Hodges Chapel

Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel, dedicated in 1995, is the chapel at the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. When the school was founded in 1988, donor Ralph Beeson requested that the school provide a "special" chapel. The chapel, designed by Davis Architects, hosts weekly services as well as special lectures and music concerts. It is open during the week for individual prayer or for tours.

Previously, the space where the chapel is located was Crawford Johnson Hall, a men's dormitory. When Beeson Divinity was formed, the building was converted from a dormitory to an academic building, with a chapel built in the middle. The building project, including remodeling of the adjoining building cost 12 million dollars and took 2 years.

The cruciform chapel is designed in a neo-classical style with a decorative scheme based on churches of the Italian and English Renaissance. In particular it evokes Il Redentore, a chapel in Venice designed by Andrea Palladio. The chapel's dome, clad in copper, is 41 feet in diameter and extends to a height of 110 feet. The Romanian-born artist Petru Botezatu painted Jesus and the heavenly host on the interior of the dome, and 16 significant figures from throughout church history around its base. He also completed 10 murals in the transepts depicting the days and seasons of the Christian calendar. The pulpit features carved sculptures of 4 great preachers, created by the Létourneau Organ Company, which also constructed the chapel organ, a collaborative design with Samford professor Ted Tibbs.

The chapel was dedicated during events during various events from October 22-27, 1995. Speakers and attendees included Baptist leader and alumnus Herschel H. Hobbs, Baptist leader W. A. Criswelll, Foreign Missionary Board president Jerry Rankin and Prison Fellowhip president Chuck Colson.

All of the casework, carvings, furnishings and wood trim were produced from aged cherry donated by John P. Mims. Stone carvings depicting 6 20th-century martyrs and bas reliefs of the four evangelists and of the Apostles' Creed were created in cultured marble by Martin Dawes of Cherrylion Studios.

Initially referred to as simply the Beeson Divinity School Chapel, in 2002 the chapel was rededicated in honor of Andrew Hodges, a friend and advisor of Beeson.

References

• "For all its grandeur, Beeson Chapel is called 'a very comfortable place to be'" (Fall 1995) Seasons: The Magazing of Samford University, pp. 10-12
• Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel guidebook. Beeson Divinity School. Samford University.
• Bains, David R. (November 26, 2023) "Saints Honored in Birmingham" Magic City Religion

External links

• Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel page at beesondivinity.com