Daniel Demessie ’24
This year’s new chapel theme, “Be Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind,” originating from the Bible verse Romans 12:2, preaches to escape conformity by changing one’s mind. While originating from a Bible verse, the theme’s flexibility allows it to represent people from all backgrounds. Jenn Jones, faculty advisor of the Vestry and Upper School science teacher, believes,“You could take [the Chapel theme] in many different contexts. You could take it in the Bible context as rethinking your religion and going towards God and he’s going to save you, but I think it’s good for us as a community to really think that every day can be a new day giving you a chance to start over.”
She continues, “Just because you might get a bad grade or have a fight with your friend or do badly on the soccer field, every day you could start over. I think it’s really important for us to take that to heart. Know that not everything is going to be perfect but it’s going to be okay. You just have to change your mindset.”
Vestry members Jack Cellucci ’24 and Rick Chen ’24 were involved in the process of determining the new theme. Chen explains, “The three divisions of the Chapel Council—the Upper School Vestry, the Middle School Chapel Council, and Lower School Chapel Council—came together one morning in May last year. Everyone came to the meeting prepared with three different themes that they thought were good based on Bible verses and we came to the decision from there.” Vestry’s rationale is that the process of bringing representation from all age levels at EA is critical in choosing a Chapel theme because the theme should represent the interests of everyone.
Photo Courtesy of Marc Lange
Detailing the decision process, Cellucci explains, “One [contender] was ‘power is made perfect in weakness’ which was an Upper School favorite and the second was ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’And the latter one won because this very eloquent fifth grader gave a great explanation as to why that leaves a lot of room for diverse Chapel speeches.”
While the Upper School choice was not picked, both Vestry members are satisfied with the new Chapel theme. Cellucci adds, “I think it goes perfectly with our senior year, allowing us to reflect on our years at EA and how it shaped us.” Chen concurs, “I think that the new theme is definitely very unique. I think that the message behind it is really important and I can’t wait to hear all of the speeches that emerge from the theme.”
Other seniors have also expressed how the new theme has given them inspiration for the development of their senior speeches. One such student, Bella Bin ’24, recognizes this theme as an opportunity for reflection. She states, “It allows us to focus on what we learned from our experiences throughout life and it also allows us to reflect on our own life using others’ stories.”
Father Gavin shared his thoughts on how the new Chapel theme is significant to the EA community. In an email to the Upper School, he stressed that the theme must reflect the society in which we live.“When we reflect on how transactional our culture has become, how social media has disconnected us from one another, and how the idealization of individualism has become rampant in our society, we can grasp how this theme will guide us to live into our core values. It will also help us articulate our mission to lead lives of purpose, faith, and integrity and may lead us to a fuller relationship with God by caring across our differences,” he stated.
Father Gavin also tied the theme in with the school’s core values, guiding the student body on how to live. He concluded, “Each year, we hope our students will be transformed as they renew their minds to grow in Mind, Body, and Spirit. We aim to achieve this by encouraging students to be intellectually curious, take the initiative to do the right thing, and make the stranger their neighbor. As a community, I pray we all do the same.”