Reflections on the School Chapter’s relevance today as an evolving tradition

The School Chapter calligrified by Ann Rickett Parker ‘54 hangs prominently in the entrance to the Dant House at Catlin Gabel School. Photo by Annika Holliday.

The words passed easily over my lips as I prompted my brother Lucas with another line of 1 Corinthians 13. Like so many Catlin Gabel School (CGS) students before him, he stood before me, nervously practicing his first recitation for his ninth grade English class. He didn’t know that this would be his first and only recitation with a religious context.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly,” I prompted.

Dutifully, Lucas repeated the phrase. But did he understand the meaning of the words? To Paul, the author of the Corinthian letters, the revelation appeared imperfectly, in the same way his reflection blurred in a polished brass mirror.

“But then face to face,” I continued.

Paul believed that everything would suddenly become clear in that glorious moment in the future when every person on earth would meet Him - Jesus - face to face without obscurity. Based on the passage, one could infer that my non-Christian brother will not meet Jesus in heaven and will therefore be cast into hell. I decided not to give him the bad news.

In addition to delivering the recitation for his English class, Lucas will have a chance to recite 1 Corinthians 13 alongside the rest of the Upper School (US) student body at the assembly on School Chapter Day. And he might recite it in unison with his friends on the sidelines of the soccer field during the annual Homecoming game. If Lucas chooses, he could audition to read it on stage at Winter Assembly and then again as part of the graduation ceremony in his senior year.

As a CGS lifer, I have embraced the school’s traditions around community and social justice. In the Beehive, I eagerly belted out “This Little Light of Mine” during Friday Sing. In the Lower School (LS) Social Justice Assembly, I proudly played the recorder to “We Shall Overcome.” When I arrived at the Middle School (MS), I sorted clothes and school supplies for Project Lemonade with my C&C on Community Engagement Days. Surprisingly, the School Chapter was never on my radar until I entered the ninth grade.

The tradition of asking US students to memorize and recite 1 Corinthians 13 as the School Chapter has a long history.

The history of the School Chapter

I Corinthians is a book in the New Testament of the Bible written by St. Paul, one of Jesus’ early followers. The book is a long letter he wrote to the new Christian church he founded in Corinth, Greece. The Corinthian church was a diverse community fragmented by disagreement and difference.

“Paul’s ‘poetic ode to love’ was not written to celebrate the unifying love already accomplished in the community. It was a call to action… Although aesthetically beautiful, the ode is meant to motivate a new action plan among the members that secures the community’s survival and concord into the future,” explained Shively Smith, an Assistant Professor of New Testament at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC, in her blog post “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.”

A search through the Catlin Gabel archives revealed the earliest written reference to I Corinthians 13 as the School Chapter in a Miss Catlin School for Girls brochure dated 1935.

Photos of Ruth Catlin, founder of Miss Catlin School for Girls (left) and Priscilla Gabel, founder of Gabel Country Day (right). Photos courtesy of the Catlin Gabel Archives

In the early 1950s, the Episcopal Church insisted that a proposed three-way merger of Catlin-Hillside, Gabel Country Day, and Saint Helen’s Hall (now Oregon Episcopal School) would only be approved if the bishop could serve as head of the board. Rejecting that stipulation, Catlin and Gabel schools forged ahead as a non-sectarian school in 1957.

However, many traditions retained religious undertones such as performing the nativity scene, singing carols in hospitals, hosting a Christmas party for underprivileged children, and requiring all students to attend an annual religious conference at Annie Wright Seminary in Tacoma.

“Catlin Gabel’s predecessor schools, Gabel Country Day and Catlin Hillside and others, dating back to 1859, had various religious features/Christian features over the years. They did not necessarily consider themselves religious schools or organizations,” explained Head of School Tim Bazemore via email.

When Ruth Catlin deeded the school to the community in 1928, she stipulated a diverse student body, including representation from different religions.

“An effort shall be made to have students of the school represent a cross-section of American life, having various economic backgrounds and religious beliefs, and chosen for their promise in qualities of character, intelligence, responsibility, and purpose,” wrote Ruth Catlin in her Philosophy.

In the last decade, CGS has renewed its commitment to attract a diverse student body. Student representation has also been influenced by Portland’s dramatic population increase and influx of residents from all over the world. Portland in 2019 looks very different than the city in 1928 when Catlin chose 1 Corinthians 13 as the School Chapter.

