Good morning YDS,

We have made it to the end of classes!

On behalf of Dean Awet and Dr. Nat, I send a note of gratitude and awe to you all. In a year where we have returned to in-person activities, we bore witness to an jubilant, warm, and prophetic community! This community has supported and sustained the work of Marquand Chapel, and community life here at YDS.

There are so many people to thank who have made this possible. We first want to thank our Chapel Minister Team this year. Coming into this year, the team had a big challenge this year: curating a sense of communal worship that spoke to the heart of this community. This year, they taught us to be wayfarers, wanderers, storytellers. They helped reestablish old chapel traditions and made some new ones along the way. This team showed up and beyond every day to share their gifts, talents, and pastoral sensibilities; and for them, we give thanks!

We also want to give thanks to the many musicians who helped lead our worship: Marquand Chapel Choir, MaGIC, YBS gospel choir, guest musicians from within and beyond our community; to our Chair Movers who constructed, de-constructed, and re-constructed the chapel each morning; to Sachin Ramabhadran, for spearheading our A/V needs every day; to our facilities crew for keeping the Chapel clear and clean; to Liz Santamaria, for formatting and preparing our bulletins each morning for worship; and to our faculty, staff, and students who have been nothing less than supportive and eager to participate in worship over the last year.

Friends, our work together is only possible through each one of YOU: your spirit, support, eagerness, and your presence helped sanctify this sacred space, bringing the Chapel into a season of bustling joy and renewal, showing us all that there is nothing the chapel walls cannot hold.

Though chapel services will resume in August, as you are navigating this finals season, the chapel will be open for personal and communal reflection.

Until then, I leave you with this blessing:

Between Prospect and Whitney,
Between the new and unfamiliar,
May God meet you.

Between classes, reading periods, and exams,
Between rainy weekends and sun-kissed mornings,
May God’s face shine upon you.

Between endings and beginnings,
Between the many roads and rivers we’ve traveled and will travel,
May God look upon you with favor and grant you peace.

With deep gratitude,
(Chapel) Mike Libunao-Macalintal
Liturgical Minister & Chapel Communications Manager