Spiritual Life
St. George's Chapel is the heart of the Hilltop
From the time of St. George’s founding, faith and the search for meaning have played significant roles in the life of the school and its students. While the school is an independent school in its operations and funding, early in its history St. George’s aligned itself with the Episcopal Church, an affiliation that continues to this day.
Students attend required chapel twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, and there are additional, optional services held at other points during the week. On Tuesday, at “Short Chapel,” the service usually features student speakers from the sixth form, musical performances, communal singing, and prayers. The Thursday service is a full worship service and generally follows the Episcopal liturgy of morning prayer.
Recognizing the diverse faith backgrounds of the school community and the world, the chapel program operates in keeping with the Episcopal Christian tradition of inclusiveness, and all of the major world religions are honored in our services. All students, regardless of their religious backgrounds or beliefs, are welcome and important to the community experience of our chapel program. Students who wish to attend services off campus in their own religious traditions are allowed and encouraged to do so if a local option is available.
The Beloved Community Initiative
School Chaplain Jackie Kirby announced the initiative as a mission “to move St. George’s closer to what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described as the ‘Beloved Community,’ characterized by compassion, kindness, mutual understanding, and respect for the dignity of every human being.” Since the fall of 2018, students and faculty at St. George's School have taken part in the Beloved Community Initiative, a program designed to integrate the full history of our boarding school into today's curriculum. The initiative has brought numerous alumni and former teachers back to campus as featured chapel speakers.
The Chapel
Considered a landmark of English Gothic Revival architecture, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the chapel was designed by Ralph Adams Cram, and includes the work of famed artisans and sculptors. Beyond the beauty of its spaces, there are many beloved school traditions connected to the chapel. For more than a century, the school has gathered in December to celebrate at the Christmas Festival and since the consecration of the chapel, the head of school has traditionally recited the School Prayer at each chapel service.
St. George's School Prayer
Almighty God, the Fountain of all Wisdom, without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, we beseech Thee to bless the members of this school with Thy perpetual presence and prosper them in their work. Keep their hearts free from sin. May they be truthful and reverent in their speech, earnest and faithful in their studies, kind and considerate in their dealings with each other and always ready to help the unprotected and helpless. Bless, we beseech Thee, the teachers of this school and impress upon them a due sense of the responsibilities of their charge. We pray that from these walls students may go forth, generation after generation, well equipped for the battle of life and ready to contend bravely for God and the truth. And this we ask in the name of Him who died for our salvation, to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.