OFFICE OF INTERFAITH CAMPUS MINISTRIES T h e C o l l e g e o f W o o s t e r B a b c o c k H a l l, W o o s t e r, O h i o

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1 ANNUAL REPORT OFFICE OF INTERFAITH CAMPUS MINISTRIES T h e C o l l e g e o f W o o s t e r B a b c o c k H a l l, W o o s t e r, O h i o

2 W Advocate Convocation Prayer 2014 Giver of Purpose, We begin again With anticipation and energy, Uncertainty and fatigue. Eager for what lies ahead; new initiatives, deepening friendships, new knowledge, invigorating experiences, surprising grace. And Bracing for the struggles; failed efforts, pressure to conform, lack of information, disrespectful demands, and structures that silence. The time, energy, preparation, passion, and hopes that have been poured into this beginning are enormous receive them with mercy and grant them due purpose. From our sheltered place apart we feel the tug and pull of glossamer threads of history, commerce, migration, and militarization that bind our lives with those in places of conflict, fear, and struggle. Iraq The Gaza Strip Lyberia, Sierra Leon, and Guinea Ferguson, MO The Ukraine Sudan Syria Guatemala The U.S. Border We acknowledge that fragmented, selfish, or hasty living cannot fulfill the ethical commitment to offer mercy to friends and strangers, deepen our capacity for justice, and live in deep humility. This year, in our small space, give to us the wisdom and calm to patiently listen the entire community into song. That wisely chooses some paths and refuses others; That humbly and hopefully gathers in the stranger and values difference as much as it does similarity; That challenges its own structures when they judge some unworthy of respect, care, or voice; That knows with deep knowledge the ultimate interdependence of all life and strives to live accordingly. Let our work, our insight, and our individual value be worthy of the needs of this community, this nation, this globe. We begin again With gratitude for the gift of life and of one another, Joy in the opportunity to learn together, Hope that the seeds we plant will grow strong, Trust that together we might add to the good in our troubled world, nation, communities, and lives. Reverend Dr. Linda Morgan-Clement Chaplain and Director of Interfaith Campus Ministry OFFICE OF INTERFAITH CAMPUS MINISTRIES The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691

3 from the Chaplain Dear Alumni, parents, and friends, I am pleased to share our annual report for the academic year. Many of you may be aware of the pressures and opportunities for higher education and the rapidly changing religious and spiritual demographics in our country. These external forces also impact Wooster s Interfaith Campus Ministry. Perhaps the concept of tipping point applies to at The College of Wooster. A number of forces, internal and external were slowly (and sometimes invisibly) adding pressure until change happened. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a year of transition and shift. Physically, the geological pressure of the hillside finally exceeded the capacity of a crumbling block wall. The collapse of the garden into the stairwell outside of UnderOver rendered it unsafe. Institutional priorities and a sustainable budget process coincided with the collapse, leading to the decision to end the era of Overholt House as the home of OICM. At roughly the same time a report to the President from a team tasked with listening to the campus community about its experience of diversity and global engagement coincided with the planned completion of the current director s term. Together these events allowed us to move OICM offices to Babcock Hall in order to continue the integration of OICM s mission of spiritual life and social justice with that of the reconfigured Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Demographically, the campus community and our students mirror a number of national trends. Wooster has fewer traditionally Christian students, more students who identify with a world tradition other than Christianity, and growing numbers of Spiritual but not Religious students. While many of our faculty and administrators are connected with a faith community, the majority of them are not. This fact also impacts the intergenerational culture as well as the campus culture ANNUAL REPORT of understanding and sensitivity towards students of faith. In the past year, a number of our students wishing to engage in spiritual and religious practice have begun asking for identified spaces where they do not need to explain or worry that their peers or others might question them. The sacred space accommodated 1 3 students, but the growing need has resulted in the creation of The Living Room, a room dedicated for spiritual life and located in Babcock as part OICM s new space. In the midst of ongoing change, the human need to come together for rites of passage persists. This past year, we lost two students and a beloved professor. In each occasion, it was an honor and blessing to work with members of the campus community to create celebrations of life that were appropriate to each of those whom we had lost. A concert, a garden, and reflections offered by colleagues and former students were some of the ways that the chaplaincy cared with and for our community this year. Programs and space are visible markers, but the power of chaplaincy is most often in listening presence, reflections of collective experience, and articulated visions of a campus community that can inspire courageous living to help create a better world for all. As always, I invite your support, suggestions and comments. Partners in ministry, Reverend Linda J. Morgan-Clement, DMin. Chaplain and Director of Interfaith Campus Ministry The College of Wooster On the Cover: A year with OICM serving, remembering, celebrating, reflecting Phone: ministries@wooster.edu

