The Naval Academy Chapel—Cathedral of the Navy

In commenting upon the newly enlarged Naval Academy Chapel in July, 1940, the United States Naval Institute Proceedings said that the improvements gave to the chapel a "spaciousness and grandeur worthy of the designation, The Cathedral of the Navy."

Important as is the magnitude of the building in providing adequate facilities for religious activities, and its symmetry in lending dignity and beauty to the sacraments, nevertheless other factors have been gradually uniting during the one hundred years of the Naval Academy to justify this title. Combined, as perhaps in no other church, are the chapel's unusual methods of operation, its discounting of differences in dogma and sectarianism and its emphasis upon the harmonies of Christian principles, its far-reaching benevolences, its friendliness and breadth of appeal, its force in unifying religious observances throughout the Navy, and its continuity and stability within a service where so much must be in state of change. These same factors mark the Naval Academy Chapel as one of the world's unique religious institutions.

The foundations of the chapel's great program had little to rest upon but the character of the early chaplains. Fostered largely by their spirit and steadfastness through the more than eight years in which the new Naval School had no building for religious purposes, the power and influence of the chapel has continued to grow, until today it is a church of which it may truly be said, "The world is my parish."

One hundred years ago, the chaplains of the Navy were expected to carry on academic instruction for midshipmen aboard ships at sea. This plan was carried over into the new Naval School, and the first chaplain, Reverend George Jones, is listed as instructor of History and English Studies. Although prayers and devotions were offered daily, and regular Sunday services were held in a recitation hall, nevertheless the secular duties of Chaplain Jones apparently outweighed the religious ones. There is little record of his ministerial activity, but his reports as instructor are signed, "Chaplain George Jones, Professor."¹

Chaplain Jones was a man of remarkable balance. Convinced by his experience as a teacher that adequate training for midshipmen was impossible during irregular hours at sea, he repeatedly lamented the blindness of Congress in not establishing a naval school on land. In 1839, he drew up a plan for such a school with suggestions which included: Belle Lettres to be taught by a Chaplain of the Navy; a lyceum for exhibitions of models of various classes of ships; and a library to be furnished by subscriptions within the Navy and increased by donations from all sources. In all of these, he was to have a part, for later at the Naval Academy he was, at various times, curator of the lyceum, instructor in moral philosophy, and acting librarian. The breadth of his interests may be judged from his visit to New York in 1851 to purchase books for the library; his assembling, by authorization of the Secretary of the Navy, of a collection of various kinds of coal as applicable for use in naval ships; and his establishing of the lyceum where he, "with his own hands tastefully arranged the flags and trophies,. . . displayed so as to be ornamental to themselves, as well as honorable to the service."²

Chaplain Jones' spirit of friendliness is illustrated by an incident which may have been the forerunner of the Navy's popular Coffee Mess. A few years before he came to the new school, at a time when spirituous liquors were a daily ration aboard ship, he was instrumental in inducing about two-thirds of the men and nearly half of the officers of the U.S.S. Columbia to sign the Temperance Pledge. "I wrote the Secretary of the Navy," he says in a letter to Professor T. G. Ford, "offering to procure at my own expense, coffee and sugar, for night drink for the deck watches, if he would furnish conveniences for having it prepared. Had a kind letter in reply and the means were furnished, and every night at twelve and four o'clock, hot coffee, as much as they could drink, was furnished to our temperance men,—the others also being never refused a share. . . . [We had] a remarkable degree of harmony and kind feeling in the ship."³

Chaplain Jones was called upon to exercise a Christian forbearance at the very beginning of his duty in Annapolis. He returned from sea in September, 1845, and, by the time he reached the new school, all available quarters at Fort Severn had been assigned. Superintendent Buchanan promptly wrote to Secretary Bancroft of Mr. Jones' disappointment in not being provided with a house, but that, since the professors were comfortably fixed with their families, "He will not urge his claim to one, or do anything to destroy the harmony and good feeling which exists among all those connected with the institution."⁴ The Superintendent forwarded also Chaplain Jones' offer to rent a house in town, provided the Secretary would authorize the purchase of furniture which could later be transferred to quarters within the Yard. A note on the back of the letter reads, "Can not be legally done in opinion of auditors." In consequence, Chaplain Jones was not only without a chapel, but also without a house. He and Mrs. Jones lived in the home of Professor Lockwood until the following year when the old Quartermaster's office was raised a story-and-a-half to provide chaplain's quarters.

