FAITH & SPIRITUALITY CENTREANNUAL REPORT 2012-2013

U N I V E R S I T Y O F C A L G A R Y

The past year has been a stimulating and active time for the Faith & Spirituality Centre (FSC) on campus. We are very fortunate to be a part of staff, Faculty and students’ lives during a challenging and busy time for them. The FSC feels honoured to be welcomed on campus as an integral part of supporting the campus community.

Many of our stories, experiences and ways the FSC and the chaplains engage with students, staff, Faculty, campus and the Calgary community can be best expressed with pictures. This year’s Annual Report encapsulates – mainly in images – some of the ways the FSC and chaplaincies supported the campus and external communities.

The Annual Report is communicated in ways that incorporate the University of Calgary’s Eyes High Strategy and Academic Plan. Concepts such as “collaboration”, “leadership”, “community” and “excellence” are highlighted throughout this report as a way to show that the Faith & Spirituality Centre values and supports the vision and values of the University it is a part of.

Some highlights from the past year include our collaboration with Calgary2012 and University Relations when we hosted the Harvest Festival on October 2, 2012 – celebrating community, culture, the arts and sharing. On February 5, 2013 the Faith & Spirituality hosted its first Interfaith Awards of Excellence, recognizing the work students and alumni do to build, sustain and grow a supportive, inclusive and respectful community. The Faith & Spirituality Centre was also a part of a collaborative effort called the Communal Table Project – an opportunity for students to come together around food, learning basic cooking skills, eating together and learning about food culture, sustainability and justice. Additionally, the FSC continued to host a variety of weekly events to support students in their spiritual journeys, create community and help students feel welcomed and included as they navigate their academic lives on campus. The Faith & Spirituality Centre developed student leaders by participating in the Leadership & Student Engagement Office’s Peer Helper Program, Emerging Leaders Program and University of Calgary Leadership Certificate. The FSC and Counselling Centre also continued their long standing Relationship Seminar, supporting students and staff as they build enriching and healthy relationships.

With all of our exciting events and programs we are involved in, we continue to refine and explore making an intentional direction with who we are and what we do. During our April 2013 retreat, we spent several hours planning for next year and all feel very excited that we will continue to engage the campus community. Some highlights for 2013-2014: • Strengthening our involvement in developing and supporting student leaders with the Faith & Spirituality Centre Student Team and Chaplaincy Student Leaders;• Spending the times we come together next year to reflect and explore who we are as chaplaincies, as a Centre and our relationship with the University by developing a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Calgary and the chaplaincies;• Continuing to support the campus community with weekly offerings and special events such as the Ice Cream Giveaway, Ten Thousand Villages Fair Trade Sale and Open House

On behalf of the University of Calgary, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the chaplains, their supportive communities and the Multi-Faith Advisory Council for everyone’s continued commitment to providing an open, supportive and challenging place for students to feel welcomed, heard and cared for.

Sincerely,

Adriana Tulissi, Community Engagement Manager

COLLABORATION

We are very excited to announce successful funding for 2013-2015 from Students’ Union Quality Money to continue and expand the program. We have hired three volunteer Peer Helpers for next year to support the program and develop and support student leadership and growth!

Harvest Festival In honour of Calgary receiving the special designation of “Cultural Capital of Canada” for 2012, the Faith & Spirituality Centre was excited to host a Harvest Festival on campus, a unique event in partnership with Calgary2012 and University Relations. The Harvest Festival welcomed over 800 students, staff and Faculty to share in culture, music and food. Highlights of the event included a special reading from Clem Martini from his acclaimed and Common Reading Program selected graphic novel “Bitter Medicine”, a performance by Calgary musician and CJSW artist-in-residence Matt Masters, several musical and artistic performances such as Aboriginal Dance and Singing, a drum circle, Erhu performance and vocal performance by the Renaissance Singers. There were numerous interactive activities such as a pie eating contest, jelly bean race and pumpkin carving contest.

The event was sponsored by financial and in-kind support by University Relations, Calgary2012,

The Communal Table Project (CTP) began Fall 2012 at the University of Calgary with the dual mandate to empower students with basic cooking skills while fostering a sense of community and connection. The CTP hosted six meals this past year with an average of 20-30 students attending each meal, bringing support from across the University of Calgary campus. Students prepared a meal together, ate the meal together, and learned about a variety of topics ranging from how to cook healthy meals to using local, fresh ingredients to deepening cultural understanding through international cuisine. This past year, support for the CTP came from students, Faculty, and staff from the Students’ Union Executive, the Department of Communication and Culture, the Centre for Community-Engaged Learning, the Faith & Spirituality Centre, and University of Calgary Meetings & Special Events.

