The Rev. Dr. Samuel Wells, the dean of Duke Chapel since 2005, will leave Duke early next summer to become the vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, he announced today.

“I’ve loved being a part of Duke as we have explored together what faith means to head, heart and hand in a diverse culture at a challenging time.” Wells said in a statement. “It has been an amazing privilege and joy to lead the ministry of the Chapel and share in the vibrant Duke and Durham communities. I shall miss it more than I can say.”

Wells will return to England to lead a prominent church that enjoys a close relationship with national leaders. Located in Trafalgar Square beside the National Gallery, the church is renowned for its high profile in the arts and engagement with poverty, often appearing in public broadcasts tied to issues of social justice.

Three stained glass windows at Duke Chapel were broken Wednesday night during Duke's Last Day of Classes celebration.

The vandalism occurred during the university-sanctioned party celebrating the end of the semester. It included a series of activities all day long, including a performance by the rapper Ludacris.

Students prepped early for a long day of fun, setting up lawn chairs and sipping beer on the quad by early afternoon. (The university allowed each person of drinking age to possess a six-pack of beer, but no wine or hard alcohol)

Duke officials don't yet know who broke the Chapel windows, nor the motivation, according to an email from Sam Wells, Dean of Duke Chapel.

"The Chapel is a symbol of the university as a whole, but also a building with religious and specifically Christian resonances," Wells wrote. "We can't know whether the action was simply reckless, or had more sinister intent; whether the target of this gesture was the university as a whole, Christianity in particular, or simply a beautiful and relatively unprotected building."

An investigation is ongoing.

For the third year in a row, News 14 Carolina will televise Christmas Eve services live from Duke Chapel tonight.

The telecast of the Traditional Service of Lessons and Carols will air at 11 p.m.

News 14 Carolina is a news station available for Time Warner Cable customers.

N.C. Central University Chancellor Charlie Nelms will give the sermon today at Duke Chapel's Good Friday service.

This will be Nelms' first sermon at Duke Chapel but far from his first church appearance. Since coming to NCCU in 2007, Nelms has made a habit of speaking at area churches. Doing so, he says, is a chance to offer public testimony.

He does it on his own time and speaks just as "Charlie," not as the leader of a public university.

"I'm speaking as a citizen of Durham, not as the chancellor of NCCU," Nelms said this week. "I'm presenting my personal point of view around issues of faith.  I'm more than a chancellor. I'm driven by a set of beliefs. I don't invoke those in any public kind of way when I'm interacting with students."

He speaks at area churches about a dozen times a year.

Nelms was raised in a small baptist church near Crawfordsville, Ark. In a small southern town, church was a big deal.

"The church was a special kind of place. And Easter was a very special time in the life of a poor kid growing up in the south because that's when you got your special clothes," he recalled. "You got a special outfit, and you had to give a special speech. An Easter speech. You're taught public speaking at a very young age and you get over your fear of getting over speaking to a crowd. There's a lot of learning."

The Good Friday sermon at Duke Chapel is at noon today.

"Charlie Nelms is an outstanding speaker who has much to teach us about courage in the face of adversity and the transforming power of suffering love - which are exactly the things Good Friday is all about," said Samuel Wells, dean of Duke Chapel.

Nelms said he'll talk about social justice and the moral responsibility that comes with being a Christian.

"We must be people who not only espouse a particular set of values, but follow them as well," he said. "We must be willing to practice what we preach."

Nelms expects to speak for 15 or 20 minutes today.

"Much longer than that, you bore people," he joked.

Duke University senior Christina Booth has been named Duke Chapel's student preacher for 2010.

Check it out.

Thinking about heading to Duke Chapel for a Christmas mass?

Christmas Eve services start with a children's service today at 3 p.m. and continue through the evening.

Here are the details.

Former President Bill Clinton Clinton was the last of a dozen speakers to share memories of John Hope Franklin and his wife, Aurelia. The ... more

Some of the most touching sentiments from today's ceremony at Duke Chapel honoring historian John Hope Franklin and his wife, Aurelia, came from their son, John Whittington Franklin.

The event was a celebration of the lives of John Hope, who died in March, and Aurelia, who died in 1999. John Hope - I'll continue referring to him that way because that's how he was generally referred to - was a scholar of legend; his seminar work, "From Slavery to Freedom," went a long way towards defining the black experience and created a roadmap for African-American education in this country. Its ninth edition is about to be published.

 In hearing John Whittington Franklin talk about his parents, it became clear that education, truth and scholarship were at the core of the Franklin household. John Whittington Franklin recalled how his mother taught him to cook while his father took him fishing, and both parents got on him about grammar and his mathematics.

"Conversation was an art," Franklin recalled. "And one needed to be well-versed on currrent events and willing to provide an opinion."

A couple of tidbits I'm cribbing directly from the program for today's celebration:

The couple met at Fisk University in Tennessee in 1931. Aurelia met John Hope through introductions from a classmate. 

"He was headed for town and asked if Aurelia needed anything. She asked for 15 cents worth of chocolate-covered peanuts. Although he was working two jobs, he did not have any money. Aurelia gave him the coins and he brought her the peanuts."

 Nice.

They were married June 11, 1940 - today would be their 69th anniversary - and the ceremony was held in her parents' living room at 7:30 in the morning. 

The Franklins traveled the world - Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and all over Africa. For their 50th anniversary, they vacationed in Rio de Janeiro.

Said John Whittington Franklin Thursday: "John Hope and Aurelia were extraordinary people, a marvelous couple and a powerful team."

Duke is live-streaming today's celebration of the life of John Hope Franklin. Click here to watch the event.

It begins at 11 a.m. at Duke Chapel. Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to speak.

Thursday is going to be messy at Duke.

At Duke Chapel, the university is hosting a celebration of the life of John Hope Franklin, the  civil rights pioneer and scholar, and his wife Aurelia Whittington Franklin.

That's at 11 a.m. and is expected to be a popular event, what with former President Bill Clinton heading the list of notables planning to attend.

Across campus, there will be three public high school graduations throughout the day at Cameron Indoor Stadium, adding to what will surely be a big old traffic congestion nightmare.

Hillside high holds graduation at 8 a.m. Northern high is at noon, and Durham School of the Arts is at 4 p.m.

Duke officials say heavy traffic is expected and parking on campus will be limited. Visitors are urged to use Duke's bus system.
Parking for the high school graduations will be available in the Blue Zone parking lot on Duke University Road and the Whitford Lot on Whitford Drive. Participants, guests and Blue Zone permit holders can enter the lot at the Iron Gate on Duke University Road. The Whitford Drive lot will be open for Duke permit holders, special guests and handicapped parking.

Folks attending the John Hope Franklin celebration at Duke Chapel should park either in the Bryan Center parking garage or in lots along Duke University Road near Chapel Drive, where shuttles will bring them to campus.

Or, you may just want to walk from wherever you're coming from. It may be quicker.