Beginning this semester, Mount St. Joseph has started offering a nondenominational Christian worship service.
Beginning this semester, Mount St. Joseph has started offering a nondenominational Christian worship service. Due to the current state of the pandemic, the 71% of students at the Mount who identify as Christian may have trouble finding a worship service. In light of this, Sister Karen Elliott, the Mount’s Director of Mission Integration, and others thought it was important to create an accessible worship service on campus for students, staff, and faculty.
Because of Covid-19, the presiders of each service must be either staff or faculty members, allowing faith-filled members of Mount community to share their journey of faith. Each worship service will have a different presider who brings their own unique style to their service, separating it from other structured services.
Why is it important that the presiders are a familiar face? Elliott explains that because sometimes you struggle to be bold in your faith, it is important that you know people who share your faith and the importance of God in their life. When people who you look up to express their spirituality, you can find a sense of interconnectedness.
“It is that sense of encouragement, that your faith life and spiritual life really matter,” she says. “It is about encouraging one another.”
The second nondenominational service took place on Sept. 13, with Matt Taske, the Director of Alumni Engagement, presiding. While it was not an easy task to deliver an important message, especially with two religious sisters and the University President and First Lady in attendance, Taske found strength knowing the importance of sharing his faith.
He spoke on his experience stating, “I made myself vulnerable by speaking about my faith but hopefully showing our current students that I ask myself how Christ will judge my leadership of the Office of Alumni Relations. I believe it is important for all adults to share their faith, but very important for younger people to see men share their faith.”
A Christian, non-Catholic representation on campus speaks volumes to how strongly the University is rooted in its Catholic identity and inclusion of all persons.
In the last two weeks of September, presiders were Dr. H. James Williams, University President, and Dr. Buffy Barkley, Chair of the Department of Liberal Arts. Although the presiders for this semester have already been selected, Elliott is interested in having student leaders as presiders for next semester. She urges anyone-- student, faculty or staff--to contact her if interested. She would be happy to speak with them if they contact her via email at karen.elliott@msj.edu.
During September there were about 17 people regularly attending the service, but there are hopes to make the service more widely publicized. If students, staff, and faculty are interested in attending the service, they can register on the Mount Roar app. The nondenominational service takes place every Sunday at 5 p.m. in the Mater Dei Chapel. All are welcome.