnitednMethodists have a right to ask otiiers,nin an ecumenical spirit, to refrain fromnactivities that Methodists (and almost allnother Christian churches) would considernabhorrent.nDuke’s current vision of its chapel, notnsurprisingly, is quite different from the visionnoffered by the chapel’s founders.nThe sermons from its 1935 dedicationnceremonies still make for fascinatingnreading. For its founders, die chapel wasnnot to be a debating hall, or a laboratorynfor social experimentation, but preeminentlyna pulpit of Christian proclamationnand truth. A current Duke website describesnthe chapel’s founding ceremonynas “interfaith.” But the documents fromnthat day show only Christian hymns.nChristian prayers, and Christian sermons.nThe world of 1935, amid the Depressionnand therise of both fascism andncommunism, seemed to be engulfed innsecularism and paganism. Nearly all thenspeakers at the chapel’s dedication portrayednit as a spearhead for reclaiming anwaning culture for Christianit)’.nIn a statement that would not be expectednfrom President Keohane, thenpresidentnB.R. Lacy declared:nThe chapel says to the world thatnhere Cod has the preeminence andnthat all life should be lived undernHis shadow, within the sound ofnHis voice, and under the influencenof His beauty and holiness.nDuke’s 19th-century founders, alongnwith the 20th-centur)’ tobacco heirs whonendowed it with money and a new name,nenvisioned the universit)’ as a Christianncenter of higher education, under thentutelage of the Methodist Church, withnthe chapel at the spiritual center of thatnChristian oasis.n”This chapel must speak of Christ,”nPresident Lacy insisted, and “its simplenceremonies of our Protestant faith [must]ncenter in the open Word of God …” Hennnimagined a “thousand voices” within itsnwalls reciting the Apostles’ Creed. Inncontrast to young people elsewhere in thenmid-1930’s who were following Mussolini,nHitler, or Stalin, he saw the chapelnleading Duke’s students to “Jesus Christ,nHis only Son, our Lord.” They wouldn”form a deathless loyalt)’ and a glowingnlove for Him who gave Himself to revealnthe Father’s heart and to bring all mennunder the Father’s reign.”nAs St. Paul appealed to the youngernTimothys and Tituses of his day, DukenChapel would make disciples for the Lord—nor so Lacy hoped. “It is for this we pray asnin this high day this chapel is dedicated tonGod.” Duke’s president, along with thenother speakers, portrayed die chapel as anseedbed for future generations of Christiannscholars who would conform a fallennworld to the will of the Triune God.nI’he Right Reverend Edwin Penick, innhis sermon at the dedication, saw in thenchapel’s dominance of the campus skylinenthe hope that God’s truth wouldnguide the universit)’.nA Christian pulpit, set up in thencenter of such a universit)’ as this,ncalls not for mere approval of then. life of Jesus or pious recommendationnof the principles of His teaching,nbut for an intrepid demonstrationnof how that life may benemulated, and specific directions asnto how His teaching may be appliednto modern life.nPenick saw Duke Chapel as soundingnthe “passionate crusader’s call” and “rallyingnmen to standards of righteousnessnagainst disintegrating social forces.”nLike other speakers, Penick saw thenGospel proclaimed in Duke Chapel asnpart of a coherent presentation of Cod’sntrudi diroughout a Christian universit)’.nThe various departments and coursesnwere not to be unrelated or pursuing separaten”chaotic” paths; each was to be anspoke of the wheel of God’s revelation.n”May God abide in this holy place, andnthe Spirit of Truth keep the message andnusages of this chapel, like light, pure andnundefiled,” he concluded.nThe Reverend Willis Richard Cullomnof Wake Forest College, a Baptist institution,nsaw the chapel as a sign of hopenagainst the “well-organized spread of secularism.”nIt would aid in “capturing andnsubduing to Christ and His ideals thennew civilization which is emerging fromnthe shattered ruins of the old.” ThenJUNE 2001/45n