c. 2007 Religion News Service
MIT Installs First Campus Chaplain
BOSTON (RNS) An iconic temple of scientific inquiry embraced a new relationship with organized religion Sunday (Sept. 30) when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology installed its first chaplain in the school’s 146-year history.
The Rev. Robert M. Randolph, an ordained Church of Christ minister, accepted the mantle of Chaplain to the Institute at a late afternoon ceremony. Randolph has worked at MIT for 28 years, most recently in the role of Senior Associate Dean.
The new job “marks a change at MIT,” Randolph wrote recently in his blog. “Attention is being paid here to the role of religion in the human experience. I will be Chaplain to the whole Institute, believers, non-believers, the uncertain.”
Administrators also hailed the creation of the new post as an important step for an institution that aims to prepare graduates for accomplishments both in and beyond the laboratory.
“In this new century, it’s critical that universities address issues of social justice as a community, and equip students to thrive in a diverse global community,” said Larry Benedict, dean for student life, in an e-mail. “Establishing the position of Chaplain to the Institute now will help usâÂ?¦ graduate students even more fully prepared for leadership.”
MIT has long relied on a board of chaplains from the greater Boston area to minister to MIT students. That model currently includes 19 board members representing faith groups that range from the Assemblies of God to Vedanta. The board will remain in tact even as Randolph fulfills his new duties.
“This will offer the chaplains some institutional support,” Randolph said in a press release. He expects that by reporting to the Institute, he’ll be able to put a public face on collective chaplaincy efforts and exercise “a bigger and more public role.”
_ G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religion Writers Receive Top Honors
SAN ANTONIO (RNS) Religion reporters were awarded top honors Saturday (Sept. 29) for their work at The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Denver Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer by the Religion Newswriters Association. The awards ceremony was held during the RNA’s annual meeting here.
Sandi Dolbee of the The San Diego Union-Tribune won the first-place award for the Templeton Religion Reporter of the Year, which recognizes versatility and excellence in enterprise reporting. Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun-Times came in second, followed in third place by Eric Gorski for his work at The Denver Post. (He now writes for the Associated Press.)
Gorski’s work for the Denver paper earned him a first-place honor for Supple Religion Writer of the Year, which particularly recognizes a reporter’s writing skill. The second-place winner in that category was John Chadwick of The Record in Bergen County, N.J., and the third-place winner was Jeff Weiss of The Dallas Morning News.
David O’Reilly of the Philadelphia Inquirer was recognized with a first-place win in the Templeton Story of the Year contest, which showcases a series or single story on religion in print media. Gorski came in second for his work for the Denver paper, followed by Neil Munro of National Journal in third place.
Winners in other categories included:
_ The Cassels Award, for newspapers with circulations of 50,000 or less: Larissa Theodore-Dudkiewicz of the Beaver County (Pa.) Times, first place; Terri Jo Ryan of the Waco Tribune-Herald, second place; Terry Rombeck of the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal World, third place.
_ The Cornell Award, for mid-sized newspapers: G. Jeffrey MacDonald, writing for The Christian Science Monitor, first place; Bill Sherman of Tulsa World, second place; John Chadwick of The Record of Bergen County, N.J.
_ The Schachern Award for best religion pages or sections, small paper category: Press-Register in Mobile, Ala., first place; Deseret Morning News, second place; The Huntsville Times, third place.
_ The Schachern Award for best religion pages or sections, large paper category: The Salt Lake Tribune, first place; Star Tribune in Minneapolis, second place; The Grand Rapids Press, third place.
_ Television Awards: Maria Arita of CBS II in Dallas/Fort Worth, short form; PBS’s “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” long form.
_ Radio Award: Rachael Martin of NPR.
_ The Chandler Award for student journalists: Tina Shah of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, first place; Shari Rabin, Boston University, second place; Mrinalini Reddy, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, third place.
In addition to reporting awards presented at the ceremony, Russell Chandler, a former RNA president, was honored with the 2007 William A. Reed/Religion News Service Lifetime Achievement Award. Chandler was a religion writer at the Los Angeles Times.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Conservatives Launch Alternative to Episcopal Church
(RNS) As many as six Episcopal bishops and more than 200 Episcopal congregations have taken a first step toward forming a new alternative to the Episcopal Church that will unite conservatives irked by the church’s liberal drift.
Meeting in Pittsburgh last week (Sept. 25-28), the Common Cause Council of Bishops brought together nine North American splinter groups to lay the groundwork for a conservative counterpart to the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.
The nine North American groups claim to represent 600 congregations; the Episcopal Church has 2.3 million members and more than 7,000 congregations.
Conservative Episcopalians, a minority in the church, have decried the church’s increasing progressive stance on gay rights and biblical interpretation, especially the 2003 election of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire.
Between 40 and 50 bishops _ including five of the seven Episcopal bishops present in Pittsburgh _ agreed to take part in a new “College of Bishops.”
Another Episcopal Bishop, John-David Schofield of San Joaquin, Calif., was represented but not present and is expected to join the new college, according to Peter Frank, a spokesman for Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, the convener of the council.
Other Common Cause bishops are from groups such as the Reformed Episcopal Church, which has about 13,000 members and split from the Episcopal Church in 1873. Others are conservatives aligned with one of the 37 other regional provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The bishops’ college will oversee the “formation of the separate ecclesiastical structure in North America,” according to a statement by Common Cause.
“This is really an attempt to build an American structure that will have support from a large group of Anglicans overseas and can stand on its own two feet,” Frank said.
It remains to be seen whether other Anglicans _ including Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams _ will recognize the new federation. Frank says Common Cause is using an “if we build it, they will come” strategy.
The new organization plans to share clergy and invite bishops to “share episcopal acts and our sacramental life.”
However, issues such as the ordination of women _ some of the groups ordain women, some do not _ remain to be decided, according to Common Cause.
_ Daniel Burke
Quote of the Day: Author Shalom Auslander
(RNS) “The people who raised me will say I am not religious. They are mistaken. I am painfully, cripplingly, incurably, miserably religious, and I have watched lately, dumbfounded and distraught, as around the world more people seem to be finding Gods, each more hateful and bloody than the next, as I’m doing my best to lose Him. I’m failing miserably.”
_ Shalom Auslander, in his new book, “Foreskin’s Lament,” as quoted by The New York Times.
KRE/LF END RNS