Video: Doane Stuart chapel ecumenical

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RENSSELAER — The Doane Stuart School’s chapel, which was dedicated on Tuesday, has relics from several different religions including Christian, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam.

“Different views and different faiths are presented here. I have found that it is this difference that helps us better understand ourselves,” said Rev. Daniel Heischman, executive director of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, who spoke at the event. “These old roots and old traditions give us a deeper understanding. Difference: there is no more powerful way to learn.”

Around 200 people — students, family members and faculty — attended the Tuesday evening dedication which came about two months after the school opened its doors at its new location on Washington Avenue in Rensselaer.

The interfaith chapel has hand-carved Art Deco wooden panels and wooden pews from St. Rita’s in Cohoes. Originally a school gymnasium, the chapel has varnished floors, high ceilings, and several religious relics donated by families of students.

It is the newest of all of the chapels in the Association of Episcopal Schools, said Heischman.

“A chapel is not merely an add-on to a school or a relic of the past, it can be the life of the school,” he added.

With roots tracing back to 1852, the private institution was created by the merger of the Roman Catholic Kenwood Academy of the Sacred Heart and the Episcopal St. Agnes School.

Despite these religious roots, the school says they like to welcome students of all religions, races, and backgrounds which is shown by the school having speakers from various religions at the dedication — Laura Roth, acting director of Karma Thegsum Choling, Rabbi Scott Shpeen with Congregation Beth Emeth, and Sarah Mohamed Ali, a student at Doane Stuart.

Purchased in the fall of 2008 for $4 million from the Rensselaer City School District, the school has 117,000 square feet of space, which is more than what the school was using in Albany, officials said referring to their prior leased location on South Pearl Street which was a former convent.

“We went from our darkest hour at the old school to having our brightest hope at the new school,” said Headmaster Richard Enemark.

A renovation project at the former Rensselaer Elementary School lasted about one year, with some construction still pending including the air conditioning in the chapel.

The coeducational private school has 274 enrolled students, whose families pay tuition ranging from $11,000 to $20,000 annually for nursery school through 12th grade. About 40 percent of students receive financial aid, said Enemark.

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