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Church-Related University
Rohan L. Wijesinghe
I have been a chaplain of a university for less than two years, and this
is my first exposure to a WSCF happening.
So, I can not speak with great authority, but, shall attempt to present
a model in terms of my aspirations and hope and also in terms of what I have
experienced so far as a chaplain in an academic context. Perhaps it may be useful, for me to first
share with you some significant happenings in my life that might help you to
appreciate what I will be attempting to share with you in this presentation.
Background
Although I come from a Christian background, it is of a very fundamentalist
Evangelical house-church meeting that I had my first experience (conversion?)
of Jesus Christ. I was 17 years of age
then. It was at my first ever Christian
Youth Camp that I had my calling to the full-time ministry of the Church. These two events happened. In terms of my present theological positions,
I cannot adequately explain them; I only know they are very important to my
being. At the age of 20 years I entered
Limitations
A chaplain generally finds him/herself placed within certain factors,
which can often become limitations.
There are those sponsoring churches and/or National Councils that
appoint him/her to the ministry of University Chaplain. While their support is said to be assured,
the Chaplain is accountable to them. A
general conservative restraint is to
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be expected. Further, it is expected of the chaplain to
ensure that Christian students upon graduation will be motivated to enrich the
leadership in the churches from which they came. A University Chaplain
functions in the context of the University Administration. He is (subtly)
expected to cooperate with the University Administration.
A chaplain generally finds out that a majority of Christian students and
a few younger members of the academic staff are of zealous evangelical
groups. However, their tendency to move
towards fundamentalism, monopolism and cult formation, makes the chaplain feel
threatened because their function could limit the sphere of activity and
availability. He fears that if he does
not conform he would be rejected.
A chaplain in the Asian region at this point in time finds himself
without a satisfying base to venture out beyond the traditional horizons to
engage in a wider mission in a profound manner, particularly pertaining to
national and student issues, owing to the near absence of groups such as
SCM. He has to seriously restrain
himself with regard to such aspirations.
A good deal of time and attention of the chaplain is taken up with the
necessary tasks of pastoral care, counselling, conducting Bible studies in
faculties and halls of residence and in building up the worshipping life of the
academic Christian community.
Basis of Chaplain's
A Chaplain does not initiate mission and neither is he the focal point
of a ministry within the academic community.
Rather, he works on the fundamental assumption that the Risen Christ is
already at work in the larger University Community and that his role is to
identify this presence and participate with the vision that Christ is engaged
in.
A chaplain's "parish" is not only the Christian community in a
university, but the larger University community itself, even though the
Christian community takes up most of his time and attention. He attempts, therefore, to build up links
with other student groups, and as many other faculty members and administration
staff personnel. He also has links with
minor staff persons too. All these
comprise the community within a university, in whose midst the Risen Lord is to
be found.
The academic community is a community of persons, who are primarily
engaged in the pursuits of academic concerns.
At present in most Asian contexts, students and faculty are going
through a peculiar period of change and uncertainity whl:ch
raises serious questions of their very being.
The move towards specialization, job orientation on the one hand and
pressure for conformity places significant restraints upon their freedom. The chaplain identifies himself with the
resulting despair and frustations, because he finds God always
"hearing" the cry of any oppressed community; "seeing"
their affliction, "knowing" their suffering
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by coming down among them.
(c.f. Exodus 3:7).
His coming down is always to set free — to liberate and recreate with
new horizons and new visions and renewed hope.
Vision
No matter what kind of elements a chaplain may find represents in the
academic community, whether it is Christian or non-Christian, conservative or radical,
evangelical, traditional or ecumenical, or ever, a chaplain's priority must be
to create a community of love. In such a
community each group will be encouraged to be themselves, to relate and respond
in mutual love, humanity and acceptance of each other will be a community where
each one will be free to speak, pursue and find expression for what he/she
believes is his/her mission in the academic community. In such a community there will be healthy
tensions and availability of "learning and conception",
"enrichment and transformation", and of seeking the highest potential
and expression of the sense of community that can be created in love. It will be a powerful human community where
every group within will feel free to be themselves, pursuing collectively their
several visions about life.
Spheres of Activity
1. University Community — The guiding question is
how do we participate to enrich the University Community. Ideally the chaplain must be with the total
Christian Community engaging in their task.