The character of the Naval Academy's first chaplain is revealed somewhat in one of his letters written after his retirement: "I was fond of working men, and we got along together very well. . . . I have generally been a worker where I could be, and have had my reward generally in kind treatment in return, both from the Navy Department and from officers . . . and also from sailors."⁵

With the reorganization of the Naval School into the Naval Academy in 1850, the chaplaincy was established as distinct from any professorship. In accordance with the old custom, however, several chaplains were assigned as professors, and they often took over during absences of the regular chaplain. This explains why it sometimes appears that a professor was doing the preaching. In the 1860's, Reverend George Williamson Smith and Reverend Donald McLaren were each ordered to duty as Chaplain of the Naval Academy after a year as one of its professors.

The limits of this article do not permit a listing of the successes or accomplishments of the Academy's twenty-one chaplains. Perhaps because of their academic duties, or because of failure to appreciate the differences between conditions at the Naval Academy and those at sea, a few of the early chaplains weakened their position as religious advisers by reporting minor infractions of rules, "spotting" midshipmen for not saluting, and, as Benjamin says, by other forms of "devil-try peculiar to chaplains."⁶ The records indicate, however, that they have largely followed lowed the example of integrity, co-operation, friendliness, and eagerness to serve beyond the call of duty, as set by Chaplain Jones. And usually, each has added his peculiar contribution. For example, Chaplain Theodore B. Bartow started the Chaplain's Register, an essential need of every church, which ap parently even the versatile Chaplain Jones had overlooked. The importance which Chaplain Bartow attached to the opening of the first chapel may be judged by the detail with which he made the first record of his new Register—one which is doubly interesting in fixing a date that has sometimes been questioned:

The Chapel of the Naval Academy was built by Capt. C. K. Stribling, U. S. N. in the year 1853.

It was finished and furnished by Capt. Louis M. Goldsborough, U. S. N. in the year 1854.

It was dedicated to the worship of Almighty God by Chaplain Theo. B. Bartow on Sunday the 5 day of February, 1854.

When Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire was President of the United States and Jas. C. Dobbin of North Carolina was Secretary of the Navy.

Time has made a difference in the demands upon the chaplain's office. In contrast to the 206 marriages and 184 baptisms at the Naval Academy Chapel during the last year, Chaplain Bartow summarized his five years, 1852-57, as follows: "Only one marriage service performed by the Chaplain; . . . funerals, 8; whole number of baptisms, 9."

The Chaplain's Register, continued through several volumes for more than ninety years, has become not only the most important source book of the chapel and of the chaplain's activities, but, in addition, it is a genealogy of many navy families who for three, or even four, generations have returned to the Naval Academy Chapel for marriages, baptisms, and funerals.

Chaplain G. Williamson Smith established a custom which his successors have continued and expanded, when in 1866 he began receiving alms for the poor at Communion on the first Sunday of the month. These gifts met local needs, such as wood for "Aunt Bessie," milk for a sick child, and a grave digger and burial for a colored minister. Soon, collections were added to meet church needs, such as an organ blower, communion wine, or music for the choir. Because the place of worship and the chaplain's salary are supplied by the Navy, a large percentage of the offerings over a period of eighty years have been devoted to humanitarian and religious charities. And from the modest Christmas offering of 1866, "$14.22 plus premium of a gold dollar to procure table cover for chapel," the benevolences of the Naval Academy Chapel have reached out to include all races and creeds.