The CTP hosted many local speakers ranging from Nicole Boisvert from Community Natural Foods to Kris Vester, a local Alberta farmer and member of Slow Food Calgary to students involved with Kids Grow! and the Campus Community Garden. The CTP was supported this past year from financial and in-kind donations from EllisDon, the Common Ground Project, Meetings & Special Events, the Faith & Spirituality Centre, Community Natural Foods, Safeway and Co-op.

The Faith & Spirituality Centre (FSC) had an exciting year collaborating and a shared commitment to achieving common goals. Collaboration is a value the Faith & Spirituality Centre shares with the University as we see the way it creates opportunities for shared experiences, learning and relationships.

The Students’ Union, the Graduate Students’ Association, and the Faith & Spirituality Centre.

Islam & the Rest: A Forum in Search of Understanding and Reconciliation Hosted by a partnership of the Faith & Spirituality Centre, Abraham’s Tent, and Residence Services, the forum addressed false stereotypes and prejudices facing the Muslim world by focusing on the roots of Islamophobia, while asking: What is shaping our attitudes toward people of other religions – and especially Muslims? The evening welcomed 60 community and campus members and panelists Adam Idris, Erin Van Overloop, Noura Idris and Hyda Idris, respondents Warren Harbeck, Hugh Pepper and Rabbi Howard Vos-Altman. Moderator Michael Bopp began the evening by addressing and responding to tough questions related to violence, women’s rights and assimilation. A Q&A provided a forum for further clarification, understanding and learning.

Interfaith Initiatives This past year the FSC was fortunate to work with a great group of students and staff to start an important initiative on campus, an interfaith group. The group met weekly during the Winter semester and began each gathering with relational meetings – a way of getting to know one

another based on the Industrial Area’s Foundation model. The group got to know each other, each other’s different perspectives and talked about ways to engage each other and the community. Before the end of the semester, the Interfaith Group helped facilitate the Islam and the Rest forum and experienced a learning opportunity by meeting with Frank, a Gothi from the Ásatrú community in Calgary.

The Peter Craigie Memorial lecture series welcomed Dr. Vasudha Narayanan, a distinguished Professor of Religion and the Director of the Center of the Study of Hindu Traditions at the University of Florida. The Faith & Spirituality Centre hosted Dr. Narayanan on April 3, 2013 for an informal discussion sharing her academic and religious experiences and insights entitled “Hindu Traditions & Interfaith Conversations: Exclusivism, Inclusivism & Universalism”.

Campus OutreachThe University of Calgary Advisors Network (UCAN) invited the FSC to present on how to support students from different religious backgrounds to a group of advisors on campus. The session was very successful – seeing one of the highest attendance and participants from a wide array Student Service departments and Faculties. The session informed advisors of the services and supports the FSC offers to students, staff and Faculty and provided a learning opportunity on religious observance and accommodation at a post-secondary institution – focusing on dietary considerations, exam accommodation, prayer and fasting observances and ways advisors can support students on campus.

One of our chaplains also facilitated a workshop with Human Resources on healthy relationships as a professional development opportunity for University of Calgary staff.

moments and larger community retreats talking about ways of leading and learning from one another from our best practices and big mistakes. Each of the leaders were asked to find a way to share from these gifts with the wider community, taking them outside of the realm of Christian faith and into the broader community. Some served on campus, others off-campus - but all found a way to be involved. CRC concluded the year with a gathering of student leaders from all over North America meeting in Guelph for a three-day student leadership gathering, May 7-9, 2013.

One of the CRC’s student leaders became the co-creator of a new Christian Contemplative weekly gathering called “Arise.” As a quieter reflective space, this gathering was meant to enable people to explore ways to connect with God through Scripture in community. Each of those words became important: explore, God, Scripture, community. These were new practices that students and staff had to ‘try on’ - people needed to be ready to explore. All the spiritual practices were rooted in Scripture, with the goal of helping us

The Pentecostal Chaplaincy provided opportunities for growth in studies, service, faith and leadership training. Many fun times were shared with food and activities like our fall hike. The spiritual connections that were fostered helped provide support and resilience for a diverse group of students. Through book discussion groups and one-on-one mentoring, we had students wrestle with theological and practical considerations of engaging in productive ways on our campuses. The group was called Campus Corps and brought 24 students together in homes and on campus both at University of Calgary and MRU.