4 W Advocate Creating Space for our Campus Community Life at The College of Wooster is full and often overflowing; at times rich and fulfilling at others, overwhelming. In his book, Excellent Sheep, William Deresiewicz says that many of our talented and driven students are also anxious, timid, and lost, with little intellectual curiosity ad a stunted sense of purpose... great at what they re doing but with no idea why they re doing it. He argues our students need the kind of introspection that produces self-efficacy and moral imagination so they can risk failure in order to truly succeed. The quiet space where one seeks to find a way to live with the big questions in plain sight neither hiding nor seeking quick answers - is often difficult to find. Respectful spaces, meandering conversations, and dialogical encounter with others who are also courageous Students visit with Bilal Zuberi, Wooster alumni, entrepreneur and founder of the Muslim Students Association Special Events Students Non-Students Student Service Organizations (SSO) SSO Special Events Areas of Student Participation Student Religious Organizations SRO Special Events Interfaith Campus Ministries (ICM) ICM Special Events enough to risk failure can be found in a Worthy Questions small group, on a building site in Tijuana or a hillside in West Virginia, with a chaplain in the living room, a Newman night conversation or at the Interfaith Dinner s table. Recognizing this need our OICM programs and spaces seek to meet students, staff and faculty s need to allow their soul to catch up with the pace of their life. In we began an ongoing practice of counting participation in programs and events. The special events graph shows totals and the ratio of students to non-students for our most popular special events. The typical week and overall attendance chart, shows the number of engagements in a typical week during Missing are Soup and Bread participants (a weekly average of about 200) and persons in individual pastoral care. In a normal week, we engage most of our students twice. We were pleased with the reception of our programs and events. As we move forward, we will be able to add measures that will help us assess the effectiveness of these programs in encouraging and providing the kind of introspection that produces self-efficacy and moral imagination. Weekly and Overall Attendance Overall Typical Week Non-Students (staff, faculty, community member) 1,897 registered attendance at one or more events 123 registered attendance at one or more events Dr. Schultz Memorial Events OICM Open House Molly Bennet Memorial WVN WQ Retreat Community & Large Service Days Groups Seder Dinner Dr. Kwok Pui-Lan Students 3,293 registered attendance at one or more events 507 registered attendance at one or more events Total registered 5, OFFICE OF INTERFAITH CAMPUS MINISTRIES The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691

