By Lucy Forster-Smith
I arrived in January to my new position as Sedgwick Chaplain to the University and Senior Minister in the Memorial Church in a blizzard. The winter’s chill, however, was melted quickly with the warmth and welcome of my new community. I came from years of blizzards in Minnesota where I served Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, as chaplain for twenty years. I was accustomed to the seasons of life in an academic community, to the joy of serving gifted, remarkably engaged students. But coming to Harvard has been a wonderful professional change for me: the opportunity to work with Professor Jonathan L. Walton and a very committed professional staff; the new experience of leading weekly worship in the Memorial Church; getting acquainted with the remarkable music program with gifted student musicians bringing their acumen to challenging repertoire. My opportunity at working in this vibrant and reaching community is beyond description.
This first semester has brought highs and some lows in our common life, which is our life story, is it not? Our community has had losses with the death of several students. As the University Chaplain, I have had the privilege of accompanying their friends, faculty and staff through the ‘valley of the shadow of death.’ One of our seminarians and I hosted a grief and bereavement group for students who have lost loved ones. In addition we have been challenged in recent days to engage in healthy discourse on religious difference. Working with the Harvard Chaplains group has been a terrific experience as we seek to support and challenge one another in our quest for understanding and peace among religious, spiritual and ethical communities.
But along with things that shake our spirits, I have experienced the sheer beauty of parents bringing their little ones to the waters of baptism and an adult student receiving the sacrament of baptism as well. I have been swept away by the joy of music at Morning Prayers and in Sunday worship. The reflections of faculty, staff, and students at Morning Prayers, who bring a five-minute reflection to that setting has been the most amazing orientation to the range, breadth, and depth of Harvard’s interfaith life I could possible have received. I have begun to meet students who are at the center of my ministry. They are stunning!
I am grateful to be at Harvard and stand ready to serve this community as its Chaplain and as Senior Minister of the Memorial Church. Together we will step into the future with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.
Lucy Forster-Smith is the Sedgwick Chaplain to the University and Senior Minister in the Memorial Church.