The Christian Reformed Chaplaincy (CRC) supported 7 student leaders and 1 intern this year. As a leadership movement grounded in the Faith & Spirituality Centre, CRC found themselves talking as a team about how our leadership is rooted in our particular faith tradition and integrates with our spirituality. We found ways to grow communally and individually in both our faith and our leadership skills. Out of these good places, getting involved and providing some good return to the University of Calgary and greater Calgary community. In terms of rootedness, CRC spent time weekly where one of us shared a spiritual practice with the whole team, a practice that kept us connected to our faith and open to one another. CRC spent time in mentoring

The Faith & Spirituality Centre is a place where students come together in community, in practice and in learning. Part of that process involves tapping into the talents of many of our chaplains who embody the gifts of mentoring, leadership, companionship and rootedness.

LEADERSHIP

to connect to God. But we also shared our experiences each week, which created a wonderful and vulnerable environment where learning happened and people found themselves connecting as a community.

The Lutheran chaplaincy supported the Faith & Spirituality Team (FASST) and the Interfaith Group at the Faith & Spirituality Centre this past year. It was a great opportunity for our newest team member to connect and meet with students.

FASST was a great presence and support to the FSC this past year. The FASST team hosted a weekly tea time for students where great conversations, relationships and stories were shared. Additionally, the team was heavily involved in the weekly Interfaith group that formed and also participated in the Centre for Community-Engaged Learning’s Trick or Eat – an event collecting food donations at Halloween to support the Campus Food Bank and Calgary Interfaith Food Bank. We are very thankful to Laura Buckholz, Eva Biederman, Elena Ryland and Margaret Propp for their time and support!

Emerging Leaders Program, Peer Helper Program and University of Calgary Leadership Certifi cateThe Faith & Spirituality Centre supported student volunteers in our Centre through the Leadership & Student Engagement Offi ce’s Peer Helper Program – those students were involved on the FASST team and involved with supporting individual chaplaincies.

Additionally the FSC provided staff support to the Emerging Leaders Program and Leadership Certifi cate by facilitating leadership workshops and mentoring fi rst-year and second-year students as they integrate from high school into university life.

“Leadership is when someone has passion & understanding for the well-being of others, mutually and collectively.”

Minh Doan, Catholic Chaplain

at the Jesus Loves You Society, and Prison Ministry were also held. The Catholic chaplaincy was also involved in monthly praise and worship followed by sandwich making for the homeless.

The Lutheran chaplaincy was involved in organizing an ecumenical World Day of Prayer Service that was held in mid February 2013. Along with Advent Lutheran Church, a weekly evening prayer service was held at Hope Lutheran Church, bringing together students and community members in prayer and meal. Additionally, Lenten Services were held at Hope Lutheran Church in partnership with the Lutheran Chaplaincy, Advent Lutheran Church and Hope Lutheran Church.

The Christian Reformed Chaplaincy spent a significant amount of time finding ways to interconnect the various Christian clubs and communities from the UofC together. In 2012-2013, there were 17 official SU Clubs that fit into the Christian Religious Club category, but there were also worship communities, Faculty Christian communities, a graduate Christian community, a Medical School Christian community, and of course, many individuals on campus that identify as Christian, but don’t belong to any of these groups. By inviting a student leader from any of the SU Christian clubs, the Christian Reformed

Several chaplains with the Faith & Spirituality Centre hosted weekly events to bring students together in faith, song, prayer, study and community. Weekly events included worship services, drumming, meditation, book and Bible studies and prayer groups.

Rooted in the Catholic spiritual tradition, the Catholic chaplaincy provided the Catholic faith to students, Faculty and staff at the University of Calgary in ways that enriched their faith and connected them to the community. Over the past year, the Catholic chaplaincy hosted daily Mass on campus with Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet and Eucharistic Adoration preceding Mass. Every Sunday throughout the year, Mass was celebrated off campus at Saint Pius X with refreshments following Mass to create an environment for students to connect and get to know one another. Additionally, Father Minh facilitated walk-in confessions and spiritual direction, faith formation class and prayer group/Bible sharing. Retreats were also held at the beginning of the fall and winter semesters. Other communal activities such as October dance, Christmas Formal Dinner, cook out at the end of winter semester, charity concert fundraiser for worldwide charity organizations such as Feed the Children, Scarborough Mission, Mission Council’s Renewal Centre in Lahore, Pakistan, volunteering

The Faith & Spirituality Centre is a place where students, staff and Faculty come together in community and to form community. Gatherings with each other that foster sharing, connectedness, dialogue and reflection creates an atmosphere of trust, growth and connection. The FSC was very humbled to be a part of creating and fostering community.