Midshipmen are not offered the collection plates, but the steady flow of Sunday morning gifts by officers and visitors from all parts of the country ministers with equal steadiness to three great groups of needs: first, mission churches, Bible societies, and religious organizations such as the Y.M.C.A., the Y.W.C.A., and the Salvation Army; secondly, regular support of such humanitarian agencies as the Tribune Fresh Air Fund, Seaman's Friend Society, Tuberculosis Association, Children's Aid, Christ Child Society, American Red Cross, Boy Scouts, and many others. Lastly, for many years, no appeal for relief from a major disaster has been ignored. Within the carefully audited accounts are records of substantial contributions for relief in the Near East and for Jews in Palestine, for sufferers from floods at Johnstown and at Galveston, earthquakes at San Francisco and in Japan, hurricane in Puerto Rico, and famine in India and China. And in these recent years of war, the chapel's benefactions have extended to all major authorized agencies of war service and relief.

Here and there throughout the hundred years are innovations by other chaplains, which have grown into established features of Naval Academy life. To illustrate, Chaplain Clark in the winter of 1890-91 introduced into the Sunday morning service a prayer especially adapted to the Naval Academy. Following his example, other prayers have been added, until now the chapel has a distinctive service of its own.

The chaplains in general have interested themselves in whatever interested the midshipmen. By assigning to a personal problem the same valuation that the midshipman who seeks their help puts upon it, the chaplains have built up within an institution of necessarily rigid discipline a tradition of human kindliness. In order to lend a friendly appeal, Bible classes were often held in the chaplain's quarters. Frequently, too, these quarters have been open for informal visiting.

In a local market on a Saturday morning about twenty years ago, the writer happened to hear the late Chaplain Sydney K. Evans order four dozen bananas. A bystander exclaimed, "Why Chaplain! What is a lone bachelor like yourself ever going to do with four dozen bananas?"

"I may be a bachelor, and live alone," the Chaplain answered, "but I have a larger family than anybody in Annapolis. These are for my boys."

The reaction of the midshipmen toward the chaplain's friendliness is reflected in the Naval Academy Log, as Chaplain Evans was being detached: "The happy Sunday afternoons at his quarters will long be remembered by those who took advantage of them—and nearly the whole Regiment did. . . . From Plebe Summer on, his quarters have been established in the memories of all as a haven for rest and refreshment."⁷

Scattered through the Chaplain's Register are entries that note a sharing in both joys and sorrows of Academy life. After his first public service as chaplain early in 1861, the Reverend David X. Junkin wrote: "All seemed to feel the solemnity of the occasion" of this "day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer in view of the danger of dissolution of the American Union."

In contrast to this solemn observance, the genial Chaplain Evans brought joy to the Regiment of Midshipmen by issuing upon their departure for Chicago in 1926, leaflets describing the Army-Navy Game from Holy Writ, "As Holy Joe Sees It." A few excerpts indicate the aptness of the scriptural quotations:

But if thou wilt go, do it: be strong for the battle . . .

Bring forth thy stuff in their sight . . .

If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him . . .

The he-goat waxed very great. . . and the mule went under . . .

It is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart.

No matter how successful any one chaplain may be, there always remains an opportunity for those who follow to extend the influence of the Chaplain's Office. Among the many contributions of Chaplain William N. Thomas, who was recently detached to become Chief of Chaplains with the rank of Rear Admiral, was building up the drawing power of the Sunday night meetings of the Naval Academy Christian Association until they have become an important factor in strengthening morale within the Regiment, or, as recently organized, within the Brigade.

Happily for all, when a man demonstrated a peculiar fitness for service as Chaplain of the Naval Academy, the Navy Department has wisely extended his stay; or, as in the case of Chaplains Jones, Clark, and Evans, and of Captain Lash, the present Chaplain, it has sent him back for a second tour of duty. Chaplain Thomas also had two tours of duty, the earlier of which was as Assistant Chaplain. Collectively, the duty of Chaplains Jones, Clark, Evans, and Thomas has covered more than half the century. But, whether the duty was long or short, there is discernible through the years a growing tendency among the chaplains to stress Christian companionship rather than religious dogma, and to emphasize Christian principles that can equally well share dangers and go into battle, or steady a man for everyday living particularly in a calling that carries more than average readjustment and hardship.

