1. The Brave New World of Spiritual Well-Being :
Infusing Soul Into a Wake Forest Education
Office of the Chaplain
Soulful Conversations in a Community of Friends

2. Raising Visionaries
Suppose we discovered that it was possible to raise
visionaries: persons with concern for their neighbor who
were willing to devote their lives to the healing of the planet?
(Coleen Smith Slosberg, United Campus Ministry, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1998)

3. Raising Visionaries
People like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi,
Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks,
Thich Nhat Hanh, or Abraham Joshua Heschel.

4. Raising Visionaries
People like those who lobby for compassionate welfare
reform, those who are building affordable housing using
volunteer labor, and those who become directors of
non-profits serving the local community.

5. Critical Moments
In the movie recounting the journey of Apollo 13, scientists were
discussing the return trip to earth.
If their course projection was off by only a few degrees when the
astronauts left the moon’s orbit, the space capsule would swing wide of
earth and be flung out into space
A small push at the critical moment
can make a huge difference.

6. Places of Leverage
There are places of leverage in each life, places where
growth is happening so quickly that a small move may
change the projection of a lifetime.
While there are many critical moments in life, one of these
comes during the college years.
The emerging adult has power
and personal freedom
but not the emotional maturity
that comes with
experience.

7. Setting the Trajectory
The future of life for emerging adults is being
set during the college years.
There is great potential to impact the future,
provide the little push, help set the trajectory.

8. Enriching the Soil
The campus community is the soil of great
and intense growth.
If that soil is poor, if it is lacking in certain nutritional
elements or important stimuli, the growth which occurs
during these years may be stunted.

9. Growing Leaders With Vision
But if the soil is rich with the appropriate stimuli, the potential
for growth is great.
So, how can we enrich the soil of the campus in such a way
that students develop a hopeful vision for the world?
How can we enrich it to encourage the growth of
leaders with vision?
How can we help to enrich the soil of the campus in such a
way that we encourage some of our students to commit their
lives to service, to the healing of the world?

10. BIG QUESTIONS
We, the Office of the Chaplain, have a vision.
We believe that the deepest questions in life are spiritual.
They are questions about the search for meaning and purpose.
They are profoundly personal questions that each of us must ultimately
answer in our own way:
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What is worth living for?
How do I live my values?
Whom and what do I serve?
What is it that I love above all else?
What happens to me when I am gone?

11. We believe that spirituality is a universal instinct toward connection
with others and discovery of our place in the larger web of life.
The spiritual quest is a lifelong pursuit, but it emerges full bloom
during the transition from youth to adulthood.
For most students, the college years are a time of questioning and
spiritual searching in which there is particular emphasis upon two
dimensions of spirituality:
1) asking BIG questions about meaning and purpose
2) and finding a spiritual home.
Two Dimensions of Spirituality

12. So Who Are We?

13. We Are Spiritual Pilgrims
We are spiritual pilgrims who live on a planet traveling
in three different ways at the same time.
 The earth spins on its axis at 1,000 mph.
 We orbit around our sun at 66,600 mph.
 Our solar family, composed of the sun and planets and their
moons, is also racing through space at 43,000 mph.
Four great questions present themselves to those who
travel and live upon this planet:
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
Why am I here?
How am I to live?

14. We Are Spiritual Amphibians
We are also designed to live harmoniously in the midst of both
the spiritual and the material,
the physical and the metaphysical,
the here and the hereafter.
Humans are meaning-making beings.
Whether one adheres to Socrates’ admonition to “know thyself” or
advice that the “unexamined life is not worth living,” humans possess a
hunger and a thirst to create meaning within their lives.

15. Spiritual Well-Being
We are torn between wanting security and wanting to break
free, between deadening ourselves to human suffering and
opening ourselves up to the experience of living, between
racing to protect our future and pausing to enjoy the moment,
between surviving and thriving.
So what are we really yearning for?
We believe that we are hungering and thirsting
for
SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING.

16. Spiritual Well-Being:
So What Is It?
Spiritual well-being is not something to be achieved.
Spiritual well-being is not something to be acquired.
It is inside you, not out there in the world.
Most people are looking outside of themselves for scraps of
pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, for security, for a sense of
purpose and meaning, or for love, when we have treasure
within, greater than anything the world can offer.

