Interreligious Community and Justice

Upcoming Events and New Initiatives

Discovering Many Faiths: An Interactive Experience

Would you like to learn more about the lives and religious beliefs of Zoroastrians, Buddhists, and Disciples of Christ through face-to-face interactions?  These are just some of the groups that will be a part of the 2009-10 season of Discovering Many Faiths here at the University of Richmond, co-sponsored by the Office of the Chaplaincy and the Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond.  Each event features a panel discussion by members of the featured religious tradition, free food, and interactive personal conversations with religious practitioners.  This is a great opportunity to ask questions and hear explanations on topics you may have always wondered about.

Thursday evenings in Keller Hall Reception Room from 6:30-9:00 p.m.:

October 1 (Hindu), November 5 (Unity), December 3 (Buddhist), February 4 (Disciples of Christ), March 4 (Zoroastrian)

About IRCJ

The University Chaplaincy welcomes and encourages students, faculty, staff and alumni of any or no religious tradition to become involved in the work of encouraging the intersections of the mind, spirit and heart within the life of our campus community.  The Chaplaincy's Interreligious Community and Justice Office has three major goals:

• to encourage dialogue across religious lines by supporting interfaith activities, conversations, and service opportunities, as well as promoting interaction between religious and non-religious members of the university community
  
  
• to promote a community of respect for religious diversity by working to educate all members of the UR family on the importance of developing a respectful understanding of others' beliefs and worldviews while remaining true to our own, both on the campus level and in the larger context of the world outside the University of Richmond
  
  
• to promote both awareness and action on social justice issues of vital importance to our communities and our world, such as poverty, the environment, and the AIDS pandemic

We look forward to your help and participation as we begin a period of planning and development aimed at an aggressive expansion of interfaith and social justice activities to meet all three of these goals more effectively.  For more information, please contact the Office of the Chaplaincy at chaplaincy@richmond.edu or (804) 289-8500.

David D. Burhans Interfaith Prayer Room

A unique space for the University of Richmond community, this room located in the Wilton Center is a place of prayer, reflection, and meditation for people of all religious traditions.  This special space is named for Chaplain Emeritus David D. Burhans, who served the University of Richmond for thirty years.  Although the room appears empty, it is full of sacred objects from many world religions. The credenzas were designed not only to store sacred objects, but when opened to become resources for worship by members of diverse religious traditions.

Currently the space is used on a regular basis by our Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, and Jewish brothers and sisters. When the prayer space is not reserved, it is open to any members of the UR community for prayer or thought in a safe and welcoming place.  For

Check to see when the prayer space is reserved.  If you would like more information, please contact Joshua Dickerson in the Office of the Chaplaincy.