The Wilton Center for Interfaith Campus Ministries
A Covenant of Mutual Respect and Understanding
The Jessie Ball duPont Chaplaincy and the University Interfaith Campus Ministries and Religious Organizations are central to the life and purpose of the University of Richmond, encouraging men and women from diverse backgrounds to develop their intellectual, spiritual, social, and physical potentials and to explore creatively the frontiers of faith and reason. Together, the University Chaplaincy and Interfaith Campus Ministries and Religious Organizations provide comprehensive programming in order to widen vision, explore and deepen faith, strengthen character, stimulate creativity, enhance capacity for leadership and service, and equip students to think rationally, act responsibly, and work productively as persons of faith in a complex society.
The University of Richmond maintains its commitment to moral and spiritual values in an atmosphere free of sectarian bias, inviting and serving individuals of all faiths and persuasions. Celebrating this heritage, the University affirms the historical value placed on religious liberty and the competency of each individual to determine for self matters of faith and practice.
Together, The E. Carlton Wilton Center for Interfaith Campus Ministries and Henry M. Cannon Memorial Chapel symbolize the Universitys pledge to spiritual nurture and ethical living. The Wilton Center promises to be a place for community, a place for retreat, reflection, and worship, and a place where personal relationships, family concerns, academic pressures, and vocational decisions can be addressed from perspectives of faith.
The Wilton Center encourages contemplation of God, neighbor, and self. For centuries contemplation has sustained faith and reason as frontiers in the journey inward and outward. Engagement in community and service to others are fundamental values instilled along the way. In this pilgrimage, contemplation remains a discipline important for our times.
By my voluntary involvement in University Interfaith Campus Ministries and Religious Organizations, I affirm and covenant before God and these witnesses that:
I. I will encourage and extend at the University of Richmond a sense of mutual respect and understanding between different representatives, organizations, traditions, and practices. In addition, I will foster this sense of mutual respect and understanding in my interactions with students, staff, and faculty.
II. I will endeavor to respect and understand actual differences in religious belief, historic tradition, and faith practice.
III. I will support with prayer my Richmond colleagues.
IV. I will affirm the commitments to ministry of my Richmond colleagues and their loyalty to the diverse communities of faith from which we all gather and to which we remain separately committed.
V. I will practice confidentiality in all that I hear and learn from my Richmond colleagues.
VI. I will relate with integrity to my Richmond colleagues personally and professionally and expect such support from them.
VII. I will always clearly and explicitly state the identity of the group or groups I represent in any literature, display, or publicity regarding religious programming throughout the University.
VIII. I will extend to my Richmond colleagues the freedom to be and to do in accordance with their understanding of God so long as it does not violate the rights of those in the University community. I will respect the right of any individual to decline an invitation to join the activities with which I am involved.
IX. I will recognize the human worth of my colleagues and myself and acknowledge that they receive Gods love and deserve my own. I will, therefore, hear them out, weighing the wisdom of their words and considering carefully the concerns that prompt them to speak.
X. I will respect the rich cultural and political diversity of my colleagues. I will work diligently to challenge stereotypes unfairly placed upon my colleagues and their respective traditions and ministries.
XI. I will respect the relationships that are established in our joint ministries, one with another. I will encourage in these relations the joy of play and laughter, the practice of fair dialogue and active listening, and the spirit of hospitality.
XII. I will assist the University Chaplaincy in its effort to foster meaningful relations with all students creating teachable moments in faith awareness and interfaith relations.
We, the undersigned, affiliated with the University of Richmond Interfaith Campus Ministries and Religious Organizations, do willingly enter The Wilton Center Covenant of Mutual Respect and Understanding on this day, Thursday, August 17, 2006.