17. Spiritual Well-Being:
Six Basic Yearnings*
Spiritual well-being is a way of answering the six basic yearnings
we all share as human beings:
 Joy. We were born with the capacity for total joy.
 Vitality. We want to be filled with curiosity, wonder, and above all, a
passion for living.
 Meaning & Purpose. We don’t want to feel that we were created
by accident, that we don’t matter, that what we do has no effect on
the world. We want a purpose to give us direction.
 Peace. We want, as much as possible, to be free of suffering.
 Love. We want to love and be loved.
 A Spiritual Foundation. We want a sense of transcendence that
helps us to brave tragedy and suffering and discover an internal,
eternal core of stability and peace.
*Terry Lynn Taylor & Mary Beth Crain, 1997

18. Spiritual Well-Being:
Competencies
Seven Spiritual Qualities*
1) Resilience – The capacity to maintain one’s sense of calm and centeredness,
especially in times of crisis
2) Spiritual Curiosity – An active quest for answers to life’s “big questions”
3) Ethic of Caring & Civility – A sense of caring and compassion for others
4) Service to others – A desire to keep within one’s heart a love for the cause of
human welfare and a dedication to enrich the lives of all people
5) Interfaith Worldview – A global worldview that also honors particularity
6) Competency & Commitment within a Spiritual/Religious Tradition – An
“internal” quality that reflects the student’s knowledge of and commitment to a
particular spiritual/religious tradition
7) Authenticity – The courage to be fully human
*adapted from A National Study of College Students’ Search for Meaning and Purpose,
Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA, 2003-2010

19. Spiritual Well-Being:
Authenticity
“We put our best foot forward, but it’s the other
one that needs attention.”
- William Sloane Coffin

20. Spiritual Well-Being:
Vulnerability
“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending
our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but
not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy –
the experiences that make us most vulnerable.” - Brené Brown
“If you trade authenticity for safety, you may experience the following:
anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame,
resentment, and inexplicable grief.” - Brené Brown

21. Spiritual Well-Being:
Silence
The Biblical injunction ‘Be still and know that I am God,’ sums up a theme
that runs through all of world myths and religions, from the teachings of the
Buddha to the sayings of the Christian saints, from the wisdom of the Kabala
to the writings of the Sufi mystics.
Spiritual well-being is about one of the greatest of all spiritual practices
– the simple observance of silence.

22. Spiritual Well-Being:
Vocation & Calling
“Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a
calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to
do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.”
- Parker Palmer

23. Spiritual Well-Being:
Slowing
Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
Gloucester, U.K.
From the top of a hill a 9 lb round of Double Gloucester cheese is
rolled, and competitors race down the hill after it. The first person over
the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. Hmmmm…..

24. Spiritual Well-Being:
Social Media
How does spiritual well-being amplify the benefits and lessen the
harms associated with social media?
 Spiritual well-being emphasizes how we are interconnected.
 Spiritual well-being helps us differentiate between communication and
connection.
 Spiritual well-being teaches us how to develop discriminating awareness.
 Spiritual well-being teaches us not to pretend that we have qualities we
don’t have and not to try to hide shortcoming that we do have.
 Spiritual well-being teaches us to be considerate of others, to be civil, and
not to interrupt and waste the time of others with meaningless chatter.

25. Religion & Spirituality
It is important to differentiate the notion of religion from issues of
spirituality, because the words are often used interchangeably.
 Religion is a shared system of beliefs, principles, or doctrines
related to a belief in and worship of a supernatural power.
 Spirituality is the search for meaning, transcendence, wholeness,
purpose, and “apprehension of spirit” as the animating essence at
the core of life, a search more personal than public (Parks, 2000).
Ideally, religion and spirituality significantly overlap. However, there
are religious people tied so closely to dogma and doctrine as to be
disconnected from issues of the spirit, and people who disavow any
notion of or connection with religion yet are deeply involved in a search
for meaning, wholeness, and purpose.

26. Historical Context
Although most public and private colleges were founded in conjunction
with a particular denomination (mostly Protestant, Catholic, and
recently Jewish), in the past century there was a marked move away
from the trappings of organized religion on the college campus.
For example, mandatory chapel and the senior capstone course on
morality or philosophy were eliminated.

27. Historical Context
In the twentieth century, modern science took center stage
featuring research that created new ways of understanding
life, organizations, and human nature.

28. Historical Context
No longer was religion needed to explain the nature or
order of the world.

29. Historical Context
In the last decade, however, there has been a resurgence
in spiritual exploration and religion.
Go into any Barnes & Noble and check out the best-seller
listings; you will find numerous books published in the past
few years with spirit, soul, and even spiritual intelligence
in the title.

30. Religious Life Today
Today, many students are coming to Wake Forest as believers in some
spiritual tradition; participating in practices such as community service,
meditation, worship, prayer, small group study, yoga, or tai chi; and
seeking answers to questions about meaning and purpose.

