MPK Chapel

The Merner Pfeiffer Klein (MPK) Chapel is one of the three existing chapels that still stands on Albright College’s Camps. There were four chapels but Albright College recently demolished the White Chapel because of structural issues on July 17, 2015. The other two standing chapels are Sylvan Chapel and Kachel Chapel. MPK Chapel is by far the largest chapel on campus and is home to both the religious studies department and the philosophy department. The MPK Chapel also has the largest seating capacity on campus. The MPK Chapel holds 900 people which makes the MPK Chapel a desirable place for large events but unfortunately nearly impossible for any religious organization to fill. In my past experience I have only seen the Albright College Gospel Ensemble pull in a large enough crowd to fill the MPK Chapel.

The MPK Chapel is a hybrid between an auditorium and a chapel. The rumor is that Albright College did not know which they wanted more, a chapel or an auditorium, so Albright decided to build both inside the same building. I have also heard that the MPK Chapel use to be referred to as the chapeltorium which is a mixture between a chapel and an auditorium. There is a big cross and a mural that is in a cut out in the front of the chapel. In addition to the cross and mural there is also a curtain that hangs between the stage and the cross. The idea behind there being a separating curtain is when the curtain is open and the cross is showing the building transforms into a chapel but when the curtain is closed and the cross is not showing the building functions as an auditorium.

The MPK Chapel has be a place of both spiritual exhortation as well as secular enjoyment. The hybrid “Chapeltorium” of Albright College is the last installment of my three religious spaces trilogy. I have talked about two other locations in the blog. The first location being a hospital “meditation room” and I also talked about the Buddhist temple in the multi-faith center of Albright. The notion of the MPK Chapel transforming once the curtain is closed and the cross is no longer showing does not sit well with me as a ministry bound student. During orientation week, otherwise known as pops weekend, the MPK Chapel served as the meeting place for all the incoming freshman to receive information. The most jarring instance of this weekend was the encouragement of safe sex by throwing out condoms inside the chapel. The cross was covered by the curtain but as you can see from the picture posted above there is still a large cross that dawns the front of the chapel which still signifies the sacredness of the building. I am not trying to demonstrate my beliefs or theology but just trying to offer some fertile ground to culminate these ideas about the connections between the sacred and the profane.