Middlebury CollegeSpiritual and Religious Life

Mead Chapel in the spring

The Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life at Middlebury College exists as an expression of the College’s longstanding commitment to the education of the whole per-son. For over two centuries Middlebury College has strived to be a place where a student’s intellectual, spiritual, and moral character can grow and flourish. This is the meaning of the College’s motto, Scientia et Virtus, knowledge and virtue.

Today we see ourselves as connected to the College’s mission in our multiple roles as educators, pastors, worship leaders, and advocates. Our primary desire is to help create a campus atmosphere that is open to religious faith and practice, and encourages moral reflection and spiritual development. We look for oppor-tunities to offer hospitality, build community, and to forge lasting relationships.

With a geographically diverse student body our campus is home to a rich spectrum of the earth’s religious traditions. We try to create opportunities for fruitful interfaith dia-logue and to foster respect for the religious beliefs and practices of the people who make up the Middlebury community. We offer our support to many different student religious organizations and also connect people to a variety of nearby faith communities.

We also provide pastoral care and counseling to members of the campus community. Sometimes this means reaching out to people who are in crisis, hospitalized, ill, or grieving. More often it means simply having friendly conversations on all kinds of topics with the students who stop by during our open office hours. Please feel free to contact us with your questions or stop by the office so we can get to know you.

Laurel Macaulay Jordan, Ellen McKay, and Ira Schiffer

Charles P. ScottCenter for Spritual and Religious Life

The Reverend Laurel Macaulay Jordan, Chaplain of the College

ljordan@middlebury.edu––

Rabbi Ira J. Schiffer Associate Chaplain/

Hillel Rabbiischiffe@middlebury.edu

––Ellen McKay

Administrative Program Coordinator

emckay@middlebury.edu

Contact us at: 802-443-5626

Check the Web:www.middlebury.edu

~chaplain/

Conversation after Newman Mass in Mitchell-Green Lounge; The Religious Life Council

The Religious life CounCil works together with the Chaplain’s Office to oversee religious life on campus, to advise the Chaplains, to facilitate communication and cooperation between student religious organizations, and offer programs to the campus.

The Religious Life Council works to create a framework that allows students who value the life of the spirit to join together as a force on campus, within the context of their differing faiths, to effec-tively address the moral issues that face them and their peers.

ChRisTian oRThodox assoCiaTion

connects the Christian Orthodox students of Middlebury College with their tradition, by enabling them to celebrate regular liturgies on campus, to hold spiritual discussions, and to pay regular visits to Orthodox churches and monasteries in New England.

ChRisTian sCienCe oRganizaTion holds regular meetings for reading, testimony, and discussion.

The fellowship of ChRisTian aThleTes enjoy getting together once a week to dis-cuss their Christian faith and how it relates to their daily lives and athletic experiences.

hillel is a social, cultural, as well as religious organization committed to a pluralistic vision of Judaism that embraces all movements.

inTeRVaRisTy ChRisTian fellowship provides worship and small group experi-ences to support the personal discipleship of Christian students on campus.

islamiC soCieTy of middlebuRy College provides a forum for people interested in Islam and creates a conducive environment for Muslim students to practice and maintain their religion.

sTudenT Religious oRganizaTions:Adding Vitality and Strength to Our Campus

This list is representative, but may not be exhaustive, as new groups form from time to time.

Hillel Shabbat dinner at the Jewish Center in Freeman International Center

Islamic Society holds Jummah prayer

Continued from page 4laTTeR-day sainTs sTudenT assoCiaTion exists to unite Mormon students, making available worship, social, and learning opportunities for them and for those interested in learning about Mormonism.

newman is a Roman Catholic community on campus involved in religious, social and volunteer activities.

people geT Ready is a Christian a cappella singing group that offers fellowship and outreach opportunities through music.

pRajña is an informal group that gathers once a week for guided meditation from teachers representing a variety of traditions.

pRayz offers an opportunity for contem-porary Christian singing and prayer in an informal setting. The uniTaRian–uniVeRsalisTs of middlebuRy provide a forum for explora-tion of the guiding principles of Unitarian Universalism, a non-creedal, liberal religious tradition.

