Appearances
For current activities, see www.chapman.edu/chapel
Interfaith Dialogue
Stress-Relief Workshops: “Growing Amid Adversity”
Spiritual Development
Leadership Development
Taizé Prayer Service (Non-Denominational Christian)
MOSAIC Service (Interfaith)
Inquire for University Students (Interfaith)
Campus Ministry Board Development
Interfaith Dialogue
Interfaith work is a process of learning to respect, trust, and value one another as individuals and members of rich traditions. This work is “contextual” – focusing on the context of our society and world – rather than “textual” – focusing on doctrinal or dogmatic agreement. It is a “process” rather than a “product.” It is about “learning” rather than “proselytizing.” Gail has coordinated the Pullman Interfaith Dialogue for over a decade. Up to three members of each faith in the area have been represented at these meetings, including adherents of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Bahá’í faith, Catholicism, and Protestant Christianity. Gail has come to learn that this work is not for the faint-hearted, and is not easy. It causes us to reflect upon ourselves and our own beliefs as we come to learn about others. It is vital for bringing peace to our communities and our world. Gail is available to speak with new or existing groups about the process of interfaith work, as well as about beginning a dialogue in your area.
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Stress-Relief Workshops: “Growing Amid Adversity”
We are stressed on a daily basis because we dwell on the past or on the unknown future, rather than living in the here-and-now. Recently with unimaginably deep budget cuts occuring at the University, Gail has developed workshops to help alleviate the enormous anxiety felt by faculty and staff resulting from this economic reality. Many have taken advantage of these workshops. Gail’s workshops are timely and available for universities, corporations, and houses of worship. These sessions are designed to reorient a participant’s focus and understanding of the world and bring him or her back to the present. Drawing on centuries of insights from spiritual teachers, sages, and wisdom traditions, she offers practical exercises to teach spiritual centering to participants and help them to live creatively in the present, at peace even in the most stressful of environments.
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Spiritual Development
College students and many young adults are in an important developmental time in both their spiritual lives and their vocational search. They are at a perfect place, both age-wise and in a new setting, to embark upon their own spiritual journey. This is a process of moving outward to discern which parts of the faiths they learned as children are working for them, and how to mature in their faith understandings. Many students claim agnosticism or atheism because they no longer believe in God, yet they may actually be holding onto childhood images of God that no longer work for them. Gail can work with students as well as advisors of campus Christian groups to help them understand and foster the process of faith development.
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Leadership Development
College students and young adults are in a time of self-discovery. Learning about themselves, their spiritual and vocational gifts, and personality profiles can help them to develop leadership skills that will serve them for many years to come. Gail has created a program of leadership development that can include weekly meetings or retreats, study as well as fun activities, to help young people discover their greatest potential. As they come to know themselves and their own faiths, they are able to reach out to others in greater service.
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Taizé Prayer Service (Christian)
Worship and reflection are meant to refresh and renew us from the demands of constant activity and connection–we are always online or on the go or simply involved in something. Yet many of today’s Christian worship services involve an endless liturgy or a great deal of activity that does not offer one the opportunity to simply rest and be still before God. The Taizé prayer service, developed by monks in France, allows participants a beautiful, reflective time of renewal without doctrine or specific theology – this allows persons of any faith or no faith to join in community and sit in a place of peace. Gail has trained University student leaders to perform music and lead Taizé prayer and has discovered this prayer is appreciated not only by Christians, but also by Agnostic students and those of additional faith traditions.
Taizé prayer is based on centering silence and a unique type of music: inclusive, non-preaching songs written in several languages and performed by accomplished musicians. Gail and her colleagues have gathered the first community in her region to pray in the Taizé style; she has visited the original Taizé community many times and understands how to create Taizé prayer that best offers a respite from a busy life and a space for spiritual renewal.
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MOSAIC Service (Interfaith)
Many people today consider themselves “spiritual” but not “religious”–that is, not a member of any particular religious community. Yet because of this, they have nowhere to go to develop a spiritual life or community of their own without venturing into an established faith. With a team of students and community members, Gail Stearns developed MOSAIC as an interfaith model of the Taizé service, offering the beauty and spiritual peace of traditional worship services without adherence to any specific faith: beautiful music, silence, sitting in community, and the sharing of wisdom from a variety of traditions. Gail focuses on meditation and mindfulness to allow participants to step outside the busy world to breathe and renew themselves – music created especially for the MOSAIC service by area musician Paul Smith enables participants to combine music with breath-prayer and renew themselves to step back out into the world with compassion and spiritual peace.
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Inquire for University Students (Interfaith)
University students today are often spiritual but are not “religious” – that is, they do not adhere to a certain doctrine or, sometimes, faith – and are deeply searching for meaning. They are often turned off by models of campus ministry that define their faith for them and discourage their own process of searching and questioning. The “Inquire” program developed by Gail includes a meal and a discussion intended to help students ask deep questions of meaning and purpose without feeling pushed into a specific religion or doctrine – it meets students where they are in their personal faith journeys and promotes questioning as an act of faith. Gail brings ten years of campus ministry and over 25 in ministry and counseling to create meaningful and effective discussions that are opportunities for students to become more deeply spiritual human beings.
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Campus Ministry Board Development
Boards of Directors are responsible for finances and hiring, as well as for the mission, goals, image and program of a campus ministry. They can be very intentional in their vision, setting and meeting the needs of the students they serve, which then drives the finances and hiring. Gail can consult with boards on how to create a vision, a mission, goals, and hire the appropriate people to minister to students on campus. She has been the director of a campus ministry for over a decade, and has consulted with boards involved in this work. This consultation runs over several separate evenings or day-long retreats.
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Please contact Gail for more information on any of the above.
