After much discussion and deliberation with the Vestry and Middle and Lower School Chapel Councils, the Chapel Theme for the 2025-26 has been announced.
The theme is Rooted and Grounded in Love. The selection is from a passage in Ephesians 3:17, "May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love."
"Paul is praying that the Ephesians have Christ live within them, establishing a deep faith-based relationship," explained Father Tim Gavin, Hon. "With this, they would be anchored in God's love."
Each year, members of the Vestry and Chapel Councils collaborate to select the theme, offering ideas and eventually narrowing their recommendations down to two.
"After about two weeks of discussion and debate in our respective councils, each Chapel Council brings two options to a meeting with all three groups," explained Vestry Accounting Warden Lucia Forte '26. "We meet and narrow down our options until we have our theme!"
"This theme lends itself to flexibility and aligns with our core values," said Father Tim. "Being rooted and grounded in love allows us to think of that in a different way. The love in which we are grounded is not always because of our doing but because of other people's doing."
"The idea is that if Christ is in our hearts, everything we do is based on His love, and our actions are motivated by love," shared Lucia. "I think that this idea will inspire some great Chapel speeches. Love is such a universal theme, and there are really no limits to what speeches can be about."
There are more than 100 Chapel speakers each school year, including students, faculty, staff, parents, and many outside of the EA community.
"When caught up in school or our own lives, it’s easy to fall into patterns of complaining or ungratefulness. This theme reminds us that if we try to come from a place of love, such trivial things cease to matter because love is our motivation," said Lucia. "I’m excited to see what the EA community will do with this theme and how they will use it to tell their stories."
