Testimonials

Here are a few things people who have been touched by the ministry of The Episcopal Church at Princeton University have said:

"When I came to Princeton as a freshman, I found right across the street the home of the Episcopal Chaplain, Bill Eddy. Conversations with him, meetings with students and speakers, reading books and debating about them, worship in the Chapel, going on a retreat for the first time were all important parts of my undergraduate years."

The Rt. Rev. Frederick Borsch '57, Bishop of Los Angeles (retired)

"The Easter Vigil service held in the chapel is probably the most meaningful religious service I have ever been to. On sunny mornings the way the rose window would get brighter and brighter was awe-inspiring. I still go to the 3 hour Good Friday service every year, which I had never been to until Princeton. I never went to Ash Wednesday Mass with imposition of ashes until Princeton, and I still do. In general, I would say my understanding of everything from Ash Wednesday to Easter was dramatically increased while I was at Princeton, although I have much further to travel."

Dave Bihl '87

"I never knew I had an empty place inside of me until I walked into the Chapel one Sunday night at 10:00 and got it filled. The liturgy and music were beautiful and everyone was so welcoming! I think that experience changed me forever."

Anonymous '02

"I have always thought of the church, in its ideal form, as a type of family... Although I didn't always experience this family atmosphere in some of the parishes I have been part of, when I came to Princeton as a freshman, I really hoped and prayed that I would find this "church family" image to be true. I'm happy to say I wasn't mistaken! ECP was my family when I needed one, and Procter House was my home-away-from-home for four years. I felt that ECPers really cared about me as an individual, and I was more comfortable with friends from church than with most other people. ECP provided an environment in which we could relate to each other in terms of our common faith, instead of things like our hometowns, our ethnicity, whether or not we were in a club, or what departments we were in... We were able to discuss things from a common foundation, which made it much easier to "celebrate our differences." Most of my closest college friends were people I went to church with, and I look forward to our friendships continuing for a long time.

The other thing I really appreciated about ECP was the environment that encouraged questions and debate... In ECP we were free to apply our analytical skills to our faith, to ask why we believed the things we did, and that helped me to strengthen my faith immensely. And, just as biological families, we didn't always agree on everything. But that was accepted, and I think we were all strengthened by the ideas and variety each member brought to the group.

It's hard for me to put all of my feelings about ECP into words, because it means so much to me, and I want to convey my thoughts exactly. It's challenging to use words to describe emotions. All I can say is that I really love ECP - the people, the services, the interactions, the debates, the arguments - I loved it all. It was definitely the most fun and fulfilling part of my time at Princeton, and I plan to stay a connected ECPer for as long as I can."

Uchenna Ukaegbu '00