Picture this: There’s traffic backed up to the airport, and you are already running late to school. You’re not a senior, so you can’t rely on a spot in the parking lot. You must pray to the parking gods that you capture a rim spot. You drive around the rim of the parking lot, and every spot is taken. You can’t park in the teacher and senior parking lot, you’ll get a boot on your car if you don’t have a pass. You can’t park at the ARC, you’ll get a ticket. Tiehack is out of the picture, you can’t drive back to Buttermilk and walk all the way across the bridge. You’re wasting so much time. You settle for the Aspen Chapel. The parking lot is empty, so why wouldn’t you park there? However, there is more to the Aspen Chapel than your parking spot.

At the end of August, just before Ex Ed, I went to check the Chapel out. I’m surprised it took me all of 10 years to do so. The sanctuary is surrounded by stained glass windows. The space is warm and filled with vibrant colors when the sun shines just the right way. The staff is welcoming and open to showing me around. I learned the Chapel is a non-profit institution open to visitors to gather, celebrate, grieve, and worship. They explore Christianity, but they also embrace our diverse community, welcoming other religions like Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism.

The Chapel also hosts art and music shows. There are six shows a year. The shows are hosted in the Chapel’s downstairs area and in the sanctuary. Just recently, the Chapel had an exhibit called “(re)union” which was a partnership with the Aspen Sister Cities Bariloche Artist Exchange Program. The exhibit showed various different styles of art from Watercolor to multimedia pieces. One of our beloved science teachers, Marc Whitley, supported his wife, Lara Whitley, in this show from August 21 to September 25.

Yoga and meditation class is offered at the Chapel during the week. Participants can go to the Chapel or join in via Zoom.

The Chapel has recently created a new program called “The Loneliness Project” acknowledging and bringing awareness to the 25% of our population who have some kind of mental illness. The Chapel wants to come up with solutions for issues involving loneliness.

So, the next time you’re running late to school, remember the Aspen Chapel is a cool place. It is not just a place of worship, it is a community staple, offering a variety of activities. It is important for us to interact with the community; If you’re parked at the Chapel, go check it out.