The influence of the Chaplain's Office has increased with the completion of each of the three chapels. It is impossible to distinguish between cause and effect, for improved facilities meant greater service and greater service demanded improved facilities.

The first chapel was a neat, dignified, brick structure with Ionic columns of the neo-Greek design in vogue at the middle of the last century. Its cost of less than $3,300 meant a simple interior. This fact is further borne out ten years later by improvements mentioned before the first Communion service, Christmas, 1865, when "a temporary rail was put around the platform" and "a black walnut lectern was substituted for the large white pine desk which was placed there when the chapel was built."⁸ A re-conditioning had been made necessary because, while the Naval Academy remained at Newport, 1861-65, the little chapel had been used as a barracks.

Early in 1855, a Naval Academy Order excused from attending chapel services within the yard those officers and midshipmen who filed a written statement that they could not conscientiously do so.⁹ This order followed an earlier declaration of policy by the Navy Department that midshipmen whose parents filed a written request for the privilege might regularly attend churches of their choice in Annapolis.¹⁰ It is fortunate that the custom of Church Squads to the Annapolis churches still continues, since some of them now include several hundred midshipmen and since even the enlarged chapel with its seating capacity of more than 2,400 falls far short of accommodating the Brigade.

The simple little first chapel changed life at the Naval Academy. In addition to its uses for church purposes, it became an assembly hall for choral programs, lectures by the faculty and members of the Board of Visitors, and debates by the Lawrence Literary Society. Its seating capacity of 300 made formal graduations possible. These were held for the first time in 1854, a few months after the chapel's dedication.

Within little more than a decade, the Naval Academy outgrew its first chapel. After the erection of the second one, the little Greek temple became the Gunnery Building. For many years it housed models of ordnance and the trophies of the Lyceum.

With a sermon on the text, "Ye are the temple of the living God," the second chapel, which stood near the site of the present Superintendent's House, was dedicated on May 24, 1868. Although more elaborate and churchly than its predecessors, this chapel was a disappointment from the first. For nearly twenty years there was a continuous struggle to remedy the acoustics of the auditorium which seated 550 persons. Strips of cloth were stretched lengthwise from the cross beams in the roof, flags were hung from the sides and nets festooned from the ceiling. Finally, a permanent ceiling, added in 1887, made considerable improvement, but indication of long trial may be drawn from a final reference to this chapel by Chaplain Clark: "Torn down in 1904 immediately after the lenten season. School worshipped in armory. It was rough and forbidding in its interior, but its acoustics were perfect."

Imperfections did not lessen the importance of the chapel as a center of religious and cultural activity. It accommodated Bible Classes for both officers and midshipmen, children's services, and meetings of the Y.M.C.A. Chaplain Rawson continued for two seasons a course of lectures upon illustrious military and naval officers "conspicuous both for professional ability and Christian character." In an address at the chapel in 1876, President Daniel C. Gilman of Johns Hopkins University, a member of the Board of Visitors, referred to the tablets on the chapel walls, commemorating the deeds of graduates of the Academy, as proving "that heroism of the rarest, noblest type is not uncommon, even in this practical age.¹¹

The third and present chapel is familiar to every midshipman since 1908, and thousands of visitors have found its services appealing and satisfying. The gains in the importance attached to the chapels may be judged somewhat from the fact that the second one was about twelve times more costly than the first; and the third, estimated at more than $400,000 even without its equally expensive addition, was over ten times more costly than the second.

The chapel, as the tallest structure of the completely new Naval Academy built during the first decade of this century, was designed as the "architectural crown" of the group. The finial, or pinnacle, of the dome covered with gold leaf is the zero mark for measuring hikes or horseback rides, which are limited to a beeline of 5 miles from the chapel.

