Tag: events

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February 2016 Review

Each month we hope to give an update on the 3rd Way Collective experience at Penn State! Follow this blog to learn more about how we’ve been creating spaces for peace, justice, and faith at Penn State.

 

12716028_859060234192547_1739872379225634599_o February began in a difficult way. At the end of January, I (Campus Pastor Ben) received notification that a student whom I had been working with on campus had taken their own life . This student helped to create Receiving with Thanksgiving – Penn State’s LGBTQ Christian Network. Their family was kind enough to ask me to speak at the memorial service, and I was honored to be involved in that way.

It is strange to articulate this, but in the face of such a heavy tragedy, I felt fully alive and affirmed in my role as a campus minister. I was able to offer some comfort and support not only to the Roe family as they mourned their loss, but also to a broad network of students and community members who had known Eli. I was invited on to a local radio station to talk about grieving and loss, and connected with many new people who were touched by my words at the memorial service. One faculty member said that my words gave them hope for the future of LGBTQ people in the church.

Yet in all of these incredibly moving spaces, there was a present reality that a life had been lost – the life of a student and person with whom I had connected early on in my time at Penn State. It was difficult and challenging to continue in my role with that reality present in my life and experience.

11261814_864972993601271_6219552809562553177_oFebruary included two large campus events – the first being THON, the annual philanthropic dance marathon that raises millions of dollars; and the second being TEDxPSU, a small and localized version of the incredibly popular TED Talk conference format.

THON was a reminder again of how our campus can mobilize around a cause, but also that those who don’t resonate with the event can feel ostracized by the popularity of this massive event. Articles like this one, which say nothing but glowing reviews of the THON experience, do little to curb the sentiment that if you don’t like THON, you don’t belong. TEDxPSU was an incredible conference, free of charge, and covering a wide range of subjects and issues, yet the event was not packed out the way I assume something of this quality should be at a large institution like Penn State. I’m left wondering why students don’t show up for engaging events like this one in bigger numbers, and wonder how an organization like 3rd Way Collective will ever make its mark with a lesser known branding than TEDx. Both events provided me with opportunities to connect to a broader slice of the Penn State community.

In February we continued our weekly event schedule from the fall. This means that every week we offer Pause for Peace (a mid-week event offering a short interfaith reflection on peace, 15 minutes of silence and candle-lighting, and a short reflection time), our Peace & Justice Bible Study, and 3rd Way Conversations (a Thursday night conversation group featuring guest voices from the State College and Penn State community).

  • Pause for Peace continues to attract a small group of students who are interested in a moment in their week to pause and breathe deeply. I find this space a helpful way to center my own sense of call, and presence on campus. We were fortunate this month to have several different student voices lead this time and space.12473908_853935811371656_5567948956490262125_o
  • Our Peace & Justice Bible Study has become a space for biblical engagement with one or two students each week. We are using Shane Claiborne’s Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, and every time we experience a special conversation around scripture and life.
  • 3rd Way Conversations this month again provided unique opportunities to hear from people in our community. Two guest speakers that stand out in my memory are students from Students for Justice in Palestine and WORDS. The former shared honestly about the vulnerable space that Palestinian students occupy on our campus, and the other shared about the power of sharing stories in public spaces. Both were extremely moving and meaningful!

The month ended with final preparations for our alternative spring break trip in which we partnered with three other campus ministries to travel to Miami, Florida to serve with the DOOR Miami program. I will have more to share about that experience next month!

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January 2016 Review

Each month we hope to give an update on the 3rd Way Collective experience at Penn State! Follow this blog to learn more about how we’ve been creating spaces for peace, justice, and faith at Penn State.

