Chapel (But No Clergy)

This room served as the original chapel for Girard College from 1848 until 1878, when a separate Gothic-style chapel building was built. Although Stephen Girard's will barred clergy from campus, he also insisted that “all the instructors and teachers in the College, shall take pains to instill into the minds of the scholars the purest principles of morality.” Christian services led by laypeople were part of school life until the late 20th century.

The rolls of honor rested on the walls of the chapel, the little Black pulpit desk faced that famous center aisle, an old Mason & Hamlin organ had a corner of the trinity of platforms, and the grouping of the sections never allowed anyone to be out of place." William Zeller (GC, class of 1872)

This room, fitted out as Zeller described, served as the original chapel for Girard College from 1848 until 1878. Stephen Girard's will insisted that no "ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect whatsoever, shall ever hold or exercise any station" at the school and even barred them from campus. He did so to “keep the tender minds of the orphans … free from the excitement which clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy they are so apt to produce”. Instead, the lay (non-ordained) staff were to inculcate "the purest principles of morality” in the students. When the school opened in 1848, this resulted in daily lay-led chapel services of a non-denominational Christian faith.

In his book “Memories of Girard College”, former Girard student—and later employee—Ernest Cunningham (GC, class of 1892), recounts the following:

“Chapel services were held before and after school. The weekday morning service consisted of reading a chapter in the Bible, and a prayer. The President or Vice President, or in the absence of either the Faculty Head officiated. The afternoon service was the same but with a hymn added.”

Religious chapel services for Girard students carried on into the late 20th century, but have since ceased. "Chapel" is still a regular feature of Girard College life, but functions solely as school assemblies.

By 1878 the student body had outgrown this 50 x 50 space and a new Gothic-style chapel was built. This was replaced again in 1933 by the even-larger current chapel building. In addition to regular Chapel meetings, the chapel also serves as the site for graduations, award ceremonies and special events, such as Founder’s Day, which is a day of celebration for students and alumni in honor of Stephen Girard’s birthday.

“I witnessed the old chapel’s destruction with a bit of sadness, recalling some of the more pleasant occasions we’d had there… (One scene I’ll remember to my dying day was the two guys running across the Main Road with the hands of the clock at the six o’clock position, one boy at each end. Where the hands ended up I will never know.) I got to see that [1878] chapel torn down, but I also got to see the “new” chapel all through its construction in 1934.” William “Bill” Lear (GC, June 1935):

Cunningham, Ernest. Memories of Girard College. Philadelphia, PA. Girard College, 1942.

Sand, Richard. Laurent, Elizabeth. Girard College—a Living History. New York, NY. Oakley Publishing Inc., 2009.

Zeller, William. "The Editor's Study for April" Girard College Record, April 1890.