It sits in the center of the campus. Its spire is visible on clear days from NC 98 at Stony Hill Road. Did you know the beautiful building was never named until after Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary took full ownership of the campus in 1956? Or that its spire was added later?
The spark for this article stems from an email from Jeanne Fisher asking when the chapel was built. “I think the spire is one of our town’s most distinctive features and always enjoy seeing it from a distance as a beacon.”
In the late 1930s, Wake Forest College had big plans to expand to meet an increasing demand from potential students. One of the projects was the chapel.
“The official construction year was 1939,” Ed Morris, the executive director of the Wake Forest Historical Museum, wrote. “Because of the War [World War II] it never got permanent seating nor anything other than a painted concrete floor.
“However, to say it wasn’t finished is something of a misconception. It otherwise was finished, complete with stage curtains and sound system. When Southeastern purchased the campus they put in pews and the columns and fancy woodwork but that was never part of the original plan. Those columns are only decorative and do not offer any structural support and of course are obstacles to sight lines. From 1940 forward, the chapel was fully used by the college for events, chapel services and graduation. It never was given a name while it was Wake Forest, only ‘the chapel.’ The Binkley was added in the 1970s after Olin Binkleyk retired as SEBTS president.”
(Editor’s note: For more than two decades, Wake Forest High School held its graduation ceremonies in Binkley Chapel.)
Murray Greason, a retired attorney in Winston-Salem, a devoted Wake Forest University alum and a Wake Forest native, recalled years ago that the chapel was not completed in 1939.
“When the reconstruction restarted on the chapel after WWII, I was about ten and ran with a crowd consisting of Tommy Holding (drug store), James Mackie (‘The’ doctor), Robert Herring (religion professor), Hubert Jones (math professor), Larry Harris (lawyer and about the only Republican in town), and Harry Holding (son of Harvey, who owned the Esso station and other business interests).
“One of more of this crowd on one or more occasions gained entry to the construction site and worked our way upwards, exploring all the various levels available, including above what would become the ceiling of the chapel auditorium and the chapel tower or steeple. It was a great adventure, but looking back, it is a miracle that no one fell to their death below!”
Dr. Olin Binkley became the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1963. He and his wife, Pauline, were important leaders in Wake Forest and were involved in the rescue of the Calvin Jones House and the formation of the Wake Forest College Birthplace Society.
Fisher, who started this story, ends it. “I knew Mrs. Binkley and she shared this story. Her husband felt it was important for the Chapel to have a spire but there was no money to build a spire. Dr. Binkley traveled on Sunday afternoons for a period of time around North Carolina to the Baptist churches asking for donations. He was successful as we can see. Maybe that was a factor (in addition to his leadership of the Seminary) in the decision to name it after him.”
There are people who can add to this history. How much did Dr. Binkley raise and how long did it take him? We know that after the war some of the single veterans who poured into Wake Forest College lived in the chapel basement. There must be stories there.
2 Responses
Dr. Binkley may have well raised funds for the spire on the Chapel that now bears his name but it was not added later. Early construction photos of the chapel’s steel frame clearly shows the spire as part of the original structure as it is first being built. Dr. Binkley began his teaching career at Wake Forest College, his alma mater, in 1933 and remained there until 1944 when he went to teach at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He returned to teach at the newly organized Southeastern Seminary in 1952. I expect it was in the planning phase (1930s) for the chapel that he raised the funds for the spire.
Mr. A.J. Fletcher gave a carillon to the chapel in the early 70’s.
Mr. A.J was the owner of WRAL Television in Raleigh.