It can also be a situation- where the Christian Community participates
with the chaplain in this regard. It
would be most unfortunate if there is no community with the chaplain or no
chaplain with the community in such a participation.
In order that issues that concern the University Community are to be
identified and participated in, there needs to be effected a conscientization
programme, whose findings are usually missed out be those with an evangelical
stance and by those whose positions are of the mainline churches. A Forum for the exchange of ideas where
students and staff get together must then be created. By such opportunity for creative expressions
the scope, direction and role of an academic community could be worked out.
In order to ensure the highest level of community within the university
a process of dialogue (by dialogue I mean interpersonal dialogue in love as
presented by Lynn A de Silva, a Methodist Minister in Sri Lanka) ought to be
encouraged so that each group will be encouraged to be themselves, while
acceptive and respective of others; each mutually enriching and transforming
each other and together realizing a goal which could be achieved in the
creation of a community of love.
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2. The Christian Community — The Community must ideally, like salt, dissolve,
and get completely absorbed in student aspirations and the hopes and fears of
the academic community in general, not only at a local level, but also at an
inter-university and national level. This requires the encouragement for all
within the Christian Community to be together.
In the main, certain categories can be identified: those who say they
are agnostics or atheists, those who are non-churchgoing, those who appreciate
traditional Christianity, those who are evangelical-oriented and those who are
sincerely looking for meaning and purpose in life beyond traditional and
evangelical Christianity.
I believe a chaplain must be acceptable to all such groups and he must
win their friendship, trust and respect.
It means that a chaplain finds ways and means of becoming identified
with each group. This approach lessens
tensions and fears, dispels misunderstanding and helps each to feel less
threatened.
The opportunities a chaplain has in preaching, counselling, bible study
and prayer meetings are occasions when he can ask questions and make points to
encourage the various groups to reflect beyond their pet positions and to
examine their biases. This helps a long
way to erase traditional boundaries the various groups make and it discourages
the very often observed "labeling and discarding" game. The groups become mobile and soon they find
more areas that are held in common by them and those who kept themselves aloof
from the life and activities would also find encouragement in
participation. This is a creative
process and it is exciting.
It has been observed that among staff persons there is growing concern
over their fear that universities are fast becoming glorified. Many lament the fact that there are less students who are interested in research, and they are
frustrated that they cannot find adequate job satisfaction owing to the
pressures under which they work.
In all matters pertaining to this and other aspects of the Christian and
larger university, the chaplain ought not to work alone, but with others as a
group. He must provide opportunity for
participation of staff and students alike. It is a good policy to see that
staff and students are encouraged to know that the initiative is being taken by
them. The chaplain who
facilitates such moves, while remaining back stage would find his role
satisfying.
Out of all this, if fellowship can be encouraged and if each can
identify that what he/she is engaged in is his/her ministry, that itself is a
rewarding experience.
3. The Neighbourhood of the University — A university is
physically located in a neighbourhood of people. My context is a cluster of small
villages. Ideally, these villages ought
to benefit in some concrete way by
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living in such proximity to
a university; but too often this does not happen. Despite the physical proximity, the
university community with all its specialists in Sociology, Science, Medicine,
Engineering, are unapproachable to the people in their villages. A chaplain and his religious community must
recognize that despite all the limitations of time, the villages are there to
be related to, to be responded to.
In a context such as in Sri Lanka, it is vitally important to meet with
the Buddhist priests in the village temples, the villages leaders, the public
sector workers and of course the people such as the poor, dispossessed, the
unemployed and establish cordial relationships.
Initial moves may facilitate the university community's need to carry
out socioeconomic surveys which can help specific areas of need to which it
could respond, (e.g. conducting clinics, courses in economical cooking,
balanced dieting, vocational training etc.) or by getting the appropriate
authorities aware of the problems the villages are facing. Such opportunities are good occasions to be
identified with village people, to work out together with them the process of
identifying the forces that keep them wretched; the potential they can generate
in common action and community organization and goals towards which they could
move. In this entire task, there is
ample opportunity to make the expertise of the academic community available to
the village people.
Conclusion
This model I have attempted to spell out enshrines all that I believe
and hold together within myself. It is
primarily towards community that I am looking.
It is this community that must be motivated and mobilised to work for
the