People Get Ready having fun after a concert; InterVarsity Christian Fellowship student leaders on retreat; Eid dinner

Fireside Chat with Coach Beatty

In addition to its support of Student Religious Life Organizations on campus, the Chaplain’s Office sponsors and plans an ongoing series of forums for discussion of timely ethical, religious, and spiritual issues. These forums offer an opportunity for informal conversation among students, faculty and staff about questions that matter in our lives.

The Religion Department offers students the oppor-tunity to study the litera-ture of the world’s major religious traditions and to explore new perspectives on perennial questions. To find out about our faculty and the courses they offer check out the departments Web page at http://www.middlebury.edu/depts/rel/

The Chaplain’s Forum

Worship and Spiritual Opportunities

On a given week when school is in session as many as seven or eight meetings for worship, prayer, meditation, or reflection are scheduled on campus. Small groups meet for morning and evening prayer at Mead Chapel. At midday on Fridays the Islamic Society meets for Jummah Prayer at the Al-Hedayah Muslim Student Center. On Friday evenings Kabbalat Shabbat Services, followed by dinner, are led by Hillel students and Rabbi Ira J. Schiffer at the Jewish Center. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship offers a time of worship and fellowship every week at their Large Group Meeting.

Prajña meetings allow the experienced and the inexperienced to try out different forms of meditation. The Newman Club gathers on Sunday evenings and a priest from nearby St. Mary’s parish offers Mass in an informal atmosphere. Prayz meetings on Sunday nights are student-led Christian worship opportunities to praise God through song. Chaplain Jordan leads Sunday morning Chapel Services at Mead Chapel on Fall Family Weekend, Homecoming Weekend, and Reunion Weekend. There are often other worship and meditation opportunities, as well as numerous Bible studies sponsored by other student groups or the Chaplain’s Office. Check the College Calendar and the Chaplain’s Office Web page for up-to-date information.

Mead Memorial Chapel

Mead Memorial Chapel was built in 1916 at a time when chapel services were part of the daily routine for all students. Although the last chapel requirements disap-peared decades ago, Mead Chapel is still the center of great activity. Convocation in September and Baccalaureate in May still frame the Academic Year. Chaplain Jordan leads Sunday morning Chapel Services at Mead Chapel during special campus event weekends. The Choral ensembles and campus a cappella groups regularly perform in Mead. The Chapel also hosts lectures, concerts, and other major public events. It continues to serve as the place where the College community comes together on occasions of signifi-cance.

The Mead Chapel organ is a large Gress-Miles (1970) instrument with three keyboards and pedal board controlling 48 sets of pipes.

The chapel tower now holds a wonderful 48-bell carillon, gift in 1986 of Allen Dragone ’50 and his wife Jane, cast and tuned in France from the original bells and other sets. It is played regularly in the late afternoon.

Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel

A Tradition of Service

Without leaving Addison County there are many opportunities for getting involved. The Alliance for Civic Engagement coor-dinates the sharing of work and talent that enriches the lives of our students and the quality of life in our local community. Over half the student body is involved in some kind of volun-teer work or service learning. Numerous students work with local youngsters by teaching Sunday School in local churches or teaching in the Havurah Hebrew School. An important ini-tiative in recent years has been the Page One Literacy Program, which has placed both volunteers and books into schools, libraries, and homes. Find out more about what people have been doing and what opportunities are available by checking the Web page for the The Alliance for Civic Engagement: http://www.middlebury.edu/offices/ace/

Service and mission trips near and far give people hands on experience building houses,

repairing roofs, distributing food, helping in orphanages, and

delivering supplies. The Chaplain’s Office coordinated

a trip to flood-ravaged Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship members have participated in several mission trips to Juárez,

Mexico. Hillel sponsors an alternative spring break service trip each year to Latin America.