5 ANNUAL REPORT Engaging Questions of Social Justice through Service In October 2014, 15 students spent the first portion of fall break in Detroit, MI, working with the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI). Trip members shared the expectation that they would work in MUFI s urban gardens and help with the construction of their emerging community resource center. While students did participate in this work, it was at times slow and challenging. Projects frequently came without their desired results, and the before and after photos were less exciting than anticipated. However, downtime throughout the days allowed space for conversation with MUFI staff leaders, community members, and volunteers. Each shared unique perspectives on the needs of the community both the immediate area A student plays with children during the Tijuana spring break trip, operated in partnership with Trinity UCC. and development was sparked by her experience in Detroit. While the group was unsuccessful in installing the light fixtures at the community resource center, MUFI staff expressed their appreciation for Wooster students energy and ability in clearing garden beds, moving supplies, and preparing spaces for winter. The staff and volunteers were generous in both their candid sharing and their welcome valuing conversation in addition to the physical work that could be completed. We are grateful to the partner organizations that help make questions of justice and community real and relevant for students, and we are encouraged to see the many ways that students tangibly engage these questions both on and off Wooster s campus. Fall 2014: Students assist with construction projects at MUFI in Detroit. and the greater city. Students observations and questions gave way to conversations about wealth, opportunities, WVN Service Houses, Hours systems, and connections Wooster questions that OICM believes YMCA 176 Holly House 152 & Girls Club (2 groups) are essential to a liberal artsboys education at The WVN Trout Unlimited Wayne County Humane Society 90 College of Wooster. What resources Homework for Hoopsare necessary 219 Poverty Outreach 392 Local Roots access to 48 here? What systems are preventing Girl Scouts Paws for Ability Westview Manor 188 them? Can this be changed? How? What is 680 The Wilderness Center 72 4 Paws for Ability (4 groups) 680 my role in all of this? Service Hours Hours Wooster YMCA 176 Holly House 152 Boys & Girls Club 321 The Wilderness Center 72 These are the questions that we hope will continue to resonate, as they have for Detroit trip participant, Lauren Pugliese 17. The summer following her Detroit experience, Lauren Westview worked as an urban planning intern Manor 188 in her home city of Chicago, where she learned about the social, political, and economic initiatives used to revitalize communities. She hopes to return to the internship, noting that her interest in urban revitalization Wooster YMCA Holly House Trout Unlimited Boys & Girls Club (2 groups) Trout Unlimited 28 Wayne County Humane Society Homework for Hoops Wayne County Poverty Outreach Humane Society Local Roots 90 Girl Scouts Westview Manor The Wilderness Center Homework for 4 Paws for Ability (4 groups) Hoops 219 Girl Scouts 208 Local Roots 48 Poverty Outreach 392 Phone: ministries@wooster.edu

6 W Advocate Mentoring Spiritual Growth and Religious Dialogue Mentoring personal spiritual growth and religious dialogue, an essential component in the development of global citizens, doesn t happen without a team effort. As you will have seen in these pages, the Interfaith Campus Ministry at Wooster would not exist without many different offices and individuals. You, our alumni and friends are also a critical part of this team. You will see from the excerpt from our external review that the world of change affects us as well. The dreams that our stakeholders explored during the review have shown that the ministry of tomorrow requires new approaches and resources. Most of the programming and staffing for Interfaith Campus Ministries is made possible through endowed funds. The Morris Endowment for Religion and Society allows us to meet the changing needs of our increasingly diverse community. Gifts to this fund help us further diversify the religious background of our staff through the creation of a Multifaith Chaplaincy Intern partnership with Claremont University and Hartford Seminary. These gifts will also allow OICM to continue to provide lifechanging service-reflection trips in the face of increasing cost for safe transportation. Finally, gifts to this fund will help our students and staff participate in edu cational opportunities and conferences that will increase religious literacy and deepen interfaith engagement. Please consider supporting our work through a gift to The Morris Endowment for Religion and Society. We truly appreciate your continued support. To make a gift contact the Office of Development at giving@wooster.edu or by calling Interfaith and Student Religious Groups 44% Presbyterian Outreach 4% Programmatic Dollars Baccalaureate 4% Leadership Development 11% Service / Justice 23% Campus Community 14% We found a program that is simultaneously sophisticated and creative, with depth that is well- matched to the intellectual culture of the College. Wooster s hallmarks of faculty mentorship and useful, principled inquiry are in rich evidence throughout. The quality and breadth of program offered by Wooster s OICM rival comparable work done within much larger and more diverse academic settings... As we enter into a new decade in the work of OICM it is necessary to consider the landscape of Higher Education, and of College and University Chaplaincy to situate the OICM within this context. The future of this work continues to expand interfaith understanding and focus on religious diversity within the College. Additionally we are seeing an increasing demand for religious literacy and interfaith engagement as participation in traditional religious communities diminishes on a national level. In this new context questions of how students make meaning and discern future goals and vocational call is critical. The OICM fits into this space, connecting religious belief and practice to social justice and service. This is critical work that should be celebrated and expanded for the richness it adds to the fabric of the educational experience and life of the College community. Excerpt from the External review of OICM, conducted in spring Reviewers were Reverend Janet CooperNelson, Chaplain at Brown University and Reverend Katherine Smanik 01, Chaplain at DePauw University. I m somebody who knows the feeling of being isolated in a room filled with people. Fear of alienation, judgement, and misunderstanding drove me into a dishonest cycle that left me superficially connected with lots of people but never understood. Worthy Questions was the first place in my four years at The College of Wooster where I opened up and shared honestly about the introverted and previously hidden aspects of my life experience. As a confused and then closeted homosexual, I felt that I had secrets to guard when in reality I needed to talk about them with my peers and a mentor in a safe space. The consistent and approachable setting provided by the Worthy Questions small group was an oasis in my undergraduate career. Many tools that I cherish today came from my experiences in Worthy Questions. The seedlings of honesty and the ability to ask for help were planted during the meetings I was a part of in the Spring of my Junior year. I m sincerely grateful for the intangible but incredible gifts that I found in the Worthy Questions small groups that listened to me, and with whom I listened. Robert Z. West (Class of 2012) (excerpt from recent interview) OFFICE OF INTERFAITH CAMPUS MINISTRIES The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691

7 ANNUAL REPORT Baccalaureate Prayer 2015 Life Giver, We gather today with hearts overflowing With memories both salty and sweet; With fears and hope entwined in tomorrow; With gratitude for what has gone before and that, which is yet to come. In the haste and press of this weekend of celebration, hold us in this hour, Still our breathing; calm our thoughts; slow our racing hearts; relax our grasping hands; and sooth our restless feet That we might be profoundly present in the midst of this community; among family, friends, mentors, teachers, and strangers, whose lives have nurtured, supported, challenged, and loved us into this day. As we are present we lift to you the present absence those who have died. In silence we remember with gratitude Shiv, Molly, Nancy, and Melissa and all whom we have loved. SILENCE Gift Giver, We thank you for the simple gifts with which our lives are blessed. Smiles exchanged with strangers; The pink and pale blue of sunrise and sunset s fire; Grief shared in silence; Birdsong; Quenching water and daily bread. We thank you for the complicated gifts that challenge us to become more than we are. Shocking possibilities in disagreement; Honest feedback s clear reflection; Mortality s limitations; The shrapnel of unintended consequences; A no that invites us to create something new; And difference that shatters smug certainty. In the tapestry of our living Open our hearts that we might be cherishers of life; Restrain our hands that avarice will not be our legacy; Encourage the cultivation of gratitude in all circumstances; Sharpen our hunger for justice that overrides comfort; In these, may we, together, respond to the challenges of our day and the needs of our world, with hope, courage, compassion, and thanksgiving. Amen. Reverend Dr. Linda Morgan-Clement Chaplain and Director of Interfaith Campus Ministry Phone: ministries@wooster.edu

8 Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries Staff for Linda Morgan-Clement... Chaplain and Director of Interfaith Campus Ministry Jillian Yoder... Assistant Chaplain Danya Morris.... Jewish Life Mentor Nathaniel Addington Newman Catholic Campus Minister Mike Greer InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Staff Erica Weber Administrative Assistant for the Center for Diversity and Inclusion Pictured (back, l to r): Mike Greer, Danya Morris, Nathaniel Addington, Erica Webber; (front) Linda Morgan-Clement and Jillian Yoder The Advocate is the bi-annual publication of the Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries for friends and alumni with an interest in the Spiritual and Religious life of the campus. To subscribe, alumni@wooster.edu or contact the Office of Alumni Relations To read this or other issues of the Advocate, please find PDFs at: Key acronyms: OICM (Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries) CDI (Center for Diversity and Inclusion) Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries Overholt House 1473 Beall Ave. Wooster, Ohio Phone: Fax: ministries@wooster.edu OICM Mission Statement The Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries fosters religious, spiritual, ethical, and moral growth for students, staff, and faculty at The College of Wooster. As a community of communities ies and as seekers after meaning, we wrestle individually and communally with questions of ultimacy. Interfaith Campus Ministries supports and encourages the development of character and commitment required to be agents of just and peaceful transformation in the world. W Independent Minds, Working Together