Suitable Devotions

As detailed in my presentation yesterday, the main focus of my project is shaping up to be compulsory chapel each morning (or, more accurately, the elimination of the tradition, the people, events, etc. that surrounded the decision, and the implications in the College's history and identity). At this point in my research I've looked through a bunch of college publications from the first 30 or so years of Ursinus' existence, including a good amount of Ursinus College Bulletins and one course catalogue. The catalogue that I had the privilege of looking through actually had an entire section dedicated to religion and pretty well spelled out the expectations of the faculty and students:

" In proper harmony with the principles of Evangelical Christianity upon which this Institution is founded, and to the service of which it is consecrated, the Faculty will regard it as their highest duty to give faithful attention to the religious interests of the students under their care, and to labor for their spiritual welfare. This will be done in no sectarian spirit, but in full accordance with an enlarged charity which recognizes the claims of all branches of the Evangelical Protestant Church, as the only legitimate representative of Christian Catholicity. The scholastic duties of each day will be opened and closed with suitable devotions, which every student will be required to attend. All the students will be required, also, to attend worship on the Lord’s day, whether in the Chapel of the College, or in some adjacent church."
("Religion," page 11 of the Third Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Ursinus College, for the Academic Year of 1870-71)

Obviously, what is most relevant to my project is the bit about how students are required to attend "suitable devotions" each morning. The key word here is suitable, especially if we are to consider the circumstances in which Bomberger found it appropriate to even consider founding a school such as Ursinus.

Those who are familiar with Ursinus' founding will recall that while it was founded by J.H.A. Bomberger and several of his supporters when they deemed the Church's other two educational institutions, the Seminary at Mercersberg and Franklin and Marshall College, to be too far out of line for the possibility of any sort of reconciliation with what they believed to be the "right" way of the Reformed Church. The last straw was when word got out that students and faculty members at F&M were increasingly interested in (and converting to) Roman Catholicism.

Although I have not come across any documents in the archives that give any sort of detailed account of what chapel was like in 1870, Calvin D. Yost includes in his book Ursinus College: A History of its First Hundred Years a description of a normal day at Ursinus College in 1872 penned by Bomberger himself. Pieces of these writings from Bomberger allow us to form some sort of idea of what "suitable devotions" were:

" At 8:45 A.M. the large bell again rings, summoning Professors and students to the large recitation room (not yet used as a chapel) for morning-prayer and roll-call. After calling the roll, a chapter is read from the Bible, a hymn sung, and prayer offered. These devotions are conducted in strict accordance with the simple usage of the Reformed Church. Any requisite statements or announcements are then made by Faculty" (Bomberger in Yost 18).

Granted, Ursinus is much bigger than it was back in the day and yes, the students who enrolled there were all Christian, but I can't imagine what would come of gathering all 1,800 of the current Ursinians together to recite all of our names, read Bible passages, and sing hymns! It's hard enough to get some students to go to their regular classes...