The Evolution of Chapel

By MARGOT BECKER ‘20

“Do not do that again,” Mr. Bland muttered forcefully in response to student applause at the first Sunday chapel service this year. His features seemed dark, emphasized by the soft ambient light of the chapel, and his gaze cut through insouciance of the crowd. This was a new energy for the Sunday service program, one which has, in previous years, featured almost exclusively light-hearted performances and speeches, mostly from students.

The Sunday service program at Milton, known by most simply as “Chapel,” has always been somewhat of a confusing experience for students. One almost never knows just what to expect when they walk through those heavy wooden doors on Sunday evenings, and presentations have ranged from the profound to the downright odd (remember the Buddhist rock-band?). But this year, the program has a new method and a new mission, and we can all, hopefully, look forward to a more cogent, consistent message. I spoke with Mr. Bland and Ms. DeBuhr to determine what the future of Sunday services will look like.

To understand the Chapel program, though, we must first ask: how did we get here? In my conversation with Ms. DeBuhr, I came to understand why the program has seemed so confused in past years. The history of the program is best understood through Milton’s past chaplains, those people who have held Ms. DeBuhr’s job in years past. And the furthest back we need to look takes us to Reverend Tom Cleveland ‘45. Chaplain for over thirty years, Rev. Cleveland kept a tight ship. Services featured speakers from various faith traditions who were invited to give lessons in the contexts of their religious world-views. Services were mandatory then, as they are now, and the dress code was significantly more formal. Boys were required to show out in tie and jacket, and girls in skirts and dresses.

Rev. Cleveland’s retirement brought on Mr. Bob Ganung, who is now the chaplain at the Taft School. Ganung’s tenure was far shorter than Cleveland’s, and by all accounts he made very few changes to the previous structure of the program. Following the departure of Mr. Ganung, the school hired a new chaplain, Mr. Ed Snow, in 2003. Snow lasted at Milton for only two years, but my discussion with Mr. DeBuhr and my further research into Milton Magazines seem to suggest that his employment occurred in the period when the Chapel program lost its way. According to Mr. Heard, Mr. Snow and Ms. Robin Robertson, head of school at the time, “saw chapel as two polar opposite things.” Snow favored an optional approach to chapel in which students would attend of their own volition, whereas Robertson was adamant that Chapel was a necessary, beneficial, and disciplinary part of student life on campus. During this rift within the administration, the program suffered, and the legacy of Reverend Cleveland all but disappeared.

In the 2005-2006 school year, Milton Academy had no chaplain, and the Sunday service program continued to degrade. During this period, the program was run by the Dean of Students, and dorms rotated attendance in groups of six. The program lost nearly all of its prior vivacity. The 2006-2007 school year, though, brought in Ms. Suzanne DeBuhr, who has spent her years attempting to revitalize the program and transform it into a meaningful space for student reflection.

This year, though, brings on Ms. DeBuhr’s most ambitious changes yet. At the first chapel she unveiled the guiding question which will guide all of our thinking for the year: “What does it mean to be good?” Chapel programming this year is designed to revolve around the theme almost exclusively, with each service bringing another voice or idea to the community canon.

In addition to the creation of a consistent theme, Ms. DeBuhr reports that the vast majority of our Sunday speakers will be adults from our community rather than students, as has been the case in the past. The tentative lineup boasts faculty members including Ms. Sydney, Ms. Collins, Dr. Brandstetter, and Mr. Bland. We can also look forward to welcoming Mr. Temba Maqubela, head of the Groton School, to our Chapel during a service scheduled for March 8th.

Mr. Bland spoke at length, too, about his visions for the chapel program in coming years. As a man of faith and someone for whom the Chapel’s physical space is deeply personal, Mr. Bland has been somewhat dismayed with the Sunday service program as of late. Beside respect for the space, though, Bland expressed that the usefulness of the Chapel is an encouragement for practicing quietness. “A distracted mind is an unhappy mind,” he said in his meeting with me, adding sarcastically “so gosh darn it you all are going to be quiet!” In an age where spending more than six hours a day on one’s phone is not uncommon, Mr. Bland believes that we need to take a step back, to sit with ourselves unencumbered by buzzes and chimes.

In reflecting on his speech at the September 22nd Sunday service, Mr. Bland expressed that he felt deeply moved in the moment to speak for his principles in a moment where he saw “threats” to the goals of the space.

Ms. DeBuhr expressed similar sentiments, and both said that they have very similar mindsets when it comes to the execution of the Sunday service program. Ms. DeBuhr stated that she was deeply disappointed in the behavior of the student body in the Chapel this past year, saying, “we can't have that mode of behavior anymore.” This attitude shift is the onus for our new set of Chapel norms.

One of the most contentious parts of our new Chapel norms is the admonishment of applause. DeBuhr expressed that this is actually a tension for her, as she knows that many forms of faith do practice clapping as a part of worship. She said, though, that “we’re not a sports game, and we’re not a praise church,” which has led her to the decision to discourage clapping in the Chapel.

Ms. DeBuhr is also thinking, though, about the messaging of Chapel. Acknowledging that in past years the program has seemed scattered and confusing, she said that she is taking action to make change. This Sunday, October 6th, the boarding community got a first glimpse of our new direction with a lengthy speech from DeBuhr focused on expressions of the golden rule across cultures.

We can look forward to some variation in speakers, though, as Ms. DeBuhr says that she does not plan to speak for every chapel this year, making as much room as possible for other faculty members. She shared that we may not hear from her at all at some services, and at others she may be giving the main sermon.

For worse or for better, the Sunday service program is changing significantly this year. From the norms of the space to the very content of the experience, we are in for a new Chapel program.

Mark PangOctober 12, 2019