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  • » Contact us to have your name added to the Chapel e-mail list.

  • In the Chapel:
  • » WELCOME STUDENTS! Worship resumes in September. We hope to see you then!

  • » Services in the Chapel during term include Choral Evensong (Wednesdays 5:30 pm) and Choral Solemn Eucharist (Thursdays 5 pm). Join us when choral services resume in the Fall (Michaelmas) Term.

  • » Chapel services welcome all from the College and beyond, of any faith or none. About the services | Full weekly schedule

  • » The Chapel ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING took place on March 29. The annual report is available.

  • » New Chapel Executive for 2012-2013! Read about it here!

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From the President's Report 2007/08
Chaplaincy at the University of King's College

The chaplaincy at King's has evolved positively with the general development of the University and thus continues to play an important role in creating the unique spirit of collegiality, personal challenge, creative expression, social consciousness, and academic excellence that is the ‘King's experience'. The chaplain is first and foremost a full member of the College community who contributes appropriately to all aspects of College life. He is available to faculty, staff and students for general consultation, spiritual counsel and crisis support. In these roles the chaplain is accessed regularly by members of the university community regardless of their faith affiliation or spiritual perspective.

The chaplain also oversees the life of the King's College Chapel. The collegiate chapel has long been a centre of spiritual and intellectual life on the campus since the days when the College prepared Anglican clergy for ministry. When this role was removed from the University in the early1970s and the Foundation Year Programme became the defining element of academic life, the chapel life shifted in response and continued to minister effectively to an increasingly secular congregation. Today, in addition to the full round of traditional Anglican worship that is led mostly by students (four or five times of prayer each day in the chapel!) there are lectures, discussion groups, concerts and social events of a general spiritual nature, appropriate for the entire College community.

The Chapel Musician, Paul Halley, is acclaimed as one of the premier choral directors, composers and musicians in North America. He contributes immensely to the life of the College through the Chapel choir and the development of his vision for the College to be an essential part of a future School of Sacred Music in Halifax.

The life of the Chapel is maintained by a large number of committed students, including a diverse, energetic and talented Executive. The following description of Chapel activities 2007/08 is largely taken from the report submitted by the wardens at the end of the academic year. In that report the Wardens stated that their goal was to was express "non-threatening opportunities for students and staff of all backgrounds to hold together the age-old disciplines of academic rigor and ritual practice, the twin experiences of truth and beauty, so that here on campus we might achieve a unity of thinking and living, of knowing and loving. … Our hope is that the chapel continue as a place where the University's intellectual life may be informed by its tradition of prayer, and vice versa, and where all are welcome, regardless of their background, gifts, intellectual opinions, or the level of commitment they are able to offer."

On September 10 the year began with a bluegrass concert by popular Canadian artists Petunia and Old Man Luedecke, followed by a well-attended party in the SCR. At least two hundred students attended—many of them freshly arrived at King's—and were welcomed freely into the Chapel to hear old-time, traditional country & gospel music. This was to set the tone for the year, presenting the chapel as an inviting and unique space on campus, where all are welcome. The next major venture was the rustic Thanksgiving Weekend Retreat at St Anne's Camp in the Annapolis Valley. This unforgettable weekend brought together a diverse group of thirty students and, by God's grace, forged many lasting friendships. At the retreat, a series of talks on the spirituality of the Desert Fathers was offered by Rev'd Walter Hannam from the College of Emmanuel & St Chad.

On October 15, the King's Chapel community was host to the Community Action on Homelessness Panel Discussion, which kicked off their annual Halifax Housing Week. Another successful project was a public film series, entitled "Reel Faith" that attracted many students. This series explored how older modes of spiritual life are being retained in today's world. The films included: an insiders' look at Catholic Carthusian monks in France; Hasidic Jewish communities in New York; Sufi Islamic music and zikrs throughout the Middle East; as well as Tibetan Buddhism. The aim of this series was to encourage thoughtful engagement with common spiritual themes through the popular medium of film, and to provide a means for university students and staff of different faith traditions to do so together, as a chance to uncover common roots and purposes. Those who attended were highly enthusiastic about the series.

