Augustana Chaplaincy News

Fall 2018

On Spirituality in Higher Education and Craft Gelato Yup, this is an odd combination but these were my sabbatical study topics. Like all delicious treats, I will treat you with gelato at the end. What contributes to a student’s spiritual development? How do we help students respond to life’s big questions like Who am I? What are my most deeply felt values? What is my purpose in my life? A fruitful resource in the area of spirituality in higher education is a seven year UCLA project conducted by psychologists Alexander and Helen Astin. While the study (fortunately) indicated that robust Chaplaincy programs help students in their spiritual and religious development, it also noted that spiritual development takes more than Chaplaincy. Faculty members who are open to the spiritual and religious aspect of life by making room in the classroom for contemplation and the exploration of life’s big questions are key.

Anyone who is familiar with the education offered by CLC/Augustana can attest that the findings of this study about the importance of supportive faculty ring true. I am incorporating my sabbatical studies into my own teaching in Religious Studies and I have plans to bring other faculty into this ongoing conversation as well. Craft gelato! Like most travellers to Italy, I developed the habit of eating gelato daily (occasionally multiple times per day). Chancing upon a gelateria that skillfully combined fresh, local ingredients was a delight. During sabbatical, I enrolled for one week at the Italian Culinary Institute in Caminia, Italy under the guidance of Chef John Nocita. Gelato can be a delectable ingredient in the making of joy-filled community and the gift of gelato is a little experience of grace. Upon return to Camrose, I commissioned a logo from Elise Epp that alludes to that joy and grace. Milk n’ Honey points to the promised place where all will know God’s shalom. Thomas Aquinas penned the tag line, the sweetness we were meant to find, which was later translated by Gerard Manley Hopkins and appears in the hymn Thee We Adore, O Saviour (ELW 476). In my effort to share that sweetness, I purchased a high volume gelato maker. I am pleased to report that the incorporation of gelato into the work of Chaplaincy brings sweetness, grace, and peace. Shalom!

Love Actually

Augustana Chaplaincy News Fall 2018

Contact Us

Augustana Chaplaincy

Augustana Campus

University of Alberta

4901—46 Avenue

Camrose, AB

T4V 2R3

Rev. Craig Wentland

Campus Chaplain

780.679.1535

craigw@ualberta.ca

Katelynn Cook

Assistant for Chaplaincy

780.679.1597

augchap@ualberta.ca

www.ualberta.ca/

Augustana/services/

chaplaincy/

Facebook page:

U of A Augustana Chaplaincy

Instagram: @aug_chaplaincy

In This Issue:

On Spirituality in Higher

Education and Craft

Gelato

Meet the Student

Chaplains

Oktoberfest 2018

Small Events Making Big

Differences

Muslim Prayer Space on

Campus

Chaplaincy Theme 2018-2019

Fall 2018 4 — Fall 2018

Small Events Making Big Differences Chaplaincy has been taking its "Fun Raising" events to different locations as a way to connect with different demographics of students. We had a campfire in the quad, carved pumpkin in the Faith and Life Lounge, and hosted a coffee house by the bookstore in the Forum to attract passersby. We even took a couple of students on a Tuesday morning excursion to the Ukrainian Catholic Church to partake in pierogi pinching! In addition, we have been hosting events in the first year residence in hopes that our programming will be more accessible to new students. We made moon cakes to celebrate the Chinese Autumn Festival in the first year kitchen, baked cookies, and played a game of Giant Dutch Blitz during which Craig got his cardio workout! These events drew students we have not had out to other events before. The near future holds movie nights, gingerbread decorating, and a pop-up gelato stand in first year dorms.

Oktoberfest 2018 At the end of September, Chaplaincy held its third annual Oktober-fest celebration in conjunction with Alumni Weekend.This new Chap-laincy tradition was once again a success, drawing students, staff, alumni, and community members to enjoy the German festivities and to reconnect with one another. Guests enjoyed sampling the local craft beers; feasting on bratwurst, potatoes, and black forest cake; and polka dancing into the night accompanied by the music of the live band. The Lougheed Centre was beautifully transformed into a German banquet hall. With the student chaplains dressed in dirndls and lederhosen, it felt like stepping into a set of the Sound of Music!

Katelynn Cook—Assistant to Chaplaincy

Muslim Prayer Space on Campus

Between classes and other commitments, as a Muslim student, how is it possible to attend Jumu’ah, Friday congregational prayers? The closest mosque is in Wetaskiwin. The newly formed Muslim Student Club initiated conversations about whether there might be an appropriate space for prayer on campus. After assessing needs and avail-able space, the club has been happily experimenting with an underutilized classroom. (Coincidentally, this room is familiar with prayer as it served as CLC’s Chapel for a period during the 70s and 80s.) The students are being joined by a few Muslim fami-lies from the Camrose community and Chaplaincy will host a pre-prayer lunch to wel-come them to the campus. We hope these new relationships will provide rich learning opportunities for the entire campus.

The dance between religious expression and public universities has historically been a little awkward. Because of its faith-based heritage, Augustana has long understood that the religious/spiritual/faith dimension of life is a part of the whole person formation promised by a liberal arts

education. As Augustana encounters an increasingly diverse campus, we hope the resources provided by our heritage will make the dance between faith and learning more graceful.