31. Religious Preference, Fall 2005
Not Reported, 2.0%
Baptist, 14.1%
Buddhist, 0.2%
Christian
Scientist, 0.1%
Episcopal, 7.3%
Greek
Orthodox,
0.9%Hindu,
0.7%
Jewish,
2.1%
Lutheran,
3.2%
Methodist, 12.1%
Moravian, 0.3%
Morman, 0.2%
Muslim, 0.2%No Preference, 5.1%
Presbyterian, 12.9%
Protestant, 8.1%
Quaker,
0.1%
Roman Catholic,
24.3%
United Church of
Christ, 1.3%
Unitarian, 0.2%
Other, 4.3%
Religious Preference, Fall 2005

32. Religious Preference, Fall 2012
Roman Catholic
25%
Baptist
8%
Protestant
7%
Presbyterian
7%
Methodist
7%
Episcopal
7%
Jewish
3%
All Other
36%
Religious Preference
Fall 2012

33. Religious Preference, Fall 2012

34. Pastoral Care: 24/7
At Wake Forest the Chaplains work in concert with the University
Counseling Center, Residence Life & Housing, Student Health,
University Police, Campus Ministry, and the Office of Academic
Advising to provide 24/7 care for students, faculty and staff.

35. Pastoral Care: Deep Listening
 We listen
 We do not try to fix things
 We do not minimize pain
 We bring pain into the light and examine it
 We do not offer unsolicited advice
 We keep confidentiality
 We refer when necessary
 We honor silence
 We hold sacred space
 We empathize and offer compassion
 We pray a lot
 We pay attention

36. Externally-Funded
Christian Campus Ministries
Athletes in Action (AIA)
Baptist Student Union (BSU)
Catholic Campus Ministry
*College Life
Emmaus
Episcopal Campus Ministry
International Campus Ministries of the Triad
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
InterVarsity Graduate & Faculty Ministries
Lutheran Student Movement (LSM)
Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF)
Presbyterian Student Fellowship (PCUSA)
Reformed University Fellowship (PCA)
Wesley Foundation (UMC)
*Currently going through the chartering process

37. Student Religious Groups
Athletes in Action (AIA) Muslim Student Association (MSA)
Baptist Student Union (BSU) Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF)
Catholic Campus Ministry Presbyterian Student Fellowship (PCUSA)
Chi Rho Reformed University Fellowship (PCA)
Christian Legal Society Wesley Foundation (UMC)
Christian Medical & Dental Association
*College Life
Emmaus
Episcopal Campus Ministry
Gospel Choir
Hillel
International Campus Ministries of the Triad
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
InterVarsity Graduate & Faculty Fellowship
Intimate Praise
Living Parables
Lutheran Student Movement (LSM)
Minor Variation *Currently going through the chartering process

38. Student Religious Groups:
Positive Effects
What positive effects have we observed student religious
groups to foster?
 Religious groups give students a sense of community, a
sense of belonging.
 Religious groups give students a sense of purpose.
 Religious groups provide for codes of conduct.
 Religious groups powerfully bind students into groups
through the observance of holidays and ritual celebrations.

39. Religious Life: Code of Conduct
Every Wake Forest chaplain, campus minister, religious advisor and
student religious group, is committed:
 to promote the moral and spiritual growth of the Wake Forest
University community,
 to support the University’s steady exercise of free inquiry and its
pursuit of the highest standards of intellectual and moral excellence,
 to represent that group and its purposes forthrightly, while at the
same time treating with respect the ministries and religious traditions
of others, and
 to safeguard the religious freedom, human dignity, conscience and
personal welfare of any individuals met and engaged in the course
of that group’s ministry.

40. Office of the Chaplain:
Mission Statement
Soulful Conversations in a Community of Friends
As part of fulfilling its mission and achieving its goals, Wake Forest University
seeks to encourage students, faculty, and staff to “explore the spiritual
dimensions to human existence in ways that prompt examination of self and
perceptions of the world.”
The religious and spiritual components of the University’s programming are
intended to encourage the pursuit of meaning through spiritual reflection and free
inquiry, enabling a wide circle of inclusion and identifications, advancing mutual
understanding and respect among differing traditions, while at the same time
fostering Wake Forest’s Baptist history and traditions in real and tangible ways.

41. Office of the Chaplain:
Who Are We?
We are teachers of slowness, of savoring, of seeing the
world below the surface.
We also believe that the cultivation of the human spirit
is the deepest form of learning.

42. Office of the Chaplain: Staff
Rev. Tim Auman Chaplain
Rev. Becky Hartzog Associate Chaplain
Rev. K. Monet Rice-Jalloh Associate Chaplain
Imam Khalid Griggs Associate Chaplain for Muslim Life
Vacant Director of Catholic Programming
Dr. Gail Bretan Director of Jewish Life
Pattie McGill Administrative Assistant
Peggy Beckman Administrative Assistant
Katherine Bogue Fellow
Michael McEnany Fellow

43. The Spirit of Wake Forest
We believe that the same SPIRIT that animated
Mother Teresa animates each Wake Forest student.