According to Sara Nordhoff, Director of Enrollment Management, the school’s racial diversity has increased from 28% in 2009 to 44% in 2019. This year, the applicant pool was more than 50% racially diverse and 41% applied for financial aid. However, CGS does not ask applicants about their religious affiliation.

“We don’t track many aspects of a student’s identity, like religion. If we asked the question about religion on the application...people who do not have a faith or particular religion may feel unwelcome,” noted Nordhoff via email. “That is not an indication that we don’t value a diversity of religions in our student body because we do. Since we are not a faith-based school, we ask about family values rather than their religion.”

It has become a CGS tradition for ninth graders to memorize I Corinthians 13 in their English 9 classes. However, after some students and parents asked for a non-religious option, students now have the choice of reciting one of five recitations: I Corinthians 13, an excerpt from Toni Morrison’s commencement address to Wellesley College in 2004, an excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1968 speech “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” and excerpts from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, “How to Love” or Carl Sagan’s book, “Pale Blue Dot.” The excerpts were chosen to align with the essential questions of the first unit focused on “community” since the School Chapter acts as a CGS community text.

According to the English 9 teachers, approximately one quarter of ninth graders chose the Corinthians chapter. Ninth grade English teachers Krystal Wu and Liz Harlan-Ferlo asked each student to share why they chose their particular recitation before delivering it for the class. According to Wu, most of the students who chose the School Chapter did so because their siblings or parents had memorized it before them, while a few new students memorized it to participate in the school tradition.

Meg Patten Eaton ‘58, the school’s archivist and former US English teacher, explained that the reason that the School Chapter is only a tradition in the US is likely because Miss Catlin’s School for Girls started as a high school.

“Like the pine tree, it became a symbol of the school and its values. I don’t know if there has been an actual decision not to focus on it with younger students. The language and some of the imagery and concepts are pretty sophisticated,” said Eaton.

For some parents of CGS lifers, the requirement to memorize I Corinthians 13 in the English 9 class came as a surprise. Kym Herbst, US Activities Coordinator and parent to Madeleine ‘20 and Scooch ‘24, remembers thinking, “Wait...what?” when she overheard Madeleine practicing the passage.

“I was shocked that a school that is progressive and secular has [1 Corinthians 13] as its School Chapter,” said Herbst.

Even Assistant Head of School and former Head of the MS Barbara Ostos remembered feeling surprised when she first heard the School Chapter.

“It wasn’t until the Winter Assembly where the Middle School was with the Upper School where I heard it for the first time and thought, ‘Huh?;” admitted Ostos.

Differing perspectives and controversies on 1 Corinthians 13

During Paul’s time, women were oppressed and frequently victims of violence. The chapters before and after Corinthians 13 are often cited as reasons to exclude women from leadership roles within the church.

“To the surprise of the novice in Pauline theology, the same Paul who wrote about love in this poignant manner also wrote about others in a way that suggested that he was a ‘chauvinist’, ‘anti-Semetic’ and ‘misogynist,” wrote Cristina Plamedeala in an article titled “Paul and Women: An Analysis of 1 Corinthians Reflecting Paul’s Contradictory Attitudes.”

Even the definition of the word “love” is controversial in different translations of the text. In the Greek language, the love identified as “agape” means selfless love of God.

“Agape love is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. Agape is the term that defines God's immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind,” explained Jack Zavada in his blog titled, “What is Agape Love in the Bible?” “The all-encompassing love of God for the entire human race caused him to send his son, Jesus Christ, to die and, thus, save every person who would believe in him.”

However, US Head Aline Garcia Rubio, clarified that the school defines “agape” as selfless love, ignoring any religious connotations of the word.

“The interpretation of the word agape...requires an explicit statement that the school stands behind the meaning of selfless love, not that the school stands behind the meaning of love of God,” said Garcia-Rubio. “We as a community value selfless love over most everything else.”

Yet, the idea of selfless love as the ultimate ideal is not universally accepted.

Phil Kershner, a United Church of Christ pastor in Illinois, believes “Paul’s words in I Corinthians are an unfortunate invitation to look for some sort of absoluteness or purity in our lives that doesn’t exist. They encourage an obsessive and unhealthy inward focus,” wrote Kershner in an article titled “He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not...The Most Overrated Chapter in the Bible.”

