Started as a Methodist seminary in Vermont, what is today known as Boston University was chartered in 1869.
Boston University Marsh Chapel, Catholic Center, and Hillel House, Boston
The university serves 33,000 students from around the world in 17 schools and colleges. There are multiple sacred spaces on campus including Marsh Chapel, the Catholic Center and the Hillel House.
Built in 1949, the gothic style Daniel L. Marsh Chapel sits at the center of the Charles River campus. Designed by Ralph Adams Cram, it was intended, from the start, to be a place of worship for all though was firmly rooted in the university’s Methodist tradition. Stained glass windows on the east side of the chapel represent Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Methodism and books from Protestant, Catholic and Jewish traditions were placed inside the chapel’s cornerstone before it was sealed. Dr. Robert Hill, the current Dean of Marsh Chapel, currently oversees 30 religious groups and seven university chaplains. On Sunday mornings, he leads an interdenominational Protestant service in the chapel that is broadcasted widely.
The Hillel House was built ten years ago for worship and community gatherings. It was specifically designed to be flexible and to allow the different denominations to operate respecting one another without yielding on the principles that make each unique. Three services take place each Friday night representing each of the major denominations in American Jewry: Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. At the end of prayer, students from all three services come together to sing “Shalom Alechem” (“Peace Unto You”), the traditional song welcoming the Sabbath.
For more information, please see: http://www.bu.edu/chapel/religion/
Take a tour of some other spaces in Back Bay / Fenway.
