From the Ministry Fellow

By Alanna Copenhaver

Alanna CopenhaverIt has been an exciting fall in the life of Memorial Church. With the start of the new academic year, our building is abuzz with activity — organ and choir practice, MemCafé, storytelling hours, and fellowship meals. The Ministerial Staff often talks about our shared vision of increasing student participation inside of our walls and this flurry of activity is invigorating! 

One area of committed student engagement has been the Grants Committee. For over twenty years, students and congregants have come together to support the work of non-profit charity organizations that serve the Greater Boston Area. Here students build lasting relationships with longtime Harvard community members. When the committee meets to discuss grant applications, lively discussions happen about how we live out Jesus’s call to love our neighbors, what does social justice look like in our world, and how is this different from charity? 

Over the past several months at Harvard, the question of sex and sexuality has been the source of especially lively discussion. We learned from students and administrators that missing from this discussion thus far has been questions about the role of religion and faith in sex and sexuality. Many in the Harvard community, both within and without the sphere of religion, have expressed a need for a space for these conversations. As a university church we are called to serve the spiritual and intellectual needs of our student populations. Thus, we will begin these important conversations with the launch of a new program, Body & Soul: Harvard Religion and Sexuality Forum, in November. We are reaching out to various student groups and organizations at Harvard, to start a diverse and inclusive conversation on the importance of religion and sexuality. 

With so many activities going on at the Memorial Church, the Ministerial Staff has come to the conclusion that we need a new way to meet regularly with the many groups that gather inside of our walls to coordinate our programming together. Therefore, we are putting together a Student Advisory Board. The Board will also help to catalyze increased student participation by informing us of the spiritual needs, religious interests, and intellectual curiosities of Harvard’s diverse student populations. As a space of grace at the center of Harvard Yard — a space that educates minds, expands hearts, and enriches lives — we pray the Memorial Church community continues to serve as a space of transformative connection for our students.