At the Laying of the Cornerstone in June Week, 1904, the Admiral of the Navy, George Dewey, spread the first trowel of mortar and said: "I now declare the stone well and truly laid." Secretary of the Navy William Moody forecast the mission of the chapel in these words:

The primary purpose of this building is to afford a place of Christian worship, for upon our adherence to those principles, the power of our nation depends. . . . It is not splendid ships and guns that make a navy, but history records that it must always be the men who use them.¹²

The dedication of the new chapel on May 24, 1908, exactly forty years to a day after the dedication of the second one, came after the new Naval Academy had already been in building for nine years. The sermon by Chaplain H. H. Clark emphasized that, although patriotism cannot be defined, it is closely allied with God's spirit, and that there is an ultimate union between the sword of the country and the militant church.

A tablet now on the wall of the chapel records in bronze that in the afternoon Service of Consecration the Chaplain was assisted by clergymen representing various churches in Annapolis. This precedent for co-operation between denominations has continued and increased.

The chapel is a building of dignity and beauty. Its great marble-trimmed crypt, opened in 1913 and designed as a resting place for the remains of John Paul Jones, which were removed to this country after long interment overseas, has made the chapel probably the most important shrine of American naval tradition.

One of the chapel's most commanding features, the massive bronze doors, were presented by the late Colonel Robert Means Thompson in honor of his Class, 1868. Strangely enough, in an institution geared by men to the needs of men, these doors were designed by a woman. In a widely advertised contest, the judges unanimously accepted the design of Miss Evelyn B. Longman, who proved to be a nineteen-year-old girl. When objection was made that she would be unable to provide the models needed for casting, Colonel Thompson insisted that she had met every requirement of the contest and had won fairly. He therefore sent her to Europe for additional training. Upon her return a year later, she was able to supply the necessary models.

It was disappointing, in midst of so much beauty, to find that the acoustics of the third chapel, like those of the second one, were a failure. Hangings of carpets, sails, and flags in the dome were of little help, and Chaplain Clark records: "A glass ceiling is needed. It is a problem for the future to work out." Fortunately, the future has done so. Modern science, through amplifiers and sound-absorbing wallboard, has solved the problem.

Time has brought about improvements in the dome which, as originally constructed, many regarded as incongruous for a naval institution. The plan to cover the dome of the chapel with gold leaf was abandoned as too costly. A terra cotta covering with elaborate decorations often referred to as "ice cream soda" or "frosted wedding cake" was substituted. A seepage of moisture through the terra cotta gradually loosened some of the plaster figures inside the dome After the falling of a 15-pound chunk in 1928, extensive changes were brought about. Although the removal of the symbolic figures that had ornamented the inside of the dome was lamented by the architect, many persons think that the plain copper dome and the simplified interior are more in keeping with the other buildings and with the spirit of a naval academy.

The enlarged Naval Academy Chapel must be seen to be appreciated. In adding the great nave which was completed in 1940, the new was fitted to the old with remarkable skill and understanding. The magnificent proportions of the Latin Cross, the beauty of the windows, and the harmony of the blue and gold trimmings against a pearl-gray background, remind one of Emerson's words, "I like the silent church before the service begins."

Encased in glass on a side wall are the open Bible and the Prayer Book of Admiral David G. Farragut. They testify to all who pass that the man who said, "Damn the torpedoes," and steamed ahead, based his venture upon a faith drawn from his own marked passages, as, "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me."