COMMUNITY

Chaplaincy built a network of the Christian communities through the Christian Unity Team (CUT). As a team, they have found ways where they can serve the Campus Christian community better together than only as individual clubs/groups. The main initiative was a monthly unifi ed Christian worship gathering (Unite the Light). The CUT also supported some off-campus Christian communities who wanted to connect to the UofC, and in doing so hosted an event that gathered 450 people to hear Dr. William Lane Craig speak to the question, “Does anything exist beyond the physical universe?”

“To me, community is the gathering of people in a safe environment where their spiritual needs are nurtured as a group.”

Margaret Propp, Lutheran Chaplain

The Buddhist Chaplaincy focused almost all efforts towards offering practice opportunities to the university community. These included three periods of “Meditation for beginners” each week typically during lunch hours. New-comers to meditation practice were welcomed and instruction was available if requested. Often these would be attended by regulars who then would simply share the opportunity to sit together. Once a month, a women’s meditation session was also available. Each Tuesday evening, we offered a more complete Zen practice opportunity. These sessions included chanting, bowing, meditation (sitting and walking) and either a presentation or discussion on various aspects of Zen and Zen practice. These too were available and accommodating to first-time visitors. These sessions were facilitated either by Tim Sampson or by a trained member of the Sangha (Buddhist Community) who are also University of Calgary staff or Faculty. Other offerings over the school year included a 3 evening introduction to Zen and Zen practice, meditation for members of the Wellness Centre and Student & Enrolment Services staff, an on-going collection for the Campus Food Bank, and personal support from the Buddhist Chaplain.

Ice Cream Giveaway & Open HouseThe Faith & Spirituality Centre hosted its annual ice cream giveaway on the first day of classes to welcome students to campus and kick-off the year and hosted its Open House on the last day of the Fall semester to celebrate the semester in a fun and communal way!

Home Away From HomeThe Pentecostal Chaplaincy was thrilled this year to serve international students with a friendship program helping them adjust to life in Canada. The program has over 60 students and more than 30 families that are connecting and making the transition easier. This also helped the Calgary community by giving them an opportunity to offer hospitality and share their culture with international students and in the process, gain a deeper appreciation of other cultures. The program looks forward to working with the Graduate Students’ Association to provide even greater support in this coming year.

Read more:www.ucalgary.ca/wellnesscentre/fsc/awards about each of this year’s award recipients.

View a video message: www.smarturl.it/nenshifrom Mayor Naheed Nenshi for the Interfaith Awards of Excellence.

The Faith & Spirituality Centre’s Interfaith Awards of Excellence Gala was supported financially and with in kind donations by the Graduate Students’ Association, the Students’ Union, the SU Wellness Centre, and the Faith & Spirituality Centre.

The Faith & Spirituality Centre hosted its first Interfaith Awards of Excellence Gala on February 5, 2013 to celebrate and honour students and alumni who are excelling in creating open and inclusive communities. Several members of the campus and Calgary community were in attendance to celebrate the achievements of these remarkable individuals. Award recipients were celebrated for work and study that has helped increase interfaith or intercultural understanding and dialogue, for promoting interfaith and intercultural unity and understanding, and for demonstrating academic or professional distinction.

The 2013 award recipients were:Shams Amiry - Undergraduate student categorySalma Mohiuddin – Graduate student categoryOla Mohajer – Alumni category

The Faith & Spirituality Centre will continue to build and create relationships and learning opportunities with award nominees and winners, and recognize community leaders who are doing work highly valued by the Centre. Award recipients have been asked to provide a learning opportunity at the Centre over the next year to inspire, lead and support the next generation of students engaging in interfaith and intercultural work on campus.

As part of an institution of higher learning, the Faith & Spirituality Centre highlighted and honoured students and alumni who excelled in creating an inclusive and respectful campus and community.

EXCELLENCE

“Receiving this award is at once humbling and motivating for me to continue to stay active in promoting interfaith understanding and dialogue.”

Shams Amiry, Undergraduate Award Recipient

clarification of expectations and roles between the chaplaincies/FSC/University of Calgary.

