Novelist and theologian Frederick Buechner once said, “(Vocation is) the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”
A new program at Saint Louis University strives to make such words a reality for the University community.
VOICES, or Vocation: Interiority, Community, Engaged Service, a new project being introduced to SLU, is led by Fr. Carl Starkloff, Ph.D., Mary Beth Gallagher, Ph.D., and Kimberly Cox, in the roles of vice president for Mission and Ministry, program director and program coordinator, respectively.
“VOICES is a grant that the University received through the Lilly Endowment to promote the concept of vocation at the University,” said Diana Hammer, a graduate student who works on the project.
The acronym represents the idea of the inextricable intertwining of the career, spiritual well-being and community involvement of an individual.
The founding concept is to elucidate the myth that one’s faith, vocation, leadership activities and personal relationships lie in separate realms.
Interiority seeks to “emphasize inner-reflection and discernment,” while the community portion of the project works on “connecting with others who have similar (academic) interests and also a spiritual connection to what they do,” Hammer said.
VOICES seeks to explain that all are truly facets of the overall development of people and need not be seen as separate entities. A series of retreats will be held in which 100 students can be trained in the blending of these different sides of one’s life. Such students will henceforth be the leaders.
Faculty and staff will engage in two similar retreats designed for worship, relaxation and thought with fellow members of the academic community.
A current course, “Career Decision Making,” continues the process of aiding students in determining degrees and professions.
Such a program, Alexandria Society, enhances the other portions of the program, which include attending lectures from faculty about their professional/faith discoveries.
This is a group of graduate students who gather several times a month to reflect and mingle with each other, and hear lectures from various community leaders. Alexandria Society is an opportunity for students and faculty to share a meal and talk as colleagues about why they do what they do (challenges, growth, fun) in an informal setting, while also including an element of praying together.
As part of the Speaker Series, Hammer said, “We have had one speaker (Mark Curriden) in the law school, and one this week in the Business School. Joseph Koerner is a SLU grad who did both undergrad and masters work here, in philosophy. He is now president of his own company, The Qualis Company, here in St. Louis, and is a market research and strategic planning consultant.”
Koerner will speak today at 4 p.m. in Davis-Shaugnessy 173.
Hammer’s own experience and involvement with the program stems from her realization that faith augments and serves as an integral component in life choices: The more we connect with that side of ourselves (interiority), the more we can reach out to others (community) and use our interests and passion to change society (extended service).
In addition to having Baldemar Velazquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, who will detail the plight of immigrant farm workers, and interns such as the current “20 students (who) are working in religious communities,” Hammer said, “(we are) hoping to expand to mosques and more synagogues in coming years.”
Students who wish to learn more about the program’s internships or have any other inquiries should e-mail [email protected].
