So Many Ways to Connect!

The multifaith community is a group of inquisitive people who share and explore identities, perspectives, convictions and practices. We welcome all people – religious, non-religious, spiritual, non-theistic, or whatever identifier works best for you. If you’d like a few moments to connect, share, and reflect, check out these ongoing opportunities.

Join the Multifaith group in Bates Engage to learn about and sign up for upcoming events.

Hearth

Bi-Weekly on Thursdays, 6:00 p.m., 163 Wood Street

Hearth is a comforting biweekly dinner where students come together from all corners of campus for food, comforting silence, and sharing in response to thoughtful queries that encourage reflection and vulnerability. Hearth happens in small groups that are facilitated by students who pose two queries (chosen by Multifaith Partners) which are invitational, reflective and not limited to religious or spiritual topics.


{Pause}

Wednesdays from 9:00 to 9:30 pm in the Gomes Chapel

Pause is a reflective secular service of music, poetry, silence, dance and art. It is a perfect break for quiet reflection and meditation.


Crossroads (formerly Telescope)

Crossroads is a cozy space for people looking to make genuine connections. It is a group that meets four to six times a semester to explore personal and communal identities. In this group you’ll talk about who you are, what you bring with you, where you turn for insight, what you cherish, and what you hope for yourself and others. The meetings are student-led, more fun than serious, and often engage your artistic side.

“My favorite part [of Telescope] is learning from others and seeing how much I have in common with people I would never think I would get to know.”


Anam Cara


Arts & Spirituality

Arts and Spirituality is a branch of the Bates Multifaith Chaplaincy that explores the ways in which art-making and aesthetic experiences connect us with the Sacred, open us up to deeper inner wisdom, and connect us across differences. Recently, our Arts and Spirituality fellows have offered artistic programs with haiku writing, watercolor painting, dance, movement meditation, coloring, and creative writing. In these programs no artistic skill is necessary; art as spiritual practice is focused on process (not product) and paying attention to reflective inner-stirrings and a sense of presence. 


Multifaith Banquet

Wednesday, November 1st at 6:00pm

Multifaith Banquet is an annual celebration of the diversity of worldviews at Bates. Here are a few pictures of the banquet in 2022 which had a theme of “Laughing, Lessons, and Lasting Connections”. To learn more about the rationale behind the theme and watch video of the speakers, click here.


Stringfellow

Stringfellow nurtures a culture of activism at Bates by connecting and supporting change agents, collaborating on actions, holding processing spaces, and keeping a pulse on the social justice issues that matter to students.

Bates is blessed to claim among its alums William Stringfellow of the class of 1949. Throughout his life, he fought for justice and freedom in the face of what he saw as “spiritual forces of death” that diminished and dehumanized through the means of economic, military, and political power. The Stringfellow program seeks to keep his legacy alive at Bates through creative programs that support social activists and help them learn how to sustain their vital work for years to come.