In 1967, when the original design of the Theology Building was drawn, a chapel was part of the plan. However, due to financial constraints, the chapel was not built when the building was completed in 1969. Since worship is an essential part of Christian life as well as of theological education, in the 70¡¦s, the Division held its worship services in the meditation room located at the lower floor of the Chung Chi College Chapel. The meditation room could accommodate 40 and it was adequate at the time as the community of the Theology Division was small then. The Chung Chi College Chapel, on the other hand, it was too large for regular worship of the Division as it was for gatherings of up to 800 (this was expanded to 1000 in the 90¡¦s). By the early 80¡¦s, as the community of the Theology Division had increased steadily, it outgrew the meditation room of the College Chapel. The study rooms on the top floor of the Theology Building were converted into a chapel to accommodate the increased population of our community. Though this chapel has been well designed, the setting and the structure of the building imposed constraints to make it "a proper chapel". It could only hold 80 persons at the most, and is becoming inadequate for our increased number of staff and students. In the academic year 2009-10, we have 120 full-time students, and 169 part-time students. We anticipate that we will grow to 130 full-time students and 200 part-time students per academic year within the coming decade.
The Divinity School of Chung Chi College is privately funded. Her key sponsors are five supporting denominations (namely: Anglican, The Church of Christ in China, Hong Kong Council, Methodist, Tsung Tsin Mission, Pentecostal Holiness Church), and many other local churches and Christian organizations. Theology Building has been a popular venue for these Christian groups to hold their meetings, training programmes and retreats. The small chapel in the Theology Building has played an important role in these activities but the facilities are becoming inadequate to meet their needs.
In order to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing society, and to cater for the needs of the growing population of students and staff as well as that of modern theological education, the Divinity School of Chung Chi College has been actively and unceasingly seeking ways to enhance its infrastructures, curriculums and resources in the past few years. Renovations have been carried out to improve the facilities of our teaching, administration and hostel facilities. However, the problem of inaccessibility to the physically handicapped has not been solved and this imposes a negative image on our School which is committed to the ideal of equal opportunities of all people. The proposal of constructing a Chapel as an extension of the Building and a Lift Tower will provide a chance to solve the problem. Thus there are practical and spiritual needs for the School to implement its unrealized plan of building the Divinity School Chapel. It will be a focal point of the School to symbolize our lively activities of teaching, learning, studying and services.
The Theological Council approved to have the new building to commemorate Prof. C. T. YUNG, the first President of the Divinity School (previously named Chung Chi Theological Seminary) as well as the President with the longest service term of Chung Chi College (1960-1975).
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