Talk to Wooster
Fall 2005
Seeking the Spirit
Student religious leaders tell us why they participate, what they believe,
and why they still ask questions
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On any given week this fall, a Wooster student looking for inspiration could attend a Shabbat dinner in Stevenson, meet in Mackey Hall for an informal service of music and prayer, attend an evening talk on the Sermon on the Mount in Douglass, sip tea while journaling in Lilly House, attend a service in Babcock Lounge with the Wooster Christian Fellowship, pray with Muslim students, or meet with women of many faiths for a discussion group.
These are not your father’s chapel worship services.
The flurry of spiritual and religious activities on campus might surprise alumni who have been away from Wooster for a decade or more. The increased student interest in matters of the soul mirrors trends at other colleges and in the country at large: an enthusiastic search for deeper meaning in life, a quest driven not by staff but by students.
This is not your father’s Presbyterian college, either. Since 1969, when the Synod of Ohio withdrew its financial support of colleges, Wooster’s relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA) has evolved. Wooster’s trustees, for instance, recently voted to reduce the required percentage of Presbyterian members on the Board of Trustees from fifty to twenty-five percent. And where once all religion faculty members had to be Presbyterian and all religion classes about Christianity, the department now offers popular courses in Judaism, Zen practices, and other world religions.
But the school that was founded on the principal of “science and religion from one source” hasn’t strayed as far from its roots as some may think. If Wooster was founded on the belief that education should address both “those questions which may be empirically tested and those for which there are no definitive answers,” as one College historian put it, that conviction still holds true. The position of campus minister, created in 1995 through an endowed gift, and the Interfaith Campus Ministries office help to coordinate students’ interests and activities. Students participate in volunteer service activities in great numbers and have embraced Lilly House, a five-year program to help students and staff explore vocation and theology.
Here, five student leaders of campus religious groups share thoughts on faith, beliefs, and why they participate.
