Leadership team forms interfaith scripture study on Benedictine Values

On Tuesday night the Interfaith Leadership Team hosted the first meeting of “Benedictine Values for All,” a program for students of all faith and spirituality backgrounds, at the Universal Prayer Space in the Multicultural Center.

“A scripture study exploring how the Benedictine Values appear in different religious texts: the Quran, the Torah, and the Bible,” according to the ILT Instagram page. Each of the meetings will focus on one of the Benedictine values. This week the group focused on moderation. After a brief introduction, each of the organizers, Aisha Sadik, Julia Geller and Anne Zweber, shared a few passages from their traditions’ scriptures and some casual reflection.

Student participants were invited into the discussion, considering connections between moderation and the scripture passages, various faith traditions, and their personal lived experiences. The leaders decided to focus on the Benedictine values because they are a big part of campus culture, but also describe some foundational ideas which are valued across many faith traditions.

“How can we see these values in different major religions and within their texts? How can we have interfaith dialogue about how we all share these Benedictine values as Bennies and Johnnies on this campus, but bring that back to our own personal faith and spirituality journey?” Zweber said.

First year student and ILT staff member, Flora Fu wanted to attend the event to learn about the values from an interfaith approach.

“I just want to hear more perspectives of different faiths, which is also the reason I chose this job,” Fu said.

It was also important to the leaders that the group meets regularly, focusing on sustaining ongoing conversation. Geller stated how she noticed that many students benefit from meeting in Bible studies, and as a non-Christian student she wanted to ensure that all students have access to an intimate, student organized, faith community.

“Having an opportunity like this, which we’re calling a ‘scripture study’ is an opportunity for students who may not necessarily feel comfortable in a Bible study setting to come and chat about different scripture,” she said. “There’s some guidance from the text but it’s a little more dialogue based and interfaith based.”

ILT has not announced a date for the next meeting but are hoping to hold at least one more gathering before the end of the semester and will announce details on Instagram and other campus communication platforms.

“We are for every single student no matter your faith affiliation, and that includes Catholic and Christian identifying. We just want students to attend and learn a little bit and share their story,” Geller said.

The ILT strives to create spaces where students can explore their own identities and learn from others, regardless of affiliation.

“If you’re on a journey of exploration, maybe confusion, maybe questioning, we want to be a space where students feel safe. College is a perfect time to own your identities, and part of your identities a lot of times for students is faith or spirituality,” Zweber said. “We want to be a space that feels safe to be able to ask those questions, try different things, and learn about different perspectives.”