 

Screen Shot 2016-02-08 at 4.25.38 PMThis January, I (Campus Pastor Ben) began the new year by traveling to San Antonio to participate in the Bethany Initiative, a brand new initiative from the National Campus Ministry Association. Launched this year, this initiative is designed to create mentoring and reflection sp ace for new campus pastors. All who were selected to be in the pilot program have fewer than three years of experience as campus ministers. We exist in very different contexts – some are college chaplains who are employed by institutions to run the spiritual life of a campus, others like myself, are part of affiliate organizations attempting to be present on a campus that may or may not be receptive to the work they are doing. It was incredible to hear the joys and struggles of this new group of peers, and to spend some time in retreat reflecting on my own sense of call.

Arriving backScreen Shot 2016-02-08 at 4.26.03 PM in State College brought me back to reality. Week one began with the spring Involvement Fair, an event that offers clubs and organizations like ours a chance to connect with students who are looking for ways to become more involved. 3WC is still new enough that many students do not know who we are, nor do we have the name recognition to pull them in to our info table. Still, I had a good experience talking with a small group of students who connected with our table during the day. At the involvement fair I was reminded again that we are appealing to a very specific kind of student – one who is interested in peace and social justice issues, but also still see the value in a faith tradition. We are not like other faith groups – we don’t offer a communal worship space, or safe Christian bubble – but we also are unlike other social justice groups.

Campus ministry happens in many different ways. Some of them are formal – events and activities – others are informal, such as simply being present with students who are in need. I’ve been reminded time and time again that there is real value in connecting with students in one-on-one ways. Some of these are scheduled or organized, such as connecting for coffee, while others are simply due to paths crossing during daily activities.

Screen Shot 2016-02-08 at 4.27.26 PMThis month I found simple connections and conversations while connecting with other events on campus. These included experiences that happened around the MLK celebrations at Penn State this month including the main banquet as well as the keynote speech given by Trayvon Martin’s mother.

Some of 3WC’s most meaningful events are those centered around table fellowship. Our monthly grad student pub night and our monthly home cooked meal both provide spaces for students to gather around a table and reflect on what is happening in their lives. Each month we see some students who return to these spaces, and we also see new students drawn in by the experience of food and conversations.Screen Shot 2016-02-08 at 4.26.22 PM

In January we continued our weekly event schedule from the fall. This means that every week we offer Pause for Peace (a mid-week event offering a short interfaith reflection on peace, 15 minutes of silence and candle-lighting, and a short reflection time), our Peace & Justice Bible Study, and 3rd Way Conversations (a Thursday night conversation group featuring guest voices from the State College and Penn State community).

  • Pause for Peace continues to attract a very small group of students who are interested in a moment in their week to pause and breathe deeply. I find this space a helpful way to center my own sense of call, and presence on campus. It has been a challenge to find other voices to lead the short reflection on peace. I led all of these gatherings in January and focused on peace at Penn State, MLK Jr.’s peace legacy, as well as the importance of silence in our busy lives.
  • Our Peace & Justice Bible Study continues to look for students who are interested in understanding the Biblical narrative from a peace and justice perspective. We are using Shane Claiborne’s Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, and we look forward to trying to build meaningful conversation in this challenging context.
  • Screen Shot 2016-02-08 at 4.27.41 PM3rd Way Conversations has felt like our keystone event since 3rd Way Collective began a year and a half ago. Each week we invite a different guest from the Penn State campus or surrounding community. On one of these occasions this month we joined with Westminster Presbyterian Fellowship to share in their Thursday night gathering. My desire to do so was through a connection with their campus minister as a person from their group who had a meaningful experience in Japan learning about nuclear warfare and peace. While there were only four students who came from 3WC, they came ready to engage in a space that was unfamiliar from their usual one. I enjoyed watching the two groups interact, and was thrilled about the information that was in the conversation and presentation.

Screen Shot 2016-02-08 at 4.28.02 PMThe month ended with another great opportunity for personal retreat and reflection as I traveled to Orlando, Florida for a conference with Mennonite youth ministers and my fellow Mennonite Campus Pastors. While my time with this group always reminds me that contextually I’m in quite a different space than my peers who work with Mennonite institutions. I’m also aware that campus ministry is changing in every context right now, as more and more millennial students understand religion and spirituality in ways that are different than the previous generation.