When our Christian Science chaplain left the interfaith body at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island about nine years ago, my church wanted me to step in. I was happy to accept, since I’d served in another interfaith group. To me, interfaith work is a kind of spiritual journey, and this new phase in my life has presented a wonderful opportunity for education in interfaith listening and dialogue, for compassion and understanding.
Like many universities today, this one is a secular institution, which, unlike most, includes a chaplaincy body under a student services administration that provides half the funding. The university evidently sees chaplains as providing an essential service, much like its student counseling service, with which we occasionally collaborate.
Our “Memorandum of Understanding” with the university states that chaplains are “to work as a team to provide a model of interfaith cooperation and respect, and to give more efficient service than is possible individually.” Sure, we each work with our own faith group on campus, but we also get together for team meetings and to organize multifaith activities.