As a recent Augustana graduate in search of meaningful employment and an opportunity to apply my liberal arts education, I was thrilled to be offered Sara Smith's ma-ternity leave position as the Assistant to Chaplaincy. Chaplaincy has played a transformational role in my faith, and it is a blessing to have the opportunity to give back to this life giving community as my job. I thoroughly enjoy working alongside Pastor Craig, supporting the student chaplains, and continuing to serve the Augustana and Camrose community.

You are invited to…

What’s Cookin? Soup Supper Sunday, March 3th, 2019

5:00 pm

The Chapel, Augustana Campus

Come and share a simple meal, an evening of

entertainment, pictures and music, celebrating

Chaplaincy on the Augustana Campus.

Muslim Student Club Members:

Farheen Afaque and

Fatima Bin Sumait

Pierogi Pinching: Jessica, Katelynn, Winnie, Areesh

Chaplaincy crew at Oktoberfest

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2 — Fall 2018

Augustana Chaplaincy News

Fall 2018

Fall 2018 — 3

Meet the Student Chaplains

Anika Asfeldt

Hi, I’m Anika Asfeldt. I’m a fourth-year outdoor-ed student from Athabasca, Alberta. I’m excited to be a student chaplain this year for the first time because I’ll get to know people with the same passion for loving people

that I have. Faith has been a huge part of my life and I am so glad there’s an opportunity to pursue my faith at Augustana. I’ve been to many chaplaincy events in the past and there has always been a common theme of joy. If I can help bring joy to a single student this year, I know I’m on the right track as a student chaplain. I’ll be in charge of fun raising this year because you can never have too much fun!

Leah Marshall My name is Leah Marshall and I am a third-year psychology major at Augustana. I grew up in the community of Rosalind and currently live on a farm southwest of Camrose overlooking the Battle River. This is my second year working as a student chaplain on campus. I feel very fulfilled in this work as our team builds community and shares in the good news over food and fun

activities — connecting students, faculty, and community in Christian fellowship. This year I am anticipating our weekly soup suppers, worship band practice, and events like the Fair Trade Local Made Sale and Oktoberfest. Whilst attending post-secondary classes is very time consuming, I feel there is nothing I could do more worth-while with my time on campus than to serve this Christian community.

Rebecca Pospolita

Hello! I'm Rebecca Pospolita. I

am a fourth year psychology

student at Augustana. I call

Wainwright my home, though

after all these years Camrose

is very close to my heart! This

is my third and final year as a

student chaplain, as I will be

graduating this spring. I joined

Chaplaincy in my second year

because when I first came to Augustana

the student chaplains created a space

for me to feel loved and accepted in

their community. I felt free to explore

my faith while having the honour of

serving my fellow Augustana

students. I've come back to Chaplaincy

again and again because I want to

share that warmth and support with the rest of the community. Plus, I

have so much fun every year! This year, I am delighted to be doing

worship planning and chapel bands as well as fundraising! In particular,

I look forward to putting together SCORE and coming up with new

fundraising ideas with Kylie.

Adam Sun

My name is Adam Sun, I am from Qinghuangdao city, which is a coast city in China. I am third year computing science major with a history minor at Augustana. This is my second year being a student chap-lain. After my first year helping with soup supper as a CSL student, I de-cided to join Chaplaincy in my second year. During the soup supper placement, I enjoyed the moments when I felt people were happy in the community, and I like to share my love with the community. Everything here is meaningful for me, then I decided to be a student chaplain. This year is my second year being as a student chaplain. I will take more leadership in this lovely group, and I will cook more soup and chili for people, and bring people to eat together. I am looking forward for the Oktoberfest and other activities in this year. I hope there will be a lot of fun.

Front: Adam Sun, Katelynn Cook, Anika Asfeldt

Back: Craig Wentland, Rebecca Pospolita, Amara Onyia, Kylie Peake, Leah Marshall

Amara Onyia

Hi, my name is Amara. I am from Nigeria and I am in

my fourth year majoring in kinesiology and

psychology. I joined Chaplaincy this year so that I

could be more involved in school and activities that

are intended to engage students. I tend to hang out

in the sacristy a lot, apparently Pastor Craig thinks

I’m a bit of a “Martha.” It just means I like to take

care of people and pay attention to the details. I

wanted to be a student chaplain because I love Jesus

and I would like to share his love, joy, and peace

with others.

Kylie Peake

Hi I’m Kylie! I am going into my second year in a Bachelor of Science, majoring in biology. I am from New Norway, Alberta. It is my first year being a student chaplain and I am excited to see what this year has in store! I wanted to be a student chaplain for a number of reasons: to connect with other students on campus, extend ministry into the community, and strengthen my personal faith. Some of the responsibilities I will be taking on this year will be preparing the Chapel on Wednesdays for Open Table: Holy Communion worship followed by chili supper, as well as keeping the students up to date through social media. Helping organize events such as the Fair Trade and Local Made sale and SCORE are other things that I am excited to be a part of!

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