Multifaith Chaplaincy & Sustained Dialogue
Sacred Spaces
Spaces on campus are made sacred in a host of ways. Think history and the generations of gathering that bring life and vibrancy to a space. Oberlin College is blessed with multiple historic spaces. These include spaces specifically used for Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other particular practices.
Care of Community
Multipartiality, Confidentiality, Individual & Group Support, Pastoral Care, and "Standing By." The Multifaith Chaplaincy offers a number of avenues for those seeking care.
Sustained Dialogue
Barefoot Dialogue is a vulnerability-based model of structured conversations, sustained over time, with peers who openly engage, seek meaning over agreement, and enhance their capacity to thrive in human and land relating across difference and within shared identities.
Pluralism, Fluency & Observance
In the work of upholding the dignity of all people, the Multifaith Chaplaincy supports the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life in striving to ensure that all students of any religious tradition have personal and communal support.
Lewis House Hospitality
Lewis House is home to the Multifaith Chaplaincy & Sustained Dialogue, a place where student and administrative staff explore the practice of transformative hospitality. A common thread among users of this space is their programming interest in support of human-human and human-land relating.
Staff & Interns
Among MC's student and administrative staff include the Lewis House Interns, Barefoot Dialogue Facilitators, the Sustained Dialogue Coordinator, and Multifaith Chaplain.
Statement of Human Dignity
We affirm the belief, across the nation and around the world, that Black Lives Matter, and mourn the lives lost to injustice, rancor, and crisis. We believe that the return of violence for violence only begets greater violence. We invest hours, energy and resources in the hope that a greater understanding can be realized and the possibility of a more lasting peace achieved. We hold that the stewardship of our host planet is inextricably tied to the care of one another and prioritize opportunities that explore meaning in our human and land relating.
In a time of great division, we strive toward an openness to all – devout, spiritual, agnostic, and areligious. Across theistic and non-theistic perspectives, spiritual and ethical commitments expressed at Oberlin, the Multifaith Chaplaincy affirms the human dignity of all persons without exception. All are diminished by the suffering of one. We commit and re-commit ourselves to a life of sustained learning and concrete action toward the betterment of all peoples and species.
Upcoming Events
Multifaith Baccalaureate Celebration
Mission
The Multifaith Chaplaincy strives to acknowledge and affirm all, including people of religion and no religion, in our shared journey toward wholeness and our common interest to build more durable, just, land-responsive and hopeful communities.
The Multifaith Chaplaincy works campus-wide:
- extending pastoral care, a confidential resource for students, faculty, and staff;
- promoting religious and philosophical pluralism and interfaith engagement;
- engaging communities in dialogue, choosing a beneficial vulnerability that builds trust;
- providing rituals and remembrances significant in the life of our community and the world; and
- offering moral and ethical interpretations for the difficult and complex issues of our day.
