{"id":132178,"date":"2020-04-10T08:40:07","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T12:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=132178"},"modified":"2020-04-10T15:29:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T19:29:36","slug":"going-virtual-multifaith-chaplaincy-reminds-students-that-you-are-still-a-part-of-this-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2020\/04\/10\/going-virtual-multifaith-chaplaincy-reminds-students-that-you-are-still-a-part-of-this-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Going virtual, Multifaith Chaplaincy reminds students that \u2018you are still a part of this place\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one-on-one conversations, Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf has helped many Bates students, as well as faculty and staff, navigate complicated emotions during the coronavirus pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels hard to speak to your own personal woe amidst such collective distress,\u201d Longsdorf says. \u201cRight after Bates made the call to send students home, there were so many students who were really sad to miss those last few months together, to not feel like they had the time to say goodbye \u2014 but they felt really guilty voicing those things amidst universal sickness and death.”<\/span><\/p>\n

For other students, it\u2019s also hard to speak to their own happiness, says Longsdorf, whether it stems from being home with family or continued, purposeful engagement with their coursework.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a new complexity of my work, affirming that, yes, there is immense universal anxiety, and we should all care and be concerned about that. But we\u2019re allowed to have our own personal difficulties and to process those \u2014 and also have joy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"TODAY<\/a>

Brittany Longsdorf, second from right, sits with students during a 2017 spring-break gathering. Though students are no longer able to gather as closely as they’re doing here, Longsdorf and the rest of the Multifaith Chaplaincy are committed to maintaining a close, connected community. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bates was one of the first among its peers to adopt the multifaith model for its chaplaincy, and today’s Multifaith Chaplaincy<\/a> supports all religious practices and individual spiritual journeys. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among its central goals is giving the Bates community space to feel, reflect, and connect with each other. As the pandemic has forced most students to go home, employees to work remotely, and religious services to move online, that mission hasn\u2019t changed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI describe my chaplaincy as one of warmth and hospitality, creating inviting spaces and then being a companion for whatever journey the person I\u2019m sharing with is on,\u201d says Longsdorf, an ordained Community of Christ minister who holds a doctorate of ministry. \u201cI don\u2019t think those elements have changed too much.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past few weeks, some of the chaplaincy\u2019s regular programs<\/a> have gone online and even expanded. Hearth, a regular guided conversation previously for students only, has moved from Longsdorf\u2019s house to Zoom and is now open to faculty and staff. A Wednesday-evening fixture, the art-based secular service called {Pause}, is also online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Hearth candle and bell are ready for you tonight on zoom @ 6pm EST! See our listserv email, Bates Today, or DM me for zoom link.<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Bates Multifaith Chaplaincy<\/a> (@bates_multifaith) on