Scarlet & Black. March Ii. 11in

page 8

 

Chaplain Dennis Haas:
ereligious activity is
informal, personal

by David oi-een

Grinnell College was founded in
the 18405 by a group of
Congregational ministers who
were as interested In establishing
western trontier churches as they
were in organizing a college. At the
present time, however, the college

has no official religious affiliation,
This does not mean, of course, that
there is no interest in religion at
Grinnell. Many students are in
volved in a variety oi religious
organizations. it is, among other
things, the duty of College
Chaplain Dennis Haas to help
coordinate the activities of these
groups. '

Haas is beginning his‘eleventh
year as Chaplain of Grinnell
College, In addition to being of
service to the campus religious
organizations, Haas operates a
weekly religious program and
provides counseling in a variety oi
areas. The religious program is
flexible and may consist of a
worship service in Herrick Chapel
or a more informal gathering in the
religious studies room of Steiner.
His counseling time is spent
particularly in the area of religious
concerns.

Haas emphasizes that his
position is not that of the “token
religious person on campus.” He
explained that there is a belief at
the college that just as with any
other area of concern, some
students have religious needs
which require the time of a
“professional.” Basically, the
College Chaplain takes care oi the
religious needs of the school, His
position actually entails very few
of the traditional institutional
Chaplain duties. His single time
tionary obligation is to deliver the
commencement invocation.

As Haas defines it, the beauty of
his position is that it is not static.
Since he started at Grinnell in rose,
the chaplain’s role has undergone
many necessary alterations.

When Haas first started at
Grinnell, much of his time was
spent addressing the concerns of
the Vict Nam war. the Civil rights
movement and the draft. Haas
helped to establish a draft in
formation center on campus which
provided services for hundreds of
students. He was especially in-
volved in helping students clariiy
and define the status of the con-
scientious DbJQCtor.

Drug use at Grinncll became
more prevalent at that time and
the.Chaplain had to address his
role as counselor to the problems of
the drug user, In addition to these
concerns, the college instituted a
coeducational dormitory system
at about this same time. The new
system- necessitated that Haas

- counsel on the_subjectoi sexuality._

With the Residential and-Student
Advisor systems, some of the load
has now been taken off of him, The
actual numbers or people he sees
has decreased but this allows him
to see and spend more time with a
greater percentage oi people with
more serious problems

The Chapel program was also
much different in the 1960’s. At
that time, it was not unusual for 300
people to attend one of the frequent
Sunday services. The Chapel also

.boasted a full 70 voice choir,

These Chapel programs declined
within three or four years of Mr,
Haas's arrival, He believes that
“formal worship is not where
college students are today." In»
iormal programs which ieature
small groups, and active par-
ticipation have become popular,
Haas also believes that students
may already be disinterested in
religion and-or the institution oi the
church by the time they enter
college. This may account ior some
of the decline in religious par
ticipation,

Today's services are informal
and ecumenical in that they at
tempt to address the needs and
concerns of all students. In terms
of the actual service, it is of the

,“liberal Protestant” variety, He

believes that students who desire a
more formal service are fortunate
in that it can be iound at any one of
a number of town churches Haas
explained that his services are
basically geared for those students
who are still exploring religion and
questing for the answers which it
can bring.

Haas does not think that the ~

decline of interest in "formal"
religious activity has been taken
up by a vast increased interest in
lionrwestcrn and evangelical
religions, He speculates that
Grinnell College may not be the
type of place where such
movements take hold.

He believes that the college’s
small but very capable religious
studies department
students to discover and explore
religious movements in an
academic manner. The fact that
the department’s introductory
courses are always overloaded
indicates to Haas that there is a
strong interest in religion at
Grinnell.

Currently, the most prevalent
direction which religious interest
takes at Grinnell is a strong
curiosity about one's heritage,
Haas believes that cultural con»
cerns are stronger than theological
interests, He describes the
students‘ reasons ior taking
religion courses as a kind of
“everything you always wanted to
. know about your heritage but were
afraid to ask,”

The campus groups, especially
the Grinnell College Christian
Fellowship and the Associated
Jewish Students (whose meme
herships have increased. greatly
within the past ieii- years) have
done much to foster this interest in
religious heritage. Haas especially
sees a rise in the awareness of
Jewish students about their

 

culture, He observes that ten
years ago, many students came to

allows ‘

school in Grinnell to attempt to
“escape" their Jewish
background

Basical Haas believes that the
growth oi iniormal, personal
culturallyoriented religious ac
tivity is attributable to the social
Changes which have affected the
country and campus over the last
ten years. Those years saw great
interest in international political
and Social affairs As the issues
seemed to isappear and
disillusionment grew, attempts
developed to “know thyself” to a
greater degree. These eli'orts have
included a Search for an unr
derstanding of one’s religious
background,

with the increase in personal
awareness has Come a shift in the

Cliaplain’s duties to more advising
and counseling in the area of
personal relationships. Haas has
iound in recent years that students
are much more concerned and
interested in an understanding’
themselves and the many different'
kinds of relationships in which
they are involved. Participation in
workshops and seminars on the;
topics has risen dramatically. -

These changes illustrate what
the job of Grinnell College
Chaplain entail The position is,
almost by definition, adaptation to
constantly changing cirr
cumstances. Chaplain Haas
considers his job well done if he
can continue to be sensitive to the
ever changing concerns of the
Grinnell student.

