My first time in the chapel was during orientation week of my freshman year. I had not been inside the chapel during my tour of the College—I graduated from high school in 2021 and any in-person College events were still closed down that spring when I was touring colleges. But when I heard the swell of the organ coming from inside the sanctuary on my first Sunday of College, I felt a pull towards something.
I was raised in a Christian home with Christian parents and Christian cousins and a very Christian grandfather. Growing up, my grandfather and I had a deal that for each bible verse that I memorized, he would give me $20. By middle school, I was in two Christian youth groups, was discussing theology at length with my grandparents, my mother, and my brother, and had a 1,000 day streak on the Bible app. But it still felt like something was missing.
I was also raised in a home and a family and a community committed to justice. By middle school, I knew that I wanted to spend my life making some corner of the world a little bit more just to those on the social margins. I was confused why the religious leaders who I knew seemed to ignore the parts of the Bible that called out injustice and championed the powerless. At first, I tried to ignore this “missingness.” I completed my daily devotionals. I showed up to Bible study. I prayed every morning and before meals. But by the time I was a senior in high school, I began to question if I could reconcile my belief in Christianity with my belief in justice.
When I first entered the Chapel that first Sunday of orientation, I stood quietly by the door. Professor Houlihan, who leads the Chapel Singers, saw me and, with a warm smile and a wave, asked if I’d like to join the service and walked me to a seat. After the service, Chaplain Halley invited me to join Chapel Council, a community of students who meet weekly to discuss spirituality and grapple with the big questions of religion. The students at Chapel invited me in. They, too, refused to believe in a God that did not care for the poor and the powerless. With the Trinity College Chapel, I found a more expansive vision of Christianity. For the first time ever, I felt that I did not have to check a part of me at the door when I walked inside a church. Stepping into the Chapel, I felt whole again.
Saying goodbye to the Chapel community has been one of the hardest parts of graduating. But I find comfort in knowing that I have been changed by the fierce care, loving curiosity, and stubborn commitment to a more just world of the people who I have met here. To the Trinity College Chapel: thank you for inviting me in, time, and time again.