Garcia-Rubio thinks many texts are controversial and that students learn from historical figures who were imperfect.

“I would be more inclined to say it's okay to take the text out of context from the Bible…but I have to keep reminding myself there may be students and families for whom this is completely inappropriate,” said Garcia-Rubio.

Senior Catie Macauley, who identifies as Episcopalian, is one of those students.

“Since we’re a secular school, it's really disrespectful to religion to take a verse out of context… The way we’re using [the School Chapter] to endorse our support of community service as a community value is invalidating to not only Christians, but to all students with religious affiliation,” said Macauley.

Karen Armstrong, a British writer and former nun, reminds us that most scriptures began as texts that were transmitted orally where the sound of the words might be more important than their semantic meaning.

“Too many believers and nonbelievers alike now read these sacred texts in a doggedly literal manner that is quite different from the more inventive and mystical approach of premodern spirituality… Scripture is flexible, evolving, contextual and more like performance art than a book,” Armstrong wrote in a recent New York Times article titled “The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts.”

Senior Helena Khoury questions whether reciting a passage is an effective way to learn about the school’s values.

“There are much better ways to be taught those values than memorizing something and repeating it a lot,” said Khoury.

Many CGS alumni have fond memories of reciting the School Chapter.

“This chapter...has been important to me for as long as I can remember. I think it is a touchstone for a great number of alumni, something that bonds us to each other and the school - no matter our generation,’” said Eaton.

Although other alumni do not connect to the passage as deeply, all seem to emphasize the importance of the school’s values of critical thinking and the spirit of inquiry.

"I don't remember memorizing 1 Corinthians 13... But despite our different recollections, we all agree subjecting the curriculum to continuing rigorous inquiry is most important," wrote CGS trustee Kate Warren Hall ‘93 via email.

Interestingly, the 2007-2008 edition of the Caller magazine celebrating Catlin Gabel’s 50th anniversary does not mention the School Chapter, although many other traditions are highlighted. The Catlin Gabel website also fails to mention this Biblical passage as fundamental to the school’s values.

Traditions evolve in response to more inclusive community

Traditions have evolved over time for different reasons. The annual Rummage Sale was no longer profitable with the rise of Craigslist and eBay. The language in the Gilbert & Sullivan plays reflected a racist, sexist and binary worldview.

Traditions no longer practiced at CGS. Graphic by Annika Holliday.

Photo (left): Senior girls wear long white dresses and carry bouquets of delphiniums at graduation in 1944. Photo (right): Students play field hockey on campus. Photos courtesy of the Catlin Gabel archives.

New traditions such as the US Diversity Day and LS Heritage Day reflect the school’s efforts to support diversity and inclusion so that all students feel welcomed and differences are celebrated.

“We are an evolving society and therefore our traditions also need to be evolving...Today, would we still choose to ground something of extreme value [to the school] in a religious text?” wondered Ostos.

“There are aspects of the Chapter that I think do not reflect who we are,” wrote Bazemore.

On-line research of other independent schools, including East Coast boarding schools, did not reveal any other schools with “School Chapters.” However, many independent schools continue traditions. At Deerfield Academy, students sing the Deerfield fight song at weekly School Meetings. And at Phillips Exeter Academy, the first assembly of the year is centered around the Deed of Gift, dated May 17, 1781, by which John and Elizabeth Phillips gave the assets that formed the school.

“Schools have mottos, vision statements, traditional oaths and songs. I don’t think I know of any that have a chapter,” wrote Bazemore.

The question remains whether the current School Chapter is the text or the tradition that best reflects the core values of the school. In 1911, Catlin believed that 1 Corinthians 13 reflected the primary purpose of education to train for civic life and civic engagement. Today, CGS has defined eight core values that guide teaching and learning at the school.

“Do we have clear reasoning for the School Chapter and do we stand behind the values that are leading to those decisions? And I guess that’s the part that is missing for me. What is the real history behind it? Why? Can we affirm as a school that we want this to be a continuing tradition?” wondered Ostos.

I focus my attention back on my brother. Lucas is nearing the end of a ninth-grade milestone.

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is.... charity,” I dramatically prompt Lucas for the last time.

He’ll ace his recitation. After a congratulatory high-five, Lucas grabs his math notebook to check the next homework assignment off his list.