Tuesday, August 27, 1968
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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CAMPUS MINISTRY:
Religion comes to student soul
__
By ANN MUNSTER
Although religious and secular
institutions have concluded ' a
"separate peace" in this country,
the struggle to unite the two goes
on.
The University has proved.
through the work of its own Of-
fice or Religious Affairs (ORA)-.
as well as through unquestionably
secular action fostered by discus-
sions at quasi-religious indepen-
dent bodies-that attempts to
bridge gaps between the two
ideologies are difinitely worth-
while.
Indeed, there is a- snowballing
effort on the part of churches
and other religious-sponsored or-
ganizations to become relevant to
the campus and to take a major
part in social action.
And there is an increasing ef-
fort both among campus religious
associations and even by the Uni-
U versity itself to fulfill the despe-
rately felt need of students whose
search for a meaning in life must
continue, despite the separation
of church and state which the
University so zealously upholds.
Student and faculty initiative
in stimulating religious inquiry
has never been lacking. But until
1956, when the Office of Religious
Affairs was established, the Uni-
versity as an institution played a
relatively minor role in the religi-
ous life of the campus. And it
had no formal agency for dealing
with the role of religion in a sec-
ular university.
As an agency of a state-sup-
ported university, the ORA adept-
ly steers a straight course, avoid-
ing both allegiance to particular
religious faiths and the intellec-
tual sterility and stagnation that
frequently accompanies such a
cautions-intellectual role.
The ORA offers an extensive
program of lectures, book discus-
sions, films, and conferences,
aimed at raising and discussing
religious and "value" issues rele-
vant to contemporary social and
political affairs.
One of the most vital functions
R of the ORO is undoubtedly coun-
seling. Although its counseling
services are not intended to pro-
vide comprehensive vocational
guidance of intensive psychothe-
rapy, they serve a multitude of
students besieged by every con-
ceivable kind of problem. And
many of these students are ag-
nostics and atheists who have
literally no one else to turn to.
The ORA nis also very involved
in draft counseling.
The ORA is by no means the
only agency available specifically
intended to serve the religious.
needs of the campus, or to aid
students in their general search
for meaning and their manifold
personal problems.
There are other organizations
galore, and each with a different
approach to dealing with the in-
credible challenge posed by the
University community.
Probably the oldest and perhaps
the most active of these is the
Guild House, located at 802 Mon-
roe Street.
Guild House is an issue-oriented
campus ministry, whose purpose
is not to minister to particular
denominations or to Christian stu-
dents who might happen to come
along, but to the campus, in what-
ever way it can.
Though Guild House has always
been one of the places where the
"action" was, it has broadened the
scope of its activities enormously,
both scheduled and unscheduled.
An estimated 800 to 1000 people
enter its doorway every month,
for one reason or another.
The meaningfulness of discus-
sions held there can only be
measured in secular terms by
their applicability to daily life.
Many resistance groups have a
core of Guild House regulars, the
searching, emotional techniques
of religious discussion. It it safe
to say that for some at least, reli-
gion on the campus retains ap-
plicability to the secular no mat-
ter who is dead.
All of the regularly scheduled
activities of Guild House are un-
der the direction of the Guild
House Council, an open student
steering committee. They select
topics of current interest for three
weekly series of noon luncheon
discussions, plan two weekend re-
treats per year, host Friday din-
ners, which frequently feature in-
ternational cuisine and related
programs, and a resident guest
program, which brings a well
known person to the guild to lead
activities and just to be available.
The Guild House staff which
includes campus minister J. Ed-
gar Edwards, associate campus
minister Ronald Tipton, and cam-
pus associate Hildegard Cum-
mings, is involved in a whole host
of action-oriented activities. And
their contacts have stimulated
many scheduled and unscheduled
activities for the Guild.
One extremely important func-
tion of the Guild House, as of all
campus religious organizations is
counseling. The counseling serv-
ices available at Guild House run
the gamut. But both campus min-
isters specialize in draft counsel-
ing and are very involved with
the Draft Counseling Center.
The Canterbury House, unpre-
tentiously nestled in an old ware-
house on Maynard Street, provides
yet another approach to the com-
plex spiritual needs of the Uni-
versity community.
What it does have in common
with the Guild, and other such
places, is that it isa center for
action. It too, is open to every-
thing from draft resistance meet-
ings to confirmation classes. And
it offers general personal and reli-
gious counseling.
The mission of the Canterbury
House according to Rev. Martin
Bell; formerly a minister here, is
"to witness to the simple identity.
of sacred and secular." It tries
to convey that "There is nothing
more important than being hu-
man."I
It does this in a variety of ways.
Weekend entertainment is in-
finitely varied, and there is an in-
creasing emphasis on providing
an opportunity for youngper-
formers to display their talent.
But the unique role of the Can-
terbury House is that it is an
experiment in molding the con-
temporary creative arts into the
religious service, in adapting the
format of worship to modern com-
munication media, to keep it rele-
vant to the never-changing con-
tent.
A somewhat newer place, which
is decidedly still in its formative
stages is the Ark, at 1421 Hill
Street. The Ark also involves the
efforts of several denominations
in its sponsorship, though the
building is owned by the Methodist'
Church.
The Ark was originally estab-
lished as a sandwich and coffee
place which hoped to promote fel-
lowship through its atmosphere.
Since then it has developed more
and more active and varied meth-
ods for doing this.
It features weekend entertain-
ment by local folk- musicians,
Wednesday night hoots, inter-
national dinners, folk worship
services and Thursday night de-
bates on issues of current inte-
rest. The debates strive to present
opposing positions and viewpoints.
The divergence of opinions pre-
sented is often exceedingly wide.
Last year, one of the debates was
on "pot," and it featured John
Roseveare, author of "Pot-A
Handbook of Marijuana," and the
renowned Lt. Eugene Stauden-
maler of the Ann Arbor police de-
partment, who had once arrested
Roseveare for possession of mari-
juana.
Some members of the churches
which support the Ark are sus-
picious of its open and casual at-
mosphere. And the other coffee-,
housees are not wholly acccepted
by their supporting churches.
Although the perceptions of
some of these critics are frequent-
ly based upon very limited con-
tact and are generally distorted,
one may legitimately ponder the
future of the religiously affiliated
cofeehouse. Their fundamental
human mission must not be lost
sight of in the excitement of ex-
perimentation.
..
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Religious thought often shows secular results
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