Resident Ministry needs lay people

By Justine Macauley

Santa Clara prides itself on its dedication to the education of the whole person, a philosophy that allows students to explore all aspects of what they think and why they think it.

This mission also strives to help students incorporate spirituality into their everyday lives, both during their time at the university and after.

One program that helps students explore these areas is Resident Ministry, which is run through Campus Ministry.

But changes are coming for this program, specifically related to who will receive Resident Ministry positions in the future.

While numbers for next year have yet to be finalized, it appears that due in part to economic reasons, only nine to twelve Resident Ministers will remain in the halls, while the number of Jesuits in Residence will be increasing. This means less lay people serving as spiritual mentors in the residence halls.

The program as it now stands is comprised of a group of university staff and graduate students who may or may not be actual ordained ministers and who are responsible for providing students with an outlet to ask big life questions, explore vocational options and reflect on matters of spirituality. The program also provides places for students to relax and de-stress after a long day.

According to Theresa Ladrigan-Whelpley, director of Resident Ministry, there are sixteen Resident Ministers in the eight Residential Learning Communities, as well as in Nobili Hall and St. Clare Hall. This includes fourteen lay people and two Jesuits, as well as three Jesuits in Residence.

The presence of these lay people in Resident Ministry is meant to enhance students' learning and growth by giving them the opportunity to relate to individuals who have had similar life experiences and are not necessarily theologians or ordained ministers.

The guidance provided by these lay people helps move students toward discovering who they are, who they want to be and ways that they can reflect the core values of the university to become mindful members of the larger community.

Additionally, it has been proposed that in coming years, the Resident Ministry candidate pool will give priority to Jesuits, vowed Santa Clara Campus Ministers, Santa Clara pastoral ministries graduate students and Jesuit School of Theology graduate students.

Limiting the candidate pool in this way will likely reduce the number of lay people living in the residence halls as Resident Ministers.

Students go to their Resident Ministers for conversation, advice, comfort and someone to talk to who isn't another undergraduate student or faculty member. Considering that human interaction is key to success both in life and on this campus, the Resident Ministers constantly demonstrate their compassion for people and ways to integrate spirituality in one's everyday life.

The reduction of lay people serving as Resident Ministers isn't necessarily a bad thing, though it will undoubtedly require some adjustment and change the nature of the relationship between student and Resident Minister.

It is important to understand that having Jesuit Resident Ministers will not negatively impact students -- after all, Jesuits are great people. But the Provost's Office -- the office that makes these decisions -- needs to remember why we as students value the presence of lay people in the Resident Ministry program.

Not everyone who needs spiritual guidance on this campus will feel drawn to those who are theologians or ordained ministers.

Having more Jesuits in Residence could turn people away from interacting with Resident Ministers simply because they feel nervous about title of the person with the position.

It's hard enough for non-religious people, and even some of those who are religious, to talk to Resident Ministers simply because of their title includes the word minister. Adding another term could make these interactions even more difficult.

Both lay people and Jesuits within Resident Ministry share a common mission in that they hope to mentor students.

However, the lay person gives students a different kind of person to relate to -- one who lives a life not directly dealing with religion, but still manages to incorporate ideas about spirituality and vocation.

In discussing these changes to the program with the Provost's Office and others, Ladrigan-Whelpley said, "We (Campus Ministry) have shared our sense of how significant of an impact this Resident Ministry program has had on the lives of our students and the culture of our Santa Clara community, particularly in the ways in which it substantiates our commitment to cultivating the whole person of our students and fostering the realization of Ignatian values in our students. We believe the Resident Ministry program is a constitutive part of Santa Clara's mission, and we hope it will continue to grow and develop."

It can only be hoped that this growth will continue to include lay people as an essential way to connect students to these important values.

Justine Macauley is a junior history major.