The presentation of gifts, begun for the first chapel with the organ, communion set, and alms basins, has continued to supply handsome memorials, among which are the dossal, altar hangings, and communion rail. The effect of the memorial windows, "Christ Walking upon the Waters," the "Commission Invisible," and others which fill the original window spaces, changes at different times of day. Someone wisely set the rainbow of the Farragut window so that it catches the afternoon sun—for "Rainbow at night is sailor's delight." With the enlargement of the chapel, gifts were received in greater numbers than ever before, especially for St. Andrew's Chapel, a friendly little place on the ground floor of the new addition, splendidly suited to the needs of small weddings, early morning Communion, and Sunday School. It was given a name of its own in order to avoid such possible designations as Big Chapel and Little Chapel. Among reasons which made this name appropriate was the fact that St. Andrew, the first of the twelve disciples to be chosen, was a quiet, modest worker of great worth who lived along the Sea of Galilee. The sympathetic appeal made by this chapel attracted gifts of its complete furnishings, baptismal font, cross, candlesticks and vases. Altar hangings in needed colors were presented by individuals, by the Officers' Wives Club of Long Beach, California, the Chapel Guild, and the Army and Navy Committee of the Church Women's League.

Gifts for the main chapel included the antiphonal and echo organ and the stained glass window for the last space of the original building by the United States Naval Institute, the Votive Ship Model by the officers of the former Construction Corps, Amplified Chimes by the Naval Academy Class of 1931, and hand-carved Reredos by the Navy Athletic Association. There are spaces within the extended nave for memorial windows. It is probable that in future years some of these may honor the memory of naval heroes of World War II.

A high ideal of service for the enlarged chapel was set in the Declaration of Dedication by Chaplain William N. Thomas on April 28, 1940:

We therefore dedicate this enlarged chapel to the worship and service of Almighty God.

We set it apart for the reading of the holy Word; for the celebrating of the holy Sacraments; for the offering of prayer and thanksgiving; for the summoning of youth to the life of service; for the cure of souls that doubt; and for the persuasion of those who have not yet believed; to the comfort of the discouraged, the relief of the distressed, the consecration of the strong, the guidance of the bewildered, and the consolation of the dying; to the ennobling of this life and to confidence in life eternal.

We further dedicate this house of prayer to the unfinished task of the Church of Christ through evangelism and education; through philanthropy and social justice; through National probity and honor; through Christian Unity and International Good Will.

The question that naturally follows is: What is the Chapel doing to realize these ideals? The answer must be based upon an understanding of its operation and program.

The Naval Academy Chapel is not a Regimental Chapel. Unlike a parish church, it has no list of members or communicants. For marriages and funerals it is open to members of all the armed forces; and for baptisms it is open also to civilians. The Chapel is the mother church of the Severn River Naval Command which includes, in addition to the midshipmen and the Naval Academy, the Naval Hospital, Postgraduate School, Station Ships, Radio Station, Experiment Station, and approximately 1,600 enlisted men and the families of many of them. In order to serve the entire Command, one of the Assistant Chaplains maintains an office and residence at North Severn.

As an auxiliary of the Chapel, the Naval Academy Branch of the Navy Relief Society assists in emergencies in the families of officers and enlisted men. Another Assistant Chaplain, who directs Navy Relief activities, has a staff which includes a WAVE officer and a nurse, in addition to volunteers. To illustrate the type of voluntary service found within naval personnel, the wife of an enlisted man who was at sea could find no one to help her care for her new baby and her little apartment after leaving the hospital. A Nurse's Aid volunteered to go home with her and to stay until she recovered her strength. Not until others in similar circumstances approached this Nurse's Aid for help, upon a professional basis, did the enlisted man's wife learn that her friendly volunteer helper was the wife of a Captain of the United States Navy.

The chaplains iron out many a domestic problem. In time of trouble the dependents of Navy personnel come for help to the Chaplain, even though they may never have worshipped in the chapel. The Chaplain's Office acts as counselor for midshipmen and for the families of naval personnel within the Command. Because of what seemed to him a personal tragedy, a midshipman eminent in his class was about to quit in mid-term and to resign from the Navy. The Chaplain was able to point out certain aspects of the question that the midshipman had overlooked. In a few weeks, the Chaplain saw this same midshipman strolling through the Yard with his drag, as if nothing had happened.

