Centennial Chapel Challenge Sets CA’s Second Century in Motion

Concord Academy couldn’t have picked a more beautiful fall day to host the Centennial Chapel Challenge. This October 15 event, one of several celebratory gatherings throughout CA’s 100th academic year, encouraged students and alums, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the school to get active together. It also honored the history of the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel and the unique spirit this building represents—of wholehearted sharing, listening, and learning, enriched by the diversity of individuals who make up this school.

Many don’t know that CA’s Chapel was originally built as a church in Barnstead, N.H., and that in 1956 a group of faculty and students, along with the inimitable Headmistress Hall, disassembled it by hand, then painstakingly reconstructed the building at the north end of Academy Garden. Under the tutelage of woodworking teacher Molly Gregory in 1956–57, 20 students carved the inscription from 1 Corinthians—including the words “love never faileth”—that each time we gather there we have an opportunity to contemplate. In the decades since, this nonsectarian space has become the heart of the CA community, where every voice is heard with respect.

All this the Chapel Challenge hoped to celebrate through a duathlon, whose course stretched from the Chapel’s town of origin all the way to Concord Academy’s campus. The sky still wasn’t fully light when a starting gate was erected at Parade Circle in Barnstead. A small group of parents, faculty members, and students from CA’s cross-country team limbered up alongside Ellen Smith Harde ’62 and Anne Buxton Sobol ’62, two CA alums who could recall some of the Chapel’s earliest days and had traveled to cheer them on at the start of their journey. With some running and some cycling, in stages, the participants traversed more than 80 miles through fields and forests and arrived at the Chapel in the late afternoon to join the festivities that were underway. At the finish line, supporters shaking pompoms and cowbells greeted them.

For those less intrepid, the Chapel Challenge offered many other ways to take part—a 1-mile walk, a 5K run, or just the chance to enjoy some family-oriented activities and food truck fare. Also presented were an augmented reality history tour that brought to life the history of the Chapel, which CA students had developed, and historical photos and accounts of the Chapel’s story from CA’s archives.

The event was not limited to those who could make it to Concord. CA community members also participated remotely, tracking their own routes using the Strava app. CA even heard from a crew of five D.C. alums who ran their own 5K in the nation’s capital.

All in all, the event felt true to CA—ambitious and supportive, laid-back and engaged. Many thanks to all who took part for making it a special day as part of Concord Academy’s Centennial.

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