So Many Students. Not Enough Space.
“Were you at chapel yesterday?” is arguably a cliché phrase exclusive to Olivet Nazarene University. Current students think nothing of it, but to students before 2010, this inquiry probably sounded a little different.
As mentioned in another article about chapel services in Chalfant Hall, there were more than just two chapel days a week so that all undergraduate students had a chance to hear a speaker.
Back then, you would more likely have heard: “Man, if only you had chapel yesterday,” or “I wish you could have been at chapel yesterday.” This was a sentiment that showed the problem Olivet was facing – too many students were missing out on chapel experiences.
This led the Olivet administration under former President Dr. John Bowling to begin a monumental project to erect a new chapel that could accommodate every student. With this new chapel, freshmen to super-seniors could worship and experience chapel services together.
In the summer of 2006, President Dr. John Bowling announced the Promises to Keep: A Centennial Campaign. A part of that campaign was the construction of a new chapel for Olivet students.
The Centennial Chapel project pamphlet explained that Olivet had around 2500 undergraduate students in 2007, but all of them were unable to meet in Chalfant Hall simultaneously.
It would not only be a place for worship and sermons but also a place for music performances. Yet, it was foremost and always will be Olivet students’ chapel space.
For the centennial celebration of Olivet, a new chapel building project was proposed. 
The building cost would be a hefty sum for it all to come from gifts and donations. 
The structure of the foyer and auditorium was meticulously planned. 
The concept drawings are almost identical to the current layout and appearance of Centennial Chapel with a few slight changes
Construction Underway
The plan for Centennial Chapel was unveiled during Olivet’s centennial celebration. The Chapel began construction in 2007 with the groundbreaking at Homecoming that year. The project’s estimated cost was $25 Million, and every cent of it would come from donations and gifts from those who supported Olivet’s vision for Centennial Chapel.
For months, students, faculty, and staff passed the construction site of Centennial Chapel in hopeful expectation of what was to come. Photo credit to Gordon Wickersham. 
The late Gordon Wickersham, Olivet’s historian, documented the whole construction process through photos. Photo credit to Gordon Wickersham 
After the foundation was laid, workers began erecting the initial frame of Centennial. Photo credit to Gordon Wickersham. 
This interior shot of Centennial’s foyer looks somewhat recognizable with the window frames and curved walls. Photo credit to Gordon Wickersham. 
It’s hard to image construction trucks driving in Crawford Auditorium, unless you have this photo as proof. Photo credit to Gordon Wickersham. 
Insulation is an important material in the construction of any building. Here, Centennial is being wrapper in Tyvek. Photo credit to Gordon Wickersham. 
Centennial is looking more recognizable as the brick walls have been laid. Photo credit to Gordon Wickersham.
Olivet representatives went all over the country to promote and raise funds for the Centennial project. Media Service Department members remember traveling the country with a mock chapel chair to promote the cause.
The informational pamphlet created for the project explained why building a new chapel was more beneficial than continuing to have multiple chapel services for students. Chapel speakers would make a genuine connection with students, but the entire community was not there to experience it.
Even with the same speaker the next day, “those special moments – those brief instances where profound transformation occurs – can never be recreated,” the pamphlet explained.
Centennial Chapel was built mainly through donations. The project was able to begin through six large donations from friends of Olivet of $6.5M, $5M, and four $1M donations, as recorded in the project vision pamphlet.
The largest donors were Betty and Kenneth Hawkins for whom the Chapel is named. Every donor’s name is displayed on digital signage boards at either end of the chapel foyer.
Centennial took roughly four years to build. To see more behind-the-scenes photos of Centennial’s construction check out Olivet’s University Archive’s post about it or their post from for the 2019 Commencement Ceremony. You can also schedule a visit with the University Archives to learn more about the Centennial Chapel Project.
Time-lapse of Centennial being built.
Centennial Chapel Cross standing high over the campus.
The Start of a New Chapel Era
By the fall of 2010, Centennial Chapel was near total completion. The Institutional Advancement team sent out an invitation to come to celebrate and dedicate this new chapel.
Thousands gathered in Crawford Auditorium to dedicate the Betty and Kenneth Hawkins Centennial Chapel on October 29, 2010. A new era of university life began.
Chapel services have been and will always be for the students. A past Olivet student from 2009 said:
As students we’re always running around, and so busy and crazy with homework and everything. Chapel gives us a time to come together and literally just rest and soak something positive that can help us with our day. Maybe it’s a little Scripture, or maybe it’s just some praise and worship that we need, or maybe it’s something that God needs to say through a sermon to us.
Megan Mckinley ’09
