CHAPEL

For more information on the Chapel or booking information for an event please visit the Robert Carr Chapel website 

History
Robert Carr Chapel was built and dedicated in 1953 thanks to a gift from the Carr family of San Angelo and the architectural design of Joseph R. Pelich. The building is designed in a Georgian Colonial Revival style. The spire is intentionally the highest point on campus and the chapel itself is one of TCU’s favorite and most well-known landmarks. The chapel is often in use for student worship services, campus memorial services, a classroom for student preachers and musicians, special occasions and weddings.

Architecture

The Chapel incorporates a number of design elements from American Colonial churches, recommended by the wife of the president, Mrs. Frances Sadler, who traveled throughout the eastern states studying both architectural and decorative styles. The results of her research and the high quality of her taste are reflected in the simple elegance of Carr Chapel.

Iconic stone columns support the pediment entrance portico; cornices here and elsewhere around the walls are underscored with deep details. The spire is an exact replica of the one atop the famous Old Lyme Church in Connecticut, and the appointments in the chapel interior continue the replication of early American structures. The brass chandeliers are after the design of those in St. Michael’s Church in Charleston, South Carolina; the pulpit is patterned after those in King’s Chapel of Boston and Christ Church in Cambridge. The arched heads of the Palladian windows that grace both the chapel and the cloister walls reflect the style of Mount Vernon and a church in Watertown, Massachusetts. Dark mahogany, white, and deep scarlet enhance the interior simplicity of this quiet place of worship.

(Excerpt from “Walking TCU” by Joann Hewitt Swaim.)

Facilities

The chapel is home to a state of the art Carillon system installed in 2010 from the Cincinnati based firm Verdin. The carillon allows organists to play stunning bell concerts before special events and more notably has played the alma mater every hour on the hour throughout the day and early evenings for decades now. Also, the installation of an expanded sound system was finished in June of 2010 allowing for state of the art sound quality and accommodating the growing number of large concert groups requesting the chapel.

Campus Reservation Requests

To request Robert Carr Chapel for a campus event, please fill out the internal request form.  Please note this form is not for external community events such as weddings. For those events, please visit the chapel website.