Individually, students have pursued volunteer, mission, and humanitarian internship programs in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, oftentimes through connections with Middlebury graduates already at work in the field. Upon graduation many students have participated in AmeriCorps, Teach for America, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and other national and religious volunteer service programs. Middlebury is also a leader among small colleges sending graduates into the Peace Corps.

Opportunities for Outreach

Students working to sort foodstuffs donated to HOPE.

Middlebury students have a long tradition of active involve-ment and outreach to a world in need. The offerings from worship services at Mead Chapel have supported the work of HOPE (formerly Addison County Community Action Group), the Inter-national Rescue Committee, the Red Cross, Church World Service, Oxfam, and other worthy charitable organiza-tions. Ad hoc fund-raisers raise awareness of humanitarian crises in far away places. Global hunger concerns lead students to join in local CROP Walks and Oxfam Fasts. Chapel donations also have been used to buy materials for flood bucket kits to send material relief to people in need.

Connect with Congregations: Open these doors in our Community

Religious life and worship services on campus are compli-mented and enriched with the availability of over twenty faith communities with regular services, in the surrounding Addison County. There are ten houses of worship in Middlebury alone, most in walking distance from campus. A list of off-campus faith communities and resources, including contact information and times of worship, is available in the Chaplain’s Office or on the Web at http://www.middlebury.edu/offices/chaplain/offcampus/.

Previous page: Behind these doors are people ready to welcome Middlebury College students into their worship and community life.

Top row: St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church; Havurah: The Addison County Jewish Congregation; Memorial Baptist Church (ABC); Grace Baptist Church (SBC)

Bottom row: Congregational Church of Middlebury (UCC); Middlebury United Methodist Church; Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society; St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church

Middlebury is also the home of Spirit in Nature, an organi-zation that has developed and maintains hiking trails dedicated to a cross-section of the world’s religious traditions. These trails are located on 70 acres behind the Robert Frost Trail, a short, 20-minute drive from the College. Spirit and Nature facilitates dialogues within and among religious groups with the aim of help-ing to bring about significant local changes for the better-ment of our environment.

People Get Ready pose outside a local church after singing for Sunday morning worship.

Spirit in Nature Sacred Circle

Atmosphere of Community

The Office of the Chaplain strives to:•promotereligiousprogramsandprovidesupportinamannerthatreflectsthevirtueofhospitality;• fosteranatmosphereofpersonalwarmthandcommunity;•provideopportunitiesforstudentstolearnfromreligiousandculturaldiversityandtofoster interfaithrespect;•provideliturgicalleadershipatavarietyofworshipvenues;• supportstudentinitiativestobringbreadthanddepthtospirituallifeoncampus;• seekopportunitiestobeintegratedintotheintellectuallifeoftheCollege;•maintainandmodelthehigheststandardsoftruthandcivility;• lookforopportunitiestoworktogetherwithcommunitymembersineffortsthatfocusonissues ofjustice,honesty,integrity,peace,andconcernforthemarginalized;•offerpastoralcareandoutreachtothecampuscommunity;• forgeinterpersonalrelationshipswithstudentsthatwilllastbeyondgraduation.

The divine spark lives in all of us, and perpetually strives toward its origin.

— Seneca

Lifelong Bonds

Middlebury endeavors to maintain a lifelong bond with its alumni and expects its graduates to be thoughtful, ethical leaders able to meet the challenges of informed citizenship. They should be indepen-dent thinkers, committed to service, with the courage to follow their convictions and prepared to accept responsibility for their actions.

—from the Middlebury College Mission Statement adopted by the

Board of Trustees in May 1992, and reaffirmed in May 1999.

Lifelong Connections

Look for truth; it wants to be found.— Pascal

Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life

Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury, VT 05753

Find out more by visiting our Web site:www.middlebury.edu/

chaplain

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