Wait Chapel

{{short description|University chapel in North Carolina, US}}

{{Infobox church

| name = Wait Chapel

| image = UpperQuad ACB.jpg

| caption = Wait Chapel's distinctive edifice dominates the main quad at Wake Forest University

| coordinates = {{coord|36.13508|-80.27885}}

| location = Hearn Plaza

| address = Wake Forest University

| denomination = Baptist

| dedicated date =

| architect =

| completed date = {{start date and age|1956|p=yes}}

| spire height = 213 feet (65 m)

| musicgroup =

}}

Wait Chapel is a building on the campus of Wake Forest University. The first building constructed on the university's Reynolda campus, in October 1956, it is named for Samuel Wait, the university's first president. Its steeple reaches to {{Convert|213|ft}}. The chapel stands on the northeastern side of Hearn Plaza (Upper Quad), opposite Reynolda Hall.

The chapel, which seats 2,250 people, houses the Janet Jeffrey Carlile Harris Carillon of 48 bells and the Williams Organ, donated by Walter McAdoo Williams, namesake of Walter M. Williams High School.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Wait Chapel on October 11, 1962.{{cite news|title=King Asks Whites to Aid Integration|url=https://wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/bitstream/handle/10339/2151/ogb_1962-10-15.pdf|accessdate=21 April 2015|work=Old Gold and Black|issue=4|date=15 October 1962|volume=48|ref=ogb1962.10.15}} On March 17, 1978, president Jimmy Carter made a major National Security address in the chapel.{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=30516|title=Address at Wake Forest University}} In 1988, it hosted a presidential debate between George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis and, in 2000, between George W. Bush and Al Gore. On September 13, 2007, it hosted a broadcast of National Public Radio (NPR) show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/|title= Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me|website= NPR}} Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke here in November 2011. A private memorial ceremony for Dr. Maya Angelou was held in Wait Chapel on June 7, 2014. Attendees included first lady Michelle Obama, president Bill Clinton, and Oprah Winfrey.{{cite web|last1=Tooley|first1=Elaine|title=A celebration of rising joy: Family, friends and honored guests remember Dr. Maya Angelou|url=http://news.wfu.edu/2014/06/07/a-celebration-of-rising-joy/|website=Wake Forest University News Center|date=7 June 2014 |accessdate=21 April 2015|ref=wfnews}}

The chapel is linked to a vast underground series of tunnels crisscrossing the campus carrying utilities.{{cite web|url=http://ogb.wfu.edu/07/index.php?/ee/l_article/50_things_to_do_at_wake_before_you_graduate/|title= Old Gold and Black}}

The congregation of Wake Forest Baptist Church once held regular Sunday services in the chapel; the church dissolved in 2022.{{cite news|url=https://journalnow.com/news/local/wake-forest-baptist-church-on-university-campus-votes-to-dissolve-after-66-years/article_21d2cdfc-16b4-11ed-9995-bf6735f1f93a.html#tracking-source=home-top-story|title=Wake Forest Baptist Church on university campus 'votes to dissolve' after 66 years|last=Deem|first=John|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=August 8, 2022}} In the late 1990s the chapel became the center of controversy when members of the church decided to conduct a same-sex commitment ceremony; this became the subject of the documentary A Union in Wait.{{cite web|url=http://www.aunioninwait.com/|title= A Union In Wait}} Other events held in the chapel throughout the year include a Moravian lovefeast during the Christmas season.