Lancaster University Chaplaincy Centre, on the

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

brings together the many faith groups represented on the campus and in the wider community.

History

When the university was being designed, the architect

Gabriel Epstein Gabriel Epstein (25 October 1918 in Duisburg, Germany – 25 July 2017 in Paris), often known as Gabi Epstein, was a British architect and urban planner, particularly noted for his master plan of the University of Lancaster, as well as several ...

suggested a site to the north-west of Alexandra Square for a chapel, potentially linked to University House. The Anglican Bishop of Blackburn, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Lancaster, and the Rev. G. A. Maland (representing the

free church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...

es) held discussions together and agreed to retain the Preston-based firm Cassidy & Ashton, who specialised in religious buildings, as architects.Twentieth Century Society
/ref>''Building the Modern Church: Roman Catholic Church Architecture in Britain, 1955−1975'', by Robert Proctor
/ref> Later, these churches were joined by the Jewish community, and the University Grants Committee agreed to help with the cost of fees and fittings for the social areas. Built in 1968−1969, the Chaplaincy Centre consists of three circular lobes with a three pronged

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

, intended to embody an aspirational ecumenical spirit and representing the coming together of the three

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...

s of

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Nonconformism Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

. The Chaplaincy Centre's spire was the basis of the university's 1989 logo, introduced in the university's silver jubilee. Similar facilities exist at the universities of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. However, very few universities in the

have such purpose built facilities. Lancaster was the first such joint centre in the United Kingdom.

Interior details

At the insistence of the

Catholic Diocese As of October 5, 2021, the Catholic Church in its entirety comprises 3,171 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, including over 652 Diocese#Archdiocese, archdioceses and 2,248 dioceses, as well as apostolic vicariates, apostolic exarchates, apostolic ad ...

of Lancaster, the Catholic chapel is separate to the chapel used by Anglicans and Nonconformists, but moveable screens mean that both chapels can open up into the concourse for shared activities such as carol services. A portable organ, with one manual and four stops, was installed in 1983, and can be moved for use in either chapel or the concourse. Each chapel seats about 220 people. The Anglican/Nonconformist chapel is decorated with a wooden sculpture behind the communion table, entitled "The Battle". Constructed by local artist, Jan Thorn, it is reminiscent of a crown of thorns. The wall behind the Catholic alter is decorated with a

fresco-secco Fresco-secco (or a secco or fresco finto) is a wall painting technique where pigments mixed with an organic binder and/or lime are applied onto a dry plaster. The paints used can e.g. be casein paint, tempera, oil paint, silicate mineral paint. I ...

depicting the

Transfiguration of Jesus In the New Testament, the Transfiguration of Jesus is an event where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) describe it, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it (). In these a ...

, which was painted over 12 days in 2017 by the Eastern Orthodox iconographer Aidan Hart.

Usage

The centre also includes a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Meditation Room and a Quiet Room used by

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

. The centre hosts weekly

Mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from ''sati'', a significant element of Hind ...

sessions and serves as a meeting place for the Lancaster

Jewish Society Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

every

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

. Opposite the Chaplaincy Centre in Ash House are the university's Islamic prayer rooms. The centre is also used as a

polling station A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building

for local and national elections.

References

External links

*
Lancaster University Chaplaincy centre websiteAnglican and Free Church Chapel website
{{Coord, 54.011331, -2.7869717, display=title Lancaster University University and college chapels in the United Kingdom