Chapel & Spirituality
Our Chapel is the culmination of 30 years’ worth of dreaming, planning, and working by Dr. William Mann Irvine, founder and first headmaster (1893–1928) of Mercersburg Academy, and his wife Camille. Designed by Ralph Adams Cram (of Cram and Ferguson), the Chapel was dedicated in 1928 to the memory of Mercersburg alumni killed in World War I. It was rededicated at the Centennial Celebration of the Academy in 1993. The Chapel spire, a replica of St. Mary the Virgin at Oxford, contains one of 163 traditional carillons in the United States.
Non-denominational Christian worship services occur every Sunday morning at eleven o'clock during each term and are attended voluntarily by faculty, students, staff members, and guests from the community. In addition, alumni, parents, friends, and neighbors of Mercersburg, as well as faculty and students, gather in this landmark building for weddings, Easter-morning community Sunrise Services, Christmas Candlelight Services, occasional memorial services, and performances by the 120-voice Mercersburg Area Community Chorus, as well as concerts from guest organists and carillonneurs.
Students come to Mercersburg from different cultural and religious backgrounds, and we embrace this diversity on our campus. Therefore, we provide transportation to or sponsor worship services and events for those of other faiths, and use these occasions as teaching moments for the community. Through the Chapel Program, worship services, and campuswide involvement, the Chapel helps provide a moral and ethical anchor for all Mercersburg students.