 

 

inside

The Grinnell Christian
Fellowship was founded in the mid
1960’s to accomodate the needs of
Christian students on campus.

The religious orientation of the
group, is, of course, its most
distinctive characteristic. Beyond
this theological emphasis,
however, the Fellowship is unique
in that it Ieatures a highly strucV
turcd program of activity and a
formal hierarchy of leaders not
iound in many campus groups.

The nonrdenominationa] campus
fellowship is part oi Inter-Varsity
Christian Fellowship and is also
affiliated with the International
Fellowship of Evangelical
Students. These are national and
international associations of
campus religious groups, Although
it has no official affiliation with
any particular Christian,
denomination, the Fellowship is
part of the evangelical wing of the
Christian church, according to the
Fellowships faculty advisor,
Phillip Bays.

The active membership oi the
Fellowship is estimated at around
50. According to Bays, the size oi
the active membership is larger
this year than at any time since
1970, when he arrived at Grinnell
and became faculty sponsor oi the
Fellows p.

Activity within the Fellowship is
divided primarily between small
group meetings and large group
meetings. Small groups consist of
about six to eight people and meet
twice a week, At this level, the
activity consists primarily oi bible
study, prayer and nonrreligious

 

 

iunctions such as study breaks,
The bible study in these groups

the Christian Fellowship

by Bob Mitchell

focuses on a particular passage
with the purpose of discovering
how it helps people “lead better
Christian lives,” according to
small group leader Joy
Schlesselman. Biblical texts are
often, but not always, approached
by these small groups as the in;
spired word of God.

The large group meets once a
week. At this meeting, members
share experiences that they have
had which have some personal or
religious signiiicance. Hymns are
sung, and there is a period of silent
and conversational prayer. But the
heart of the meeting is a talk, given
either by a member oi the
fellowship or an outside speaker,
on a particular aspect of
Christianity

In addition to these large and
small group meetings, there is a

retreat which occurs once a .

semester.

To administer these and other
activities, the Fellowship has a
large number of “leaders.” Within
each small group there are two can
leaders. In addition to these
people, tllere are iive team leaders
who have charge over the whole
organization.

The extent of this organizational
“bureaucracy" is an object oi
criticism by those who feel that it is
too big for a campus religious
organization David
Donahue, whose letter criticizing
the Fellowship appeared four
weeks ago in the stirs, is one such
person.

“I don‘t think the Christian
Fellowship should be a training
ground for future ministers, popes,
or Whatever. I think that the

Fellowship has gotten carried
away with organization. In a
church, you need organization, but
ina grouplikethis I don’t think you
do," he said.

Some members

of the

.Fellowship, however, disagree,

saying that leaders are needed to
insure that the group continues to
function. Mark Whitters, a senior
who is one of the team leaders, sees
a need for the present leadership
set-up because it provides
coherence for the fellowship.

“I can see that there is a kind of
close~knittedness that is there to
express the idea oi the body of
Christ as being more than just an
aggregate group of individuals.
The body of Christ as a notion is
more than a random group or
interested bunch. It is an ordered,
coordinated association oi people.
In terms of the large group, there
is a need for this kind of coherence.
Conversely, in terms of the small
groups there is an opportunity for
more spontaneity in bible study
and prayer," he said.

This close-knittedness that
Whitters speaks of has been per-
ceived by some students on
campusas intolerance. Donahue, a
iormer small group leader in the
Fellowship, feels that there is an
official doctrine from which
deviation is not encouraged.

“What I see in the Fellowship is
one type of Christianity and
liiestyle that is being pushed,” he
said.

Whether this is true or not is hard
to determine. But many
Fellowship leaders such as
Schlesselmanare aware that their

group is seen as being doct‘rinally - ,

,Qy

rigid and intolerant.

“I’m afraid that sometimes we
come oft that way. That really
bothers me and I'm not sure what
we can do to change that, I think
we really try to be open and loving
to other people, but we don‘t
always come across that way, and
we’ve talked about how to change
that.” she said.

The role and responsibilities of
the team leaders, a central cor
cern of Fellowship critics, was the
topic oi discussion last week at the
large group meeti 6-
The topic was prompted by in
selection of team leaders for next
year. Faculty advisor Bays led the
talk and took suggestions irom the
Fellowship regarding the role of
team leaders and members of the
Fellowship itself. _

In addition in taking suggestions,
Bays proposed a leadership model
for the team leadership. He said
that potential team leaders should
be prepared to devote a total oi 45
minutes a week in team leader
meetings to bible study, 30 minutes
a week to prayer and the restﬁ
the time for business. '

But whether a change in
leadership will satisiy those who
are unhappy with the organization
is not certain, In the Iinal analysis
it may be the very uniqueness's’
the Fellowship itself, with its high
degree of organization and
structure, which are the causes of
discontent among its critics.
Whether the organization can deal
with its critics while maintaining
its distinctiveness remains to be
seen. .

 

 

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