44. Spiritual Well-Being
The work of the Office of the Chaplain can serve as an
“endowment fund.”
Students, faculty and staff are invited to dip into this
sacred reservoir when they need the discipline to align
their heart’s desires with their actions.

45. Spiritual Well-Being
It takes as much effort to be spiritually healthy as it
does to keep your body in shape.
Above all, to be spiritually healthy our students need to
live on a diet of good ideas and excellent ideals.
We cannot raise visionaries.
Only God can do that.
But we can enrich the soil out of which they may rise.
This is your invitation to join us.

46. Contact Us
Office of the Chaplain
Phone: (336) 758-5210
Fax: (336) 758-3193
Location: Reynolda Hall, Suite 22
www.chaplain.studentlife.wfu.edu
Soulful Conversations in a Community of Friends

47. Appendix:
Infusing Soul into Student Affairs Work
Student affairs and student affairs preparation
programs have been reluctant to address spirituality as
connected to student development or to the programs
and services on a college campus.
The Office of the Chaplain believes that student affairs
professionals must understand the role that such
values as faith, meaning, and purpose play in the
structure and persistence of communities, in the
construction of knowledge, in the understanding of
truth, and in development processes of students.

48. Appendix:
Infusing Soul into Student Affairs Work
Student affairs educators can use a set of questions,
authored by David Trott (2000), to think about how to
infuse soul and spirituality into their work with students,
staff, administrators, and faculty:
 How is your spirit enthused by work?
 What occurs during the course of an ordinary workday that
bolsters your sense of spirituality?
 If you had the freedom to create a spiritually healthy organization
of your choosing, what would you emphasize?
 Do you feel as though work serves any higher or greater purpose
than accomplishing the tasks at hand?

49. Appendix:
Infusing Soul into Student Affairs Work
Spiritual Practices that Can Infuse Soul into our Educational
Organizations and Leadership Practice*
 Strive for balance.
 Create daily rhythms to ground oneself.
 Emphasize both/and rather than either-or.
 Embrace wholeness – even the negative, painful aspects.
 Make room for silence.
 Practice somatic spirituality.
 Carry oneself with curiosity.
 Seek to know your inner witness.
 Create a language to express meaning that is at home in the soul.
 Embrace playfulness.
 Look for the sacred in the everyday.
*Kathleen Manning, 2001

50. Appendix:
Infusing Soul into Student Affairs Work
Strategies for Shaping an Organizational Culture*
1. An Environment of Safety. If people don’t feel safe at work, they don’t reveal
themselves. Over time, this diminishes their spiritual development, authenticity,
and integrity.
2. Design Reasonable Jobs. Overloading a job description has negative
implications for spiritual development of staff members.
3. Develop Spiritual “Alarms.” A living community has mechanisms to help people
who need additional support to get their jobs done or work through life’s
challenges.
4. Shift Criteria for Performance Appraisal. Criteria that support spiritual
development for staff members include assessing one’s personal development,
developing reflective practices, and creating authenticity in relationships.
5. Treat Others as Sacred. Today, the “lean and mean” organizational paradigm
leaves little room for treating each other as sacred. Something wonderful
happens when we recognize the strengths and unique gifts in each other.
*Kathleen E. Allen and Gar E. Kellom, 2001

51. Appendix:
Infusing Soul into Student Affairs Work
Strategies for Staff Development
Centering Before Staff Meetings
Spiritual Reading Groups
Staff Spiritual Well-Being Retreats
Rituals and Celebrations
Physical Spaces for Reflection
Staff Service Days
Outdoor Experiences
Culture of Gratitude

52. Appendix:
Exercise #1
Describe your spiritual life
- Write And/Or Draw Your Answer -

53. Appendix:
Exercise #2
What does wisdom mean to you?
What is the wisest thing you’ve ever heard? How does this
wisdom affect your life?
How could you be wise?

54. Appendix:
Exercise #3
Draw a picture of your center.
What does your drawing tell you about how your experience yourself
spiritually?

55. Appendix:
Exercise #4
Recall a time when you felt centered.
What did you focus on?
What did you let go of?
Where was your attention?
What were you not paying attention to?
What happened with your body?
Feelings?
Mind?

56. Appendix:
Exercise #5
Write a prescription for yourself that will encourage
spiritual well-being in your personal life.

57. Appendix:
Exercise #6
Create a model for spiritual well-being in your office
How would others respond to it?
What would your office have to give up to have it?
What would you have to allow each other to have it?
Why don’t you do it?