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Spiritual Life Update: Summer 2021
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Emory Dean of Religious Life Greg McGonigle
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| Dear Friends,
As we reflect back on the past academic year and recall where we were a year ago, it was hard to imagine where we would be today. At that time, the world seemed to be melting down with the global pandemic of COVID19, and in Georgia and around the U.S., anti-Black violence had sparked a resurgence of movements to reckon much more deeply with legacies of racism and social injustice.
Our colleagues in university chaplaincy at Emory and around the country had mostly never done this work in socially distanced and virtual ways before, and so we entered the uncharted territory of seeking to serve the diverse spiritual life needs of the university in new ways.
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Healing Through Art Project
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| COVID 19 RESPONSE
As usual, student insights led the way as OSRL offered the Healing Through Art Project, with inspiration from Inter-Religious Council (IRC) students, to invite the university community to express through art what we were experiencing. This led to meaningful pieces on the many challenging issues the community faced throughout the year. In the spring semester, our office drew more closely toward Emory’s student Isolation and Quarantine efforts, and we created over 150 care packages for spiritual, emotional, and physical comfort for our students who were in isolation and qurantine. This summer, with help from our Muslim Religious Life Scholar Dr. Isam Vaid whose passions are in religion and public health, we are partnering with Interfaith Youth Core to support 17 Emory students and recent alumni in a Faith in the Vaccine Project to promote vaccine trust, education, and access through partnerships with faith communities in Georgia. The participant projects are focused on supporting underserved populations, such as formerly incarcerated people, unhoused people, veterans, Asian Americans, Black and Latinx communities, and immigrants, in order to help increase vaccination rates.
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The Rev. Adam Russell Taylor 98C delivering the inaugural OSRL Black History Month Lecture on February 19, 2021
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| RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Over the year, OSRL has also sought to center issues of racial and social justice to offer both support and challenge. Shortly after the U.S. Capitol insurrection on January 6, a powerful King Week presentation with Nashville AME preacher and activist The Rev. Jennifer Bailey explored how we might “Heal the Soul of the Nation.” Later, our first-annual Black History Month lecture featured Emory College alumnus The Rev. Adam Russell Taylor 98C, the new president of Sojourners, who encouraged us all to become “Transformed Nonconformists.” As Taylor had been a member of our Voices of Inner Strength (VOIS) Gospel Choir, his lecture provided the opportunity to offer a first-ever VOIS reunion that drew 70 alumni. So joyful and meaningful was that gathering that we reconvened the VOIS alumni for a second reunion on the eve on Juneteenth, with another 70 alumni exploring VOIS' history and celebrating Maury Allums’ 30 years of leadership so far.
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DEEPENING INTERFAITH ENGAGEMENT
This academic year was one of transformation in OSRL as we furthered the multifaith vision for spiritual life that we were charged with developing two years ago. We hired Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian chaplains to more deeply serve those communities as well as to be chaplaincy liaisons with Emory’s many Schools, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners.
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Hindu Chaplain Brahmacharini Shweta Chaitanya
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Buddhist Chaplain Venerable Priya Sraman
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Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Jordan Braunig
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Christian Chaplain Maddie Henderson
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Soon a Muslim Chaplain and a new Program Coordinator will round out our team with more support to serve all of Emory. Each of the chaplains is already making great contributions— Brahmacharini Shweta leading our isolation and quarantine efforts; Venerable Priya hosting a beautiful Buddha Day and restoring the Living Mandala Garden outside of Cannon Chapel; Rabbi Jordan leading our Anatomy Lab and Multifaith Baccalaureate programs as well as new offerings such as Religious Holiday Lunch and Learns and our first-annual Yom HaShoah Observance; and most recently Chaplain Maddie Henderson, building up our Christian Beloved Community group and developing new Christian programming. Over the past year, we have been delighted to deepen our UMC connections, welcoming back Dean Emerita Susan Henry Crowe to preach at Beloved Community worship on Palm Sunday, and collaborating closely with Glenn Memorial Church on their outreach to the campus. As we complete our new multifaith team, we have also partnered with Interfaith Youth Core on a strategic planning process, aimed at bringing all Emory stakeholders together to assess, explore, discuss, and dream about spiritual life at Emory. I have been co-chairing this process with Emory’s Vice Provost for Diversity Dr. Carol Henderson, and it includes a far-reaching interfaith steering committee; stakeholder interviews with Trustees, the President, Provost, Deans, and other leaders; as well as working groups and listening sessions to explore more deeply the experiences of our spiritual communities at Emory. After researching, benchmarking, and discerning, the process will result in a blueprint for campus spiritual life for the next 3-5 years.
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Emory Interfaith Center Site
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| SPACE FOR INTERFAITH
One of the main needs of our diverse religious and spiritual communities that has been discussed for many years at Emory is interfaith space. Emory’s Atlanta campus is blessed with Cannon Chapel, which since 1981 has served as a multifaith house of prayer for all people and a symbol of Emory’s forward-looking tradition of multifaith engagement.
But so active is religious life at Emory, so diverse and numerous are our faith communities, and so passionate is our campus for interfaith collaboration that for years students have longed for an Interfaith Center such as many universities have to inspire and encourage interfaith dialogue and action. Throughout the past year we explored and advocated strongly for an interfaith center, and now a space and seed funding have been identified. We will be updating you more on this project in the coming months, but the support of alumni and donors has been crucial, and we welcome your continued generosity to make sure we can maximize this opportunity.
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ADVANCING OUR VISION
Speaking of giving, I am pleased to report that this year we witnessed the highest number of donors and the highest number of donations that OSRL has received in the past 10 years. We are so grateful that so many new friends are reaching out to support our multifaith work, and we are currently seeking to complete this year’s campaign with an additional $5,500 by August 31 -- which will make this year's total the highest amount raised by OSRL beyond grants in a decade.
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Welcoming Interfaith and Spiritual Exploration (WISE)
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| NEW SUMMER PROGRAM FOR WISE HEARTS
As we look toward the new academic year, opportunities for interfaith dialogue and action will only increase. This August, we will launch a new student-designed program, the WISE Pre-Orientation Program, which stands for “Welcoming Interfaith and Spiritual Exploration.” Through this new program, 15 returning students will guide 30 entering students in four days of interfaith dialogue training, religious literacy community visits, and learning about social justice work at Emory and in Atlanta. We know that with WISE forming the first experience of Emory for these students, they will be set on a good path toward deep friendships and opportunities to lead and make positive change.
As you can see from our new OSRL calendar, our new website, and our e-newsletter that now reaches 13,000 subscribers each week during term, spiritual and interfaith life at Emory University is thriving, and we are so grateful for your keeping us in your prayers and support. As we prepare to return more fully to campus and support the Emory community, please keep us in mind and heart.
Meanwhile, we are remembering you and wishing you and your loved ones good health, wellbeing, and all of the blessings of the summertime.
Warmest regards,
Greg
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The Rev. Dr. Gregory McGonigle
Dean of Religious Life
Office of the President
Emory University
404.727.4429
religiouslife.emory.edu
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