Additionally, there were opportunities for chaplains to attend other professional development opportunities. In June 2012, Klaus Ohlhoff and Tim Nethercott were financially supported by the Wellness Centre to attend the Global Conference of Chaplains in Higher Education in New Haven, CT. The conference theme was “Mosaics in Motion: Spiritual Leadership in a Multifaith World” and explored the core values of: religious literacy, radical hospitality, service with thoughtful reflection and creating and sharing sacred space.

As mental health continues to be a critical issue on campuses, chaplains were offered opportunities to develop and enhance their helping skills in the Wellness Centre. Paul Verhoef and Oren Steinitz successfully completed Community Helpers Training this past year – a two and half day workshop to enhance natural helping skills, increase referral skills and raise awareness on Mental Health issues on campus. Oren Steinitz also completed a two day course entitled “Mental Health First Aid” – a course raising awareness of mental health, discussing signs and symptoms of mental illness and sharing ways to support people experiencing a mental health crisis. Both training opportunities were also financially supported by the Wellness Centre.

This past year, the chaplains participated in two annual retreats. In December 2012, we travelled to Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre in Cochrane, participating in a workshop facilitated by the Distress Centre on how to support students in crisis and learned about resources for referral. We then shared lunch and continued our conversation on ways we can support students together in a collaborative workplace that supports mind, body and spirit.

In April 2013, we spent three afternoons together planning for 2013-14. We shared updates from our communities and chaplaincies, talked about how the chaplains saw themselves in relation to the Wellness Centre and University of Calgary and created an action plan for the upcoming year to prioritize our time together. We will focus on the following:

• Who are we as individual chaplains/chaplaincies, describe our experiences, provide opportunities for sharing and provide context;

• Who are we communally, what are our communal experiences, what can we bring/provide for the campus together (as a Centre);

• From the above two discussions, develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the UofC and each chaplaincy, provide room for an open dialogue and

The Faith & Spirituality Centre, part of the SU Wellness Centre, supports and nurtures professional development of the chaplains as they grow and develop their skills and enhance professional learning opportunities.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Faith & Spirituality Centre has seen a steady increase in students accessing our Centre, our managed spaces and our offerings. In 2012-13, the FSC saw an average of 1600 students on a weekly basis. These students accessed our Centre for drop-in, one-on-one meetings with chaplains, attended our weekly offerings or special events or booked one of our managed spaces. Please fi nd below a 3 year summary of the numbers of students accessing our Centre through Faith & Spirituality Centre weekly offerings, special events (pro-rated on a weekly basis) and student club bookings of our managed spaces.

GROWTH

University and community committees with representation from the Faith & Spirituality Centre for 2012-13:• Peter Craigie Memorial Lecture Steering Committee – Paul Verhoef • Communal Table Project Advisory Committee – Paul Verhoef and Adriana Tulissi • Mental Health Awareness Week Planning Committee – Adriana Tulissi • Student & Enrolment Services Leadership Council – Adriana Tulissi• Metro-Alliance for the Common Good – Adriana Tulissi• SU Wellness Centre Social Committee – Paul Verhoef We were sad to say goodbye to long-time Lutheran Chaplain, Klaus Ohlhoff who served as Chaplain with our Centre for over 21 years and Catholic Chaplain, Father Thao Dinh who left after six years with us. New to our team this past year is Margaret Propp as Interim Lutheran Chaplain and Father Minh Doan as Catholic Chaplain.

The Faith & Spirituality Centre is a partnership with the University of Calgary and various faith communities. Those faith communities provide the university with chaplains, liaisons and interns to support students, staff and Faculty on campus.

TEAM

On next page (from top left)Kelly Johnson (Pentecostal), Tim Nethercott (United/Presbyterian), Fayaz Tilly (Muslim), Paul Verhoef (Christian Reformed), Wayne Holst (St. David’s United Church), Margaret Propp (Lutheran), Oren Steinitz (Jewish), Jef Tsui (Baptist), Roy Darcus (Anglican), Christine Shellska (Secular/Humanist), Tim Sampson (Buddhist), Minh Doan (Catholic), Pandit Dabral (Hindu), Karl Snyder (Pentecostal Intern), Klaus Ohlhoff (Calgary Council of Christians and Jews), Pearl Nieuwenhuis (Christian Reformed). Missing: Jackson O’Brien (Christian Reformed Intern), Marcia Epstein (Secular/Humanist).

Contact Info

MSC 373, 2500 University Dr. NWCalgary AB, T2N 1N4403.220.5451ucalgary.ca/wellnesscentre/fsc