A Treasured Symbol of Faith – Pilgrim Chapel Celebrates 15-Year Anniversary

With the early morning sun reflecting on the golden cross atop the spire of Pilgrim Chapel, an adjunct professor saw a young man in distress parked alone on the DBU campus. He knocked on the driver's window and asked if everything was okay. The young man was not a student at DBU but poured out his heart about his desperate desire to escape a dangerous gang lifestyle. After listening and praying with him, the professor asked how he had ended up on campus that morning. He looked up at Pilgrim Chapel and simply answered, "I saw the steeple, and I was drawn here."

Since its opening in the fall of 2009, the beacon of hope that is Pilgrim Chapel has steadily drawn many people close to God's heart. In honor of the chapel's 15-year anniversary, we give God thanks for the great things he has done with anticipation for all He is yet to do. The construction of Pilgrim Chapel, the most iconic building on the DBU campus, was the culmination of answered prayers over a period of decades. Chancellor Gary Cook, who served as DBU president during the fundraising and construction of the chapel, spearheaded the dream of building a chapel that would become the heart of the campus—a place to gather for worship, as well as academic study, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism. Years before a fundraising campaign had even been announced, an elderly woman who volunteered in the DBU campus mailroom gave DBU an inspiring gift. Lois Glenn was a faithful member of a group of senior adults who prayed for the University at President Cook's request. While hospitalized near the end of her life, she left instructions in a note regarding a small amount of money that she had received for Mother's Day. In a handwritten note left on her bedside table in the hospital room, Lois designated that the money be used in the future to build a chapel "where we can worship in quietness and reverence" on the campus of the University she loved. Today, the grandeur of Pilgrim Chapel honors God—and the widow's mite.

When praying about who would lead the fundraising effort to build the chapel, Dr. Cook felt led to ask future DBU President Dr. Adam C. Wright, then the director of undergraduate admissions, to take on the role. Dr. Wright recalls Dr. Cook inviting him to take a walk on campus one evening: We were talking through my calling at DBU, and we stopped at the spot where the chapel stands today, and he began to share with me his vision about having a chapel at DBU. He felt like the Lord had said the time was now to build this building. Dr. Cook said, "Adam, I really feel like the Lord has impressed upon my heart to ask you to step into a role of leadership and lead the campaign to build this building." Like a father would, he helped me understand how in the scripture God oftentimes chooses people to do extraordinary things. I asked, "Where do you think we are going to get this money? "He responded, "I don't know, but I know that God knows... and He will send it." So we knelt at that spot, and he showed me a passage, and I've never read the same way again in my life: "We walk by faith and not by sight." And we knelt there; we prayed and dedicated that ground to God and asked the Lord to bless it. We were going to take a step of faith. We weren't going to walk by sight––we were going to walk by faith.

Dr. Wright immediately began seeking and praying for a donor to fund the significant undertaking. He even wrote in his prayer journal about a Texas businessman and longtime supporter of the University, "Lord, please put a burden on Bo Pilgrim to fund this project." Dr. Wright surprised himself by writing such a bold prayer, but his faith was strong. After months of working diligently on the fundraising campaign and fervently praying, God provided a miracle on March 24, 2006. That is the day Dr. Cook received the long-awaited call from Bo Pilgrim, who committed $8 million to the cost of construction. Dr. J. Blair Blackburn, former executive vice president of DBU, oversaw the architects and construction company for Pilgrim Chapel, and DBU broke ground shortly after receiving this amazingly generous initial lead gift. "My wife, Candice, and I had just finished praying together at lunch. We included in our requests for the Chapel, as we did nearly every moment possible, that people would give so we could move forward with the project. Dr. Cook called right then to let us know the Pilgrims had committed the lead gift. We were moved to tears...the Lord had answered our prayers and the prayers of so many. That was an amazing day." - President Adam C. Wright

Credit: Miracles on University Hill: The Presidency of Dr. Gary Cook, Dr. Mary Nelson, A City on a Hill: Dallas Baptist University an Architectural History, Dr. J. Blair Blackburn"