The Rev. Kenneth I. Clarke Sr. has faith that a new program series will begin to reverse the 35-year-long downturn in Sage Chapel attendance. Under the chapel's new theme, "Where Spirit and Intellect Meet," he is leading an aggressive interfaith outreach effort that invites such faculty speakers as historian Nick Salvatore and musicians -- including the Burns Sisters, Samite of Uganda and Women in Black -- to participate in the chapel's service and other events.

For starters, the traditional Sunday morning service has moved to 4 p.m. from 11 a.m. And Sunday events have monthly themes, such as Faith and Reason, Creativity, and Transcendence and Enlightenment.

"The idea behind this change was to provide the service at a time that is more student-friendly," says Clarke, director of Cornell United Religious Work (CURW). "This is an opportunity for students who might wish to take a break from afternoon study to get spiritual inspiration and intellectual engagement of another sort. It's an opportunity for people to experience the spirit in accordance with their own convictions. We want the broad Cornell and Ithaca communities to join us."

Clarke says the central question in his work is: "How does religion and spirituality contribute to the academic mission and intellectual life of the institution? The answer changes as the university and the world changes."

The 800-seat Sage Chapel opened at the center of campus in 1875, seemingly defying the university's explicitly nonsectarian roots. Clarke concedes that the chapel's overtly Christian (Protestant) architecture and ecclesiastical iconography may challenge some people of different faiths.

"Nonetheless, it is a space in which all are welcome who choose to come, regardless of faith tradition," he says. "We create an environment and ethos of welcoming through the speakers we've invited, who reflect a wide range of religion and spirituality.

"Cornell, at its inception identifying itself as nonsectarian, meant at that time unaffiliated with any Protestant denomination, although the founders, certainly A.D. White and Ezra Cornell, understood the university to be Christian in nature as they defended Cornell from its detractors. Nonetheless, that nonsectarian identity laid the groundwork for the type of religious diversity we have today," says Clarke.

All are welcome to visit Sage on Mondays at noon, when candles are lit and music and refreshments are provided "for people who want to use the space for reflection," says Clarke. "Amidst the busy, frenetic life of an Ivy League land-grant institution, and particularly in Cornell culture, where you have hard-working and driven students committed to scholarly rigor, with all the excitement and the stresses that come with that, this is one of the few spaces on campus where there's an opportunity to reflect on one's life, one's experiences. It's an opportunity for solitude," he says.

Wednesdays during the academic year, also at noon, Sage Chapel offers regular organ concerts by Professor Annette Richards and guest organists.

"It is gratifying to see the tradition of Sage Chapel being rekindled and made relevant to our contemporary circumstances," says Dean of Students Kent Hubbell. "I trust that these changes will invigorate discourse regarding matters spiritual in the Cornell community. I look forward to Sunday afternoons at Sage becoming a forum for addressing a broad range of subjects related to religion and spirituality, including those which are topical, challenging and controversial."

"This is a place where spirit and intellect meet in many ways," Clarke says, noting that the new programming emerges from CURW's response to a 2006 external review of Sage Chapel by chaplain colleagues from several peer universities.

The first Sage Sunday program is Aug. 26. Clarke and Hubbell will speak, and the Cornell Glee Club will sing. For a complete list of Sage Chapel events, see http://www.curw.cornell.edu/sage.html.