FAITH AND CAMPUS LIFE
Lane College has a longstanding and rich religious heritage. Its religious programs are dedicated to enriching the living/learning experience and providing a spiritual life program that integrates faith and learning and fosters spiritual development. The College believes that spiritual growth is an important part of the development of the individual. Religious life at the College is viewed as a quality-filled experience, rather than a specific and narrow range of separate activities. Religious programs of learning, worship, and service have the purpose of illuminating life and making life more meaningful.
College Assembly/Chapel is held every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. Students, faculty, staff, and administrators are encouraged to participate in an hour of spiritual uplift. A program observed annually is Religious Emphasis Week. The Office of Student Affairs coordinates the program. While the College is affiliated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the College makes no attempt to impose specific denominational views upon students, faculty, or staff.
All students are required to attend a minimum of ten (10) College Assembly/Chapel services per semester. Students failing to meet this requirement may not be permitted to graduate until the requirement has been met.
OFFICE OF THE CHAPLAIN
The Office of the Chaplain is led by Rev. Freeman McKindra who serves as chaplain. Chapel takes place every Wednesday throughout the fall and spring semesters. Bible study takes place on Thursdays throughout the fall and spring semesters.
Additionally, the Office of the Chaplain facilitates praise explosions a few times each semester. Praise explosions begin at 10 p.m. and offer an opportunity for students who have early evening obligations (i.e. sports, band, etc.) to participate in the life of the faith community. The Office of the Chaplain also facilitates worship arts ministries on campus.
The Office of the Chaplain also provides pastoral care to the campus community.
HISTORY OF THE CME CHURCH
In 1882, one of the nation’s early Black Church denominations founded what has since evolved into Lane College. Now referred to as The Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, the organization was originally named the Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church in America when it formed in 1870. Among its top priorities was the establishment of schools to educate the newly freed Negroes following the Civil War. This enterprise of building a school in Tennessee was conceived as early as November 1878 at the CME denomination’s Tennessee Annual Conference. The CME church’s first Bishop, William H. Miles, presided over the meeting which convened at the old Capers Chapel CME Church in Nashville, Tennessee. A most pivotal moment of the conference occurred when Reverend J.K. Daniels presented a resolution to establish a Tennessee school. Amid much applause, the resolution was adopted, and a committee was appointed to solicit means to purchase a site. Reverends C.H. Lee, J.H. Ridley, Sandy Rivers, Barry Smith, and J. K. Daniels constituted this committee.