The chaplains welcome confidences which in a naval institution can, necessarily, have little place in other departments. The chaplains share the sorrows of all within the Naval Command. In accordance with Navy practice, messages announcing losses are sent whenever possible through a Chaplain. They' bring the message personally, and render every service possible, such as following up the cases of those reported missing. With this contact established, families of Navy men feel free to come back to talk with the Chaplain when advice is needed.

Because of irregular tours Of duty and frequent changes in personnel, the Naval Academy Chapel operates in a manner which would generally be regarded as unworkable. With the single exception that midshipmen are required to attend service on Sunday morning either at the chapel or at their chosen church in town, no one is obligated as a member to do anything. The Chapel's activities are voluntary and nonsectarian. Altar Guilds, for example, usually limit membership to communicants of the church. Without knowing either the denominational preferences of fellow committee members or Whether they belong to any church, the women of the Chapel Guild dress the altar, care for the chancel, arrange flowers for services, weddings, and for the funerals of those who are brought back to the chapel for burial. The wife of the Superintendent of the Naval Academy is the president. The membership is casually considered to be those who attend the meetings, yet there is always interest enough to carry on the work.

The absence of sectarianism is a notable feature of the Academy's religious life. Clergymen of many denominations are invited to preach.

There are many Roman Catholic marriages in the chapel, and during Lent, Mass for Roman Catholic midshipmen is said every day except Sunday. Sometimes under the same roof, a Catholic service goes on in one chapel at the same time that a Protestant one is held in the other.

At the voluntary early morning service, as many as 1,200 may partake of Communion. Back in the 1880's, it was customary to list members of the congregation. In two years more than twenty denominations were represented. The number at present is not known; but it is known that a member of a church that restricts its communion table to its own communicants may kneel beside a member of another denomination with equally rigid rules. Neither one knows or asks the beliefs of the other, but each finds, at a Communion served, perhaps, by a chaplain whose denomination has most liberal practices, the spiritual help that he seeks.

The attitude inculcated at the Naval Academy is that a man's religion is his own, and that, whatever it may be, his friends and fellow officers owe it the same respect that they accord to their own chosen beliefs. Recently, in talking with the Chaplain regarding his approaching marriage to a member of a Protestant church, a young Jewish officer explained that his parents, of the Jewish faith, were being brave about his decision, but that the wedding might hold some sadness for them. Although no change was made in the marriage service, the parents of that young man were deeply touched when, at the wedding, they found the altar dressed with the hangings that bore the Star of David.

And this is the spirit of toleration that the young officer carries from the Naval Academy Chapel to the fleet. It is true that the Prayer Book of the Protestant Episcopal Church is used. This practice came about in this way. On ships of the Navy which have no chaplain, the captain, or other officer, conducts religious worship. The psalms, lessons, and prayers for all occasions contained within this one volume made it easy for a captain unaccustomed to such duty to conduct a dignified service. The Chapel uses this Prayer Book, but it has gradually worked out its own order of worship for a service little longer than an hour. The special prayers are "For the Navy," "For All in the Armed Forces," including prisoners of war, "For the Naval Academy," and "The Prayer of a Midshipman."

Captains of ships who have known the Chapel service write back for the order of worship, and chaplains unfamiliar with this service often write, when the Captain asks that the prayers which became meaningful to him at the Naval Academy be used aboard his ship. As in the past when the churches looked to the Cathedral for the liturgy, so the Naval Academy Chapel is setting the pattern for religious services throughout the Navy.

And in another way too, less tangible perhaps, the chapel draws together all who have worshipped there, for every graduate of the Naval Academy knows the time when the hearts and minds of those who pray at the close of the service will be reaching out for one brief moment to ask a blessing "for those in peril on the sea."

It is to be hoped that, as has been requested,. phonographic transcriptions of the distinctive features of the chapel service may be made available—not for commercialization, for the Chapel has consistently frowned upon exploitation—but for the use of the small ships of the Navy in which recordings furnish the chief means of inspiration.

