Whenever a group of people gather around a campfire to talk, roast s’mores, and ponder life’s big questions, something magical happens.

 A Weekly Tradition 

Just ask the students who attend the school’s weekly “Fire and Fellowship” gatherings outside the Chapel of the Holy Cross every Wednesday evening. The informal meetings, usually held around a campfire, often spark deep discussions about life on campus, faith, and spirituality.

“I love our small group and the way we are able to talk about our day, practice faith, and just simply enjoy each other’s company,” says Brooke Cippoletti ’26.

“It is a place where you can practice your faith if you want to, or just hang out. Fire and Fellowship is an underrated Holderness group that should be talked about more often. After our busy days with classes, sports, etc. it is nice to just sit by the fire and talk.”

 Rooted in History 

Founded in 1879 as an Episcopal boarding school, Holderness has always recognized the spiritual side of the student experience. Today—nearly 150 years after its founding—students and faculty still meet for twice-weekly Chapel services, and spiritual meetups like Fire and Fellowship have sprung up organically to complement the school’s longstanding spiritual traditions.

Participation in Fire and Fellowship is purely voluntary, and students are encouraged to lead the gatherings, which can range from Bible study and prayer to discussions about personal struggles or the state of the world.

 Why Spiritual Life Matters 

For the school’s Chaplain, the Rev. Jay Hutchinson, gatherings like Fire and Fellowship and regular Chapel services are key to fostering student wellbeing. While students’ minds are challenged in the classroom and their bodies strengthened on the athletic fields, it’s in the Chapel—or around a campfire—that they’re able to discover and develop their true spiritual selves.

“We are the school we are, the welcoming place we are, the academic place that we are, because we have this deep spiritual kernel that we can feed off of,” Hutchinson says.

“Whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim or atheist, the spiritual aspects of this school are going to be the things that help us weather storms, that help us get through stuff, that help to inspire us when the world seems bleak.”

This article was originally published in the Fall 2025 Holderness School Today. Read more of the publication on Issuu >