The Advent Carols & Lessons service was glorious and packed. After the Christmas break, the Winter term was notably marked by a reading and discussion group on Theology & Sexuality, in which the Chapel's student community attempted to engage some of the most pressing theological issues of our day at the highest intellectual level in a corporate, open, and impartial theological manner. Lent began with a well-attended Quiet Retreat Day led by Dr Wayne Hankey. During Lent—under the leadership of SAMS—many chapel-goers helped organize a soup kitchen for St George's downtown operation. On Palm Sunday, after the morning procession around the Quad with Eeyore the donkey, the Chapel hosted another well attended concert by popular local folk artist Amelia Curran, whose thoughtful lyrics about love, vulnerability and betrayal set the tone for Holy Week. Along with Dr Neil Robertson on Good Friday, Dr Hankey returned to be our missioner all week, delivering five brilliantly important sermons on the heart of what we are really about: the law of exchange and the doctrine of substituted love. The Resurrection Party after the Vigil was a huge success.

The year came to effective close with a visit to the Chapel by the widely-renowned writer and historian William Dalrymple. He spoke after a very beautiful Choral Evensong attended by a highly diverse group of young people and faculty, observing the Feast of the Annunciation together. His talk challenged us to consider how different religious communities might engage one another and pray together in the diverse context of the modern University, without giving up the particularity of our specific age-old traditions, but precisely by embracing them more fully. As an example of this, the faithful continuance of the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer in our Chapel remembers that our collegial, academic life even in the modern, secular world is ordered according to a living tradition of monastic prayer, which reaches back to the asceticism of the desert fathers.

The Chapel's liturgical life has been enhanced by the choral offerings of the College choir under the direction of Paul Halley. Again this year we were thankful for the presence of Jewish students in our choir. In addition to the choir's presence at Solemn Eucharist on Thursdays at 5 p.m., the choir also introduced sung choral Evensong on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. This is a beautiful non-Eucharistic service in which anyone on campus can participate and become part of our corporate worship. As term ended the choir went off on a choir tour, singing at four locations in New Brunswick, and ending up with a concert at All Saint's Cathedral in Halifax. The choir was received at each place with great enthusiasm.

Immense thanks for the many achievements of this year are due to Dr Tom Curran (the only faculty member in Holy Orders, for his ongoing encouragement, timely advice, and especially for his liturgical leadership on Sunday mornings); the cleaners; the Bishop; the Music Director Paul Halley for always inspiring hope; the Wardens (Dan Wilband, Kristi Assaly and Benjamin Lee) for unflagging zeal; the Treasurer (Elizabeth Kleven); the Sacristans (Nick Hatt and Caleigh Davis); the Sunday morning choir whip Tim Blackwood; the postulants for Holy Orders (Andrew Killawee and David Puxley); our twenty student choristers; those who donated eight choral scholarships of $600 each; the students who led in the public Offices of Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayers, and Evening Prayer; our twenty five student servers; those who led in the singing of Compline; student greeters, esp James Mosher; those who assisted with advertising and especially for the constant efforts of Vivien Hannon; Ron Haflidson for his leadership in the ‘Theology in the Quad' study group; all students and faculty who offered Friday evening meditations; those students who preached so eloquently at the Thursday and Sunday Eucharists; those who counted money; Shannon Parker, Sandra Thorne, Margo Sly, and other members of the altar guild; Gerry Smith and the team in the Bursar's Office for all their cheerful assistance and patience; Kara, Paula and Rachel in the Advancement Office; the tremendous encouragement and cooperation of Leigh Gillis, Dean of Residence; the President's assistant, Pam Dean; and finally, President Barker for his continual support in every way (including his handy maintenance of the outside door); and to the countless others who must here remain unnamed.

Dr Gary Thorne (Dunelm)
Chaplain, The University of King's College