as additional contributing factors. Almost
25 percent of our alumni continue to listen
to chapel on the radio or over the Internet.
1
MurrayMurdoch indicated in
Cedarville
College: A Century of Commitment
that the
importance placed on chapel began at the
top. James T. Jeremiah added a chapel to the
campus landscape in 1976 as the center for
spiritual development. A former pastor and
always a minister of the Gospel, Jeremiah
gave great emphasis to chapel, so much
so that our current facility still bears his
name. Near the completion of the chapel,
he engaged students in a walkathon to raise
the necessary funds to purchase pews for
the building.
2
When evangelist Paul Dixon became
President, the chapel maintained its central
importance. Murdoch wrote, “One of
Dixon’s first priorities as President was
the chapel service. He viewed this as the
primary responsibility for a Christian
college president.”
3
Dixon stated,
“Historically the direction you give the
chapel ministry determines the future of the
institution.The heartbeat of every Christian
college is what happens in chapel.”
4
Dixon
James T. Jeremiah, Cedarville University President from 1954 to 1978, speaking in the
nearly completed chapel, then at Apple Technology Resource Center.
Paul Dixon, Cedarville University President from 1978 to 2003, broadcasts live on radio
while students carry hymnals to the new James T. Jeremiah Chapel.
34
|
Cedarville Magazine