Dedicated to
Fred C. Manning, industrialist and philanthropist, this chapel was created as a nondenominational chapel, continuously open to all, with doors that never close. Fred Manning was the first person in Canada to receive the honour of having a business school named after him. Designed in the Roman Renaissance style, the building leaves one with the impression of an early nineteenth century building, not a late twentieth century one. A great deal of attention to detail has been given the building, both inside and out.
At the front of the sanctuary of the chapel, behind the pulpit, is a tall, three section stained glass window, the work of master craftsman Henry Lee Willet. The three depict a multitude of Biblical scenes crafted in brass and glass.
Acadia University was founded by church people in 1838. In 1958 Acadia Students asked for a chapel to be built on this campus. They began to raise money for its construction when the family of Fred C. Manning, long associated with Acadia, offered to build it in his memory. It was opened and dedicated in 1963. The chapel is ecumenical, open to all.
The stained glass windows in the Manning Memorial Chapel present the same pattern to worshippers whether light is behind them or shining upon them. Changing light changes colour and value in the jewel toned glass. This beauty was the result of careful planning by the master craftsman Henry Lee Willet. His artistry and dedication to making the windows beautiful in any circumstance illustrates the desire to enrich the lives of those who enter the chapel that has guided the chapel since it was first built almost forty years ago.
From Acadia University