I began as interim chaplain in December of 2019. From January to March I worked to get to know the students, the house, and The Student Food Pantry. At the start of the year we had four student residents, Tatiana, Colman, Jepry, and Leslie. On Thursdays I invited local parishioners and Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) Board member to prepare meals and share in fellowship with the students and I invited local clergy to celebrate the Eucharist. This was a great way for us to connect with our local Episcopal Churches and to hear from different parishioners and priests about their faith journeys. For the Student Food Pantry, there was lots of hands-on learning and new connections to be made as I took on Chaplain Doug’s role of oversight. And then COVID-19 arrived.
After Spring break, we cancelled our community meals and Eucharists and moved to weekly Zoom gatherings. One student decided to move back home, hoping to return later. Our Thursday night gatherings involved check-in, highs and lows, prayer requests, and Compline or Evening Prayer. One advantage of the new format has been connecting with alumni and our now-dispersed residents. One ECM board member is also a regular guest. Our food pantry stayed open with changed safety protocols and prepared food boxes. The spare upstairs room, kitchen, and dining room became a storage and food box prep staging area! Luckily, during the break between Spring and Summer terms, we were able to move to our new pantry location inside of Grace Lutheran Church (710 E. 17th.) This new space was updated (new floors, wiring for fridges and freezers) by the University of Oregon and was big enough to safely allow students to select their own foods. During the pandemic we saw our numbers slightly decrease at first, and then gradually increase. On average we served between 130-180 students each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 6 PM. This year, partnering with the Student Sustainability Center at the UO has helped us recruit and organize a consistent volunteer core and to better communicate with and educate our students guests.
One of the goals that shaped our ECM budget for 2020-2021 was the desire to help students explore the following questions: Who am I? What do I want to do with my life? Who is God and how does my faith help me answer these questions? To this end our budget focused on formation, with monies allocated for student retreats, faith-building activities, and expenses for the chaplain to connect and build relationships with students. Sadly, COVID-19 put an end to our plans for any travel, connecting with other campus ministries and going on retreat. These will continue to be important goals moving forward and our new budget will reflect that. For this past year, our formation has been primarily online as we’ve gotten to know one another, shared our struggles with online schooling, supported, hoped, and prayed together. The focus of the ECM ministry remains welcoming, supporting, and helping students grow their faith and their connection to the Episcopal Church, and, through the Student Food Pantry, combatting student food insecurity.
(Originally included in the 2020 Annual Report for St. Mary's)
