Clark Memorial Chapel is the spiritual center of campus life. The heart of the Chapel program is the senior chapel talk. Through the telling of stories and the sharing of insights, these talks raise up our community, remind us of what it means to be part of the human family and challenge us to be our truest and best selves.

These talks have become a significant and beloved part of school culture over time. The senior chapel program was initiated by former headmaster Brad Hastings ’68 as an important milestone experience for members of the senior class. Seniors often realize in this learning and discovery process that it sometimes takes a task like this to reveal significant personal beliefs, experiences, hopes, and convictions. Every member of the senior class is required to deliver a short talk in front of the assembled school as a condition of graduation. These chapel talks raise our community up, remind us of what it means to be human, and challenge us to be our truest selves. Typically, each chapel meeting allows for three senior chapel talks. Each senior develops his or her authentic ideas and makes creative decisions around the what, why, and how of chapel talks in conjunction with the faculty advisor and Director of Spiritual Life Bobby Fisher. Chapel talks are 6-8 minutes in length and recorded by the Pomfret Communications Office.

Named for George Newhall Clark (1904), who passed away tragically during his sophomore year at Harvard, Clark Memorial Chapel is a Norman-inspired stone church based on a much older chapel in Pontefract, England. Designed by famed-architect Ernest Flagg, it houses a fine pipe organ built by George S. Hutchings Organ Company of Boston that has been restored and expanded over the years. The stone used to build the Chapel was donated by a local farmer, Lewis Averill, who dismantled the stately walls of his beloved Wolf Den Farm and hauled the bounty by oxcart to the top of Pomfret Hill. Most windows are original to the building, which was finished in 1908, but the iconic Rose Window (pictured above) and two others date back to early part of the 13th century. Today, Clark Chapel plays host to a number of events throughout the year, including Candlelight, a vigil featuring readings and songs, which happens every December.

Life is short and we never have enough time to gladden the hearts of those who make the journey with us. O, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind.

— HENRI-FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL