Papers and Workshops

Presenter details and abstracts

Landscapes of Learning Communities

Title	About the Presenter(s)	Abstract
L1. Academically Missional: Opening Space at the Centre of the Academy	Dr. John Valk is Campus Minister at the University of New Brunswick and Senior Instructor in Worldview Studies at Renaissance College, University of New Brunswick. He has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies (University of Toronto) and has published articles in the area of “Religion and Education”, taught in the Faculty of Education and Faculty of Arts. He won a $10,000 (US) award to teach a “Science and Religion” course at the University of New Brunswick.	Henri Nouwen states that schools should be "places where redemptive forms of society can be experimented with and offered to the modern world as alternative styles of life." That's an interesting concept - knowledge as redemptive. Gordon Smith further states that "we need to affirm the redemptive value of academic study." The university swirls with worldviews that pull it in confusing directions, and the consequences are profound. Recent studies indicate that "there is today more discussion about the role of religion in the academy than at any time in the past forty years." That discussion, however, takes place largely inside the classroom. In the postmodern context worldview presuppositions, and religious perspectives increasingly enter the academic dialogue. Can Campus Ministry, in engaging the religious questions, reach beyond the margins and "draw closer to the inner life of the university?" Can it carve out new space where heart and mind can be engaged together? Can academically gifted Campus Ministers assist in creating scholarly communities that educate the whole person, thereby assisting in the spiritual, moral and intellectual formation of students? In other words, can Campus Ministry become academically missional? back
L2. A contextual framework for understanding the role and function of Tertiary Chaplaincy for a global context? WITHDRAWN	Tim Pettengell was the inaugural Southland Tertiary Chaplain located in Invercargill, New Zealand. He came to this position with a background in hospital chaplaincy. The tensions inherent within making the transition from a hospital to a tertiary setting - both conceptually and in terms of praxis, was the source of a research essay titled - "What is Tertiary Chaplaincy? In search of a theoretical framework for praxis." This essay is the basis for this workshop. Tim is an active Lay person within the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.	Chaplaincy has been traditional understood as an extension of parish based ministry. Thus the tendency is to use ecclesiastical models and conceptions to perceive and understand the role of chaplaincy and to define the tasks and responsibilities of a chaplain. However, such perceptions and understandings either breakdown or are invalidated by the context within which chaplaincy occurs. In this case, the tertiary educational setting of New Zealand. It is from the ambiguity of the role and function of chaplaincy from its history, tradition, context - societal, church and tertiary, peoples attitude and expectations that chaplains and chaplaincy need to construct a new framework to perceive and understand their role and function. This workshop begins by identifying the ambiguity of tertiary chaplaincy and the insights it offers. Then using these insights, constructing a different model of chaplaincy through which to perceive and understand the role of chaplaincy as well as the tasks and responsibilities of the chaplain that reclaims chaplaincy’s unique identity and role. All the while, implicitly asking participants to apply this process upon their own perception and understanding of chaplaincy. back
L3. A timely initiative: The placing and funding of coordinating chaplains in Australian tertiary institutions.	Rev'd Dr Barry Rogers is Tertiary chaplaincy coordinator for the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne; chaplain and psychologist at Monash University, Clayton (Australia); and, Honorary Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences at Monash. He recently completed a Ph.D. on loss, grief and transition issues for senior school students.	Very few chaplaincy positions are directly funded by Australian universities, with most other full-time and fractional positions being funded by external faith bodies. This paper reviews the roles that a coordinating chaplain might have as a senior appointment within Student/Community Services. Based on a holistic approach to student educational support from a values perspective, it also argues for ongoing federal and state government funding for these positions. back
L4. Engaging Cosmologies: An Indigenous Epistemology	Christine Morris is a doctoral candidate at the School of Law, Griffith University, Australia. She is a descendant of the Kombumerri and Munaljahlai clans of South-East Queensland, Australia. Her present fields of specialization and research interest include Indigenous jurisprudence, intellectual property, media studies, biodiversity and the ethics of genetic engineering. Her work has been published in Australia and overseas. She is a former producer/presenter for Australia's Radio National Broadcasting Corp. Religious Programs. Shaun McVeigh lectures in jurisprudence at Griffith Law School. He has research interests in styles of legal communication and the legal manner and manners of dying. His major publications include Postmodern Jurisprudence: The Law of Text in the Texts of Law (1993) and A Jurisprudence of Jurisdiction (forthcoming 2004). He has also holds editorial posts nationally and internationally.	Questions of cosmology, and how to address them, are fundamental to both spiritual and practical existence of many cultures and to the disciplines of theology and law. This community project seeks to explore some of the ways in which the differing modes of engagement with cosmologies can enhance trans-cultural understanding. It takes the ‘reading group’ as a privileged site of exchange. The problem it investigates is not that of empathy or its lack but one of style and the management of authority. back
L5. Fundamental Mysteries and the Religious Quest	Howard Taylor taught Maths at an African University and then was ordained to Presbyterian Church in Malawi where he worked for 16 years. He then entered Parish Ministry in Scotland, until taking up full time University Chaplaincy. One of the courses he teaches in Edinburgh and Glasgow won a Templeton Funded CTNS $12,000 award for Science-Religion issues.	Using the writings of atheist philosophers (especially Bertrand Russell) this workshop looks at the important and interesting questions about reality that are, in principle, beyond the scope of natural science and asks how they may prompt the religious quest even among those unfamiliar with philosophy and science. It considers the coherence or otherwise of various 'theological' responses. back
L6. Holding the Liminal Experience For Others: The Gift of Holy Listening	Anne Franks is the acting Dean in the School of Christian Studies and the Pastoral Care Coordinator at Christian Heritage College in Brisbane, Australia.	Victor Turner (1974) identified the state of liminality (rooted in the Latin word for threshold) as being the experience of being betwixt and between, where the old world has been left behind and the new has not yet come. By their very nature, undergraduate university years are a liminal experience with their characteristic sense of displacement, transition and opportunity. In response to this phenomenon, this paper will explore how the University Chaplain can companion students in their liminal journeys by drawing on the rich Christian understanding of holy and spacious listening. back
L7. In the Company of Strangers: Toward a Theology of Hospitality on Campus	Jan Rivero is the United Methodist Campus Minister at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC. In her fifteenth year in campus ministry and a doctoral student at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, Jan has served with distinction locally and nationally. She leads campus ministry boards in development, assessment and discernment; she leads workshops on prayer, spirituality and healing. At the heart of her work is her passion for student faith development.	This is a theological reflection on what it means to have a ministry of hospitality on a state university campus. Despite appearances to the contrary, the university campus is, by and large, a community of strangers. Identifying several marks of Christian hospitality, this paper builds a case for the importance of such a ministry in the university. How is hospitality a spiritual discipline? How is it a manifestation of the presence of God? How is it a response to the abundance of God? How is it a proclamation of the Gospel? How is it a vehicle of transformation? If it is these things, then surely it is a means of grace; how does campus ministry communicate that grace? back
L8. Lord, Have Mercy! Praying Inclusively (and with Integrity) on Public University Occasions	Charles Wallace has been Chaplain at Willamette University in Oregon, USA, since 1985, where he enjoys the challenge of relating to people of all faiths -- and of none. Academic interests include early Methodist history and the relation of food and religion. He has edited Susanna Wesley: the Complete Writings (Oxford, 1997).	One of the toughest liturgical jobs facing chaplains in post-modern multi-cultural universities is the expectation that we pray – whether to open an academic year or a graduation ceremony or to mark any number of occasions in between. How do we pray in a way that welcomes our increasingly diverse religious constituencies (not to mention the faculty who claim “none of the above”) and yet bear witness to that which is deeply true in our own tradition? Particularly problematic for Christians (given centuries of cultural hegemony and religious triumphalism), this role is nevertheless a difficult one for all who would invoke the Holy in a public university setting. Our workshop will begin with discussion of our settings. Then we will proceed to writing and sharing of prayers that respond to occasions and contexts suggested by our colleagues. back
L9. Spirituality in a Multi-Cultural University	Fr. Jim O'Neill is part of the Roman Catholic campus ministry team at St. Mark's College at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is also co-ordinating chaplain of the UBC Chaplains Association and serves as liaison to the Student Development and Services Committee of the university. He has served in campus ministry at the high school and college level for 20 years. The work which he is presenting is part of his campus ministry at UBC and his MA thesis in Pastoral Counselling at Boston College.	At the University of British Columbia, a large public campus, there are a number of cultures and religions represented. Mainstream Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith groups practise their religions on campus but the large majority of students are non-practising and uninformed about paths to spiritual wellness. While they consider spirituality to be the province of organized religion and to be avoided, the same students are hunting for their spiritual source. Many others are attracted to organized faith groups by their choice or their family origins. This workshop is a chance to look at trends observable on Canadian campuses as well as a sharing of responses which chaplains are giving to the growing need for spiritual direction. back
L10. The Use Of Psychodrama In Doing Pastoral Care With College Students And Staff	Dr. Stephen Weisz is Chaplain and Professor of Religious Studies, Tusculum College Greeneville, Tennessee USA. Dr. Weisz has been the Chaplain of a small (1,000 students) liberal arts college which is related to the Presbyterian Church USA for 23 years and was a campus minister at Purdue University for 7 years. He has also been a parish minister and worked in the mental health and family therapy field where he has used psychodrama as an approach to working with college students and faculty.	I will ask participants in this workshop to present stories or give personal accounts of student and/or staff conflicts, relational problems, spiritual struggles within the college campus context and we will have participants take roles and "act out" these issues in a supportive setting using the principles of Moreno's psychodrama approach to resolving personal and group issues. back
L11. University Chaplaincy - a Strategic Presence	Revd. Dr. Maggie Stringer is an adult educator and since 1988 a Minister in the Methodist Church in Britain. She worked in Bolivia with the IEMB between 1994 and 2001. Currently, Methodist Chaplain in the multi-faith Chaplaincy Service at Sheffield University and Minister to local churches. She enjoys walking by the sea and time with friends.	In Britain, Universities are experiencing a crisis of identity through Government policies to create a mass system of Higher education managed according to global competitive free market principles. Academics are to sustain the pursuit of excellence whilst meeting entrepreneurial expectations to ensure the economic success of the Institution. Students and parents are critical consumers of a commodity - a University education. In this context, religion is strictly a private matter. A traditional model of Chaplaincy offers a service viewed as peripheral to the primary objectives of the Institution. I propose a strategy that promotes spiritual understandings and multi-faith expressions that offer creatively critical influences on the ethos of an Institution to further the well-being of students, academics, managers and administrative staff. back
L12. University Memorial Services - Challenges and Opportunities!	Fr Dom Carrigan CSSR is a Catholic priest who has worked as a chaplain at the University of Newcastle, Australia, since 1991. He is also an assistant priest (pastor) in a parish. He is presently coordinator of the chaplains at the University of Newcastle.	Death is part of life. When it affects University personnel, chaplains are sometimes asked to conduct memorial services. This workshop is based on three (3) memorial services: 1) where the family allowed a memorial service provided it had 'no religion'; 2) where the deceased international student belonged to a different faith and culture to the chaplains; 3) where chaplains of different traditions had to work together for a very public memorial service. This workshop will invite participants to work with others to see how they would approach these workshops and to see what was actually done in an Australian context. back
L13. Whole People Matter: Learning from chaplaincy in Further / Vocational / Community education contexts	A History graduate from Manchester University, Anthea Turner worked as teacher and senior manager in Further Education colleges in the Midlands, with responsibility for curriculum, students, staff development and quality. From 1998 to 2003, she was The Churches' National Adviser in Further Education, working ecumenically with over 400 colleges	Overview of published national ecumenical project (2002-2003) with staff in 19 English Further Education colleges, exploring the values dimension in curriculum, through qualifications, non-examined courses, citizenship, tutorials and extra-curricular activities. (Case studies and discussion paper obtainable from Alan Murray, Church House, Great Smith Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ, UK) 2. Exploration of ways in which Further/Higher Education chaplains engage with the core business of the college, and act as catalysts for learning within their institutions. Participants will be encouraged to share their experience. 3 Consideration of the potential value of links into an international network of chaplains in Further/vocational/community education. back
L14. Christ as the centre of the university	Mike Pietsch is a pastor of the Lutheran Church of Australia who for more than a decade has been the co-ordinator of Lutheran university chaplaincy to the ten campuses in South Australia. He is based at the University of Adelaide. Dietrich Bonhoeffer has provided him with many insights which have assisted him in tertiary chaplaincy.	Dietrich Bonhoeffer maintained that Christ is not to be pushed to the edges of the university, but to be found in at its very centre. Even though the centrality of Christ may not be obvious (or even denied), the church is to continue to affirm and point to this reality. Christ is a physical reality in the incarnation and sacraments and this intersects with the physical and human world of the university. The chaplain invites all academics and students to genuine worldliness in their vocation as researchers, critical thinkers, teachers and students. Paradoxically, the chaplain will also point to the limitations of scholarship and academic endeavour, distinguishing between the ultimate and pen-ultimate in life. This paradox has implications for such matters as ethics, ecology, the 'two Kingdoms' (the Kingdom of God and the 'government' of the university), justice and advocacy. back
L15. The Challenges of University Chaplaincy / Campus Ministry to lay solid foundations in developing leaders of integrity and relationships with the wider society	Rev Dr. Menson Mpofu is a member of the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe. He has been the senior ecumenical chaplain at Midlands State University (MSU) for two years and seven months, from 1st October 2001 to date. Prior to coming to MSU he was a lecturer and chaplain at united theological college (UTC) that is run by 6 major protestant denominations in Zimbabwe. He worked there for two years and nine months, from 1999 to September 30, 2001. Before going to UTC he was the projects development officer with the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe which is his church. He worked as a youth director/youth minister for 4 years from 1981 to 1985. He worked as a local church pastor for 7 years, from 1974 to 1980. Academically, he holds the following qualifications: BA (honours) in religious studies from the university of Zimbabwe, Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary and Doctor of Ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary. As part of his D.Min he did clinical pastoral education at evangelical health systems at Christ Hospital, now Advocate Health Care.	“The future of our nation depends on the quality of nurturance of leadership development of young people as it relates to the many social, economic and political challenges of nation building”. Definitions for leadership. The University Chaplaincy/Campus Ministry conducts programmes that are supportive of the educational process of the University. It also provides students with another avenue by which to discover, explore and understand themselves as whole persons (spiritually, physically, intellectually, psychologically and emotionally). The question, which we need to ask, is: are Universities breeding grounds or breaking grounds for leaders? Traditionally, Universities were known for being breeding grounds. There were the basis of knowledge and good leadership. When we talk of ethics we are talking of issues of professionalism and ethics Developing Relationships with the wider Society. There is a worldwide paradigm shift in so far as university life and education is concerned. There is need to develop a sound relationship with the wider society around the University. It is this community around the University who should help the University in moulding and shaping the characters for students. The challenge for the Chaplain is how to help students who come to your office needing house rent, they have no much money for food, they struggle to pay for their University education. The other challenge for Chaplains/Campus Ministers is to make sure that programmes are developed outside the regular classrooms in order to shape the students’ character, social, moral, and spiritual formation. back
L.16 Universities & Chaplaincy In Asia	Alexis Egerton Lancelot Perera is the Catholic Chaplain of the University of Peradeniya, which is the largest University in Sri Lanka, with an undergraduate population of 9500 students. This is his tenth year, here, as chaplain. He is a graduate of this University having read for a degree in Economics, after which he qualified and practised as a Chartered Accountant before entering the seminary. He is a priest of the Society of Jesus. In the 1990s, he obtained a M.A. degree in Pastoral Counselling, from Loyola University, Chicago, USA.	What are Asian universities like? How are they both similar & different to Western universities? Is there a particularly 'Asian' concept of university? What is the Asian concept of chaplaincy / pastoral support. How does chaplaincy function in Asian universities? How does chaplaincy address the multi-faith context of Asian society? How do Asian chaplains deal with the great diversity of religious faiths & practices they encounter? How will chaplaincy in Asian universities develop into the future? back
L17. Explore the REEF! Respect, Engagement, Education and Formation in multi faith learning	John McCarthy is Roman Catholic Chaplain at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. A lay person, his interests include inter-faith and ecumenical relations, and social justice issues in the UK and further afield. John has spent the last ten years in chaplaincy in Further and Higher Education, following a number of years in retail management. Jonathan Frost is Anglican Chaplain at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. A residentiary canon at Guildford Cathedral (which shares the same hill as the University) his interests include inter-faith relations, the mission of the Church in post-modernity and the work of Christian Aid. Prior to ministry at UniS he served in two parishes, and as a chaplain in the police service.	The workshop seeks to present and argue for key principles in the development of multi faith chaplaincy provision: Respect, Engagement, Education and Formation. Through video, narrative and theoretical inputs, the journey taken in one particular English Higher Education context will be examined and offered to workshop participants for discussion. back

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