Welcome Class of 2012!

Congratulations on being accepted into Princeton's Class of 2012 and on your good sense in deciding to come here! It's a great place and we're sure you'll love being here.

We want you to know about The Episcopal Church at Princeton University (ECP) – a welcoming and friendly community of Christians at Princeton who would like you to explore your faith with us. Your college years are a time for you to delve into what you believe and why. We are not out to convert you to any particular way of believing, but we are out to help you in your own spiritual journey by giving you the freedom to explore and question and we hope some of the questions will challenge you. We can also help you get "grounded" through Bible study, lively conversations about Christian doctrines, and beautiful worship.

We like to say that absolute faith is not a requirement in our church, but an open heart and mind are. We also call ourselves "an ancient church for modern people." This means we hold the beliefs of the Christian church through the ages and practice ancient forms of worship centered in the Bible. It also means we are not afraid to ask tough questions and challenge old assumptions. If you like beautiful music, orderly and reverent worship using ancient forms with a modern twist, an opportunity to serve others, encouragement to use your mind when you come to church, and a friendly group of people, you'll love us. To get a glimpse of our community, have a look at our brand new ECP Introductory Video.

We hope you will join us for worship in Princeton's magnificent gothic-revival Chapel on Sunday nights at 9:00. Bring a friend with you. Since the fall of 2006 we have had a choir directed by two recent graduates of Eton College in England who are trained choristers. Rehearsal will be the hour before the Sunday night service and everyone is invited to join in. If you have questions about joining the choir, please contact ECP. The sound the choir makes? Well, in the words of one Princeton student "It's the soundtrack for heaven."

There will also be Bible Study focusing on the gospel of Matthew starting at the end of September. This group will be led by two third year students at the Princeton Theological Seminary. Sign up here. This has been a very popular group.

On Tuesday afternoons, 4:30-5:00 PM, in the University Chapel we have a service of Holy Eucharist that is open to all. This service combines the beauty of the Chapel, the familiar forms of the Book of Common Prayer, and the intimacy of a small group of worshipers – faculty and staff as well as students.

We also hope you'll be with us on Wednesday evenings for an informal Communion service followed by a free home-cooked dinner and conversation at Procter House, 53 University Place. We have interesting guest speakers and, during exam times, we play board games. If you haven't played Trivial Pursuit at ECP, you just haven't played!

Finally, we want you to know that, whether you ever join us for worship at all, you are always welcome to call or e-mail our chaplain, Peter French, if you have questions about faith, would like to talk about anything, or if you need any kind of help with anything. In addition to our chaplain, we will have two seminarians from Princeton Theological Seminary working with us all year offering Bible study and other programs – stay tuned!

If you would like to be added to our weekly e-mail list for the fall 2008 term so that you will be notified of upcoming worship services and other events, please tell us your name by clicking here.

And drop by for a visit at Procter House any time. We're at the corner of University Place and Dickinson Street, just down the street from the U-Store.