In
1967, when the original design of the Theology Building was drawn,
a chapel was part of the plan (see
the sketch drawing below). However, due to financial constraints,
the chapel was not built when the building was completed in 1969.
Since worship is an essential part of Christian life as well as of
theological education, in the 70’s, the Division held its worship
services in the meditation room located at the lower floor of the
Chung Chi College Chapel. The meditation room could accommodate 40
and it was adequate at the time as the community of the Theology
Division was small then. The Chung Chi College Chapel, on the other
hand, it was too large for regular worship of the Division as it
was for gatherings of up to 800 (this was expanded to 1000 in the
90’s). By the early 80’s, as the community of the Theology Division
had increased steadily, it outgrew the meditation room of the College
Chapel. The study rooms on the top floor of the Theology Building
were converted into a chapel to accommodate the increased population
of our community. Though this chapel has been well designed, the
setting and the structure of the building imposed constraints to
make it “a proper chapel”. It could only hold 80 persons at the
most, and is becoming inadequate for our increased number of staff
and
students. In the academic year 2003-04, we have 81 full-time students,
and 29 part-time students. We anticipate that we will grow to 100
full-time students and 50 part-time students per academic year within
the coming decade.
The Theology Division is privately funded (Theology Division has
renamed as Divinity School of Chung Chi College since August 1,
2004). Her key sponsors are four supporting denominations (namely:
Anglican, The Church of Christ in China, Hong Kong Council, Methodist,
Tsung Tsin Mission), and many other local churches and Christian
organizations. Theology Building has been a popular venue for these
Christian groups to hold their meetings, training programmes and
retreats. The small chapel in the Theology Building has played
an important role in these activities but the facilities are becoming
inadequate to meet their needs.
In order to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing society,
and to cater for the needs of the growing population of students
and staff as well as that of modern theological education, the
Divinity School of Chung Chi College has been actively and unceasingly
seeking ways to enhance its infrastructures, curriculums and resources
in the past few years. Renovations have been carried out to improve
the facilities of our teaching, administration and hostel facilities.
However, the problem of inaccessibility to the physically handicapped
has not been solved and this imposes a negative image on our School
which is committed to the ideal of equal opportunities of all people.
The proposal of constructing a Chapel as an extension of the Building
will provide a chance to solve the problem. Thus there are practical
and spiritual needs for the School to implement its unrealized
plan of building the Divinity School Chapel. It will be a focal
point of the School to symbolize our lively activities of teaching,
learning, studying and services.
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