Visitors offer different answers to the question as to what feature of the Chapel service impresses them most: the beauty of the setting, to see so many young men in church, to see every pew filled, the music of the midshipman choir, or the absolute silence when the Colors are advanced or retired.

But even in an institution of military precision, there are imperfections. One Sunday morning, a dog moved in business-like fashion through several rows of pews and stoutly resisted the midshipman usher who finally led him out. He reappeared shortly at one of the front side doors, stopped in front of the chancel until he saw the object of his search, a four-striper Head of Department, at whose feet he quietly curled down until the end of the service.

Less understandable was the plight of a midshipman who, about five years ago, wondered why a twitter and a chuckle broke out as he, a member of the staff, led his company down the aisle. It seems that, at the last moment, he had found the trousers of his full-dress uniform unwearable. After a hurried change into those of his roommate, he threw on his overcoat and dashed to formation. Not until he stopped to direct the seating of his company did he discover that he had walked down the aisle with the roommate's blue-and-gold suspenders dangling from his waist.

One of the most unique services in all the world takes place on Easter Sunday afternoon. Midshipmen and others connected with the Naval Command are received into churches of many denominations at one united service. The Bishop of Maryland confirms those to be admitted into the Protestant Episcopal Church A clergyman of the Presbyterian, Baptist, or Lutheran Church receives new members in accordance with the rules of that particular denomination. If there is no clergyman of a preferred denomination in Annapolis, the expenses of one from a near-by city are defrayed from Chapel funds which, as explained earlier, are the offerings of a congregation of many faiths.

Not long ago, a midshipman wanted to join a church of strict requirements for admission. A clergyman invited from another city took the view that his church should not refuse membership to a qualified person. He came to Annapolis before permission was received. He was much impressed by this service which stresses, regardless of differences in form and ritual among denominations, the fundamental principle of service to God. As he was leaving, he said to the Chaplain, "I may be disciplined, but it was worth it."

One of the remarkable features of this service is that, if not otherwise available, the preparation for admission into all of these denominations has been made by the Chaplain, regardless of his own preferences. Thus it often happens that a large class may be confirmed in the Episcopal Church without their even knowing that their instruction has been given by a Methodist Minister.

The Naval Academy Chapel is something more than brick and mortar and marble. Aside from the many young ladies who admittedly attend service primarily to catch a glimpse of their midshipmen, the Chapel establishes an intangible hold upon those who worship there.

A man of great business interests said of the Sunday service, "No matter what it takes, I'll come whenever you ask me. There's something about this place that makes one stop and think."

A midshipman of the Jewish Reformed Church was asked why he went to the Chapel instead of the Orthodox Synagogue. "I come to the Chapel," he answered, "because here I feel at home."

During the last year, more than twenty Chinese officers have been stationed at the Postgraduate School. A few of them are Christians, but the others, too, are often seen at chapel. And in this church where a Catholic kneels at Mass, and a Jewish midshipman feels at home, the Chinese officers told the Chaplain, "We follow the philosophy of Confucius, but we come to the Chapel because here we feel a peace."

To meet needs as they exist at the United States Naval Academy, the Chapel has worked out a system of its own. Within an institution of rigid discipline, the Chapel preserves much that is free, voluntary, and even casual. Bound by no denominationalism and no allegiance, except to God and Country, the Chapel has demonstrated the harmony and co-operation possible among God-loving people. The Naval Academy Chapel operates under a spirit of unity that others talk about as an ideal.

Prayer "For the Navy" as Used in the Naval Academy Chapel

O Eternal Lord God, who alone speadest out the heavens, and rulest the raging of the sea; Vouchsafe to take into thy almighty and most gracious protection our country's Navy, and all who serve therein. Preserve them from the dangers of the sea, and from the violence of the enemy; that they be a safeguard unto the United States of America, and a security for such as pass on the seas upon their lawful occasion; that the inhabitants of our land may in peace and quietness serve thee our God, to the glory of they Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.