51ÊÓƵ

Mission Statement

The Center for Faith and Service (CFS) at 51ÊÓƵ is a home away from home where students of all backgrounds can explore spirituality, belonging, and purpose through authentic relationships, embodied hospitality, and intentional community.

Authenticity, Hospitality, and Community

In a cultural landscape marred by divisive speech and action, 51ÊÓƵ’s Center for Faith and Service seeks to foster the development of a space where students can grow in their ability to faithfully navigate life’s important yet polarizing questions. We strive to understand our personhood holistically, taking the complicated nexus of body, mind, and spirit seriously.

Authenticity
Who am I? To a large extent, good education helps students not only answer questions regarding what they will do with their life’s work, but also form the basis for understanding who they are and how they should relate to the world around them. Discovering our authentic selves is a lifelong process that evolves as we age and as the contexts and cultures around us shift. Identifying who we are as authentic individuals must take spirituality seriously. It is only once we are on the road toward authenticity that we can truly embrace authentic relationships and an embodied hospitality.

Embodied Hospitality
When we begin to become comfortable with ourselves, we can begin accepting and valuing others who occupy different cultural places. The graciousness and love that allow us to embrace ourselves also encourage us to embrace others. Hospitality, however, is more than just creating a place where others feel at home or cared for; it must also be embodied. By embodied, we mean that we don’t carve out a section of our space so that others might flourish apart from us. Embodied hospitality invites the other to share our spaces so that we might live with mutual care, learning from one another to foster collective flourishing.

Intentional Community
Rarely does community form accidentally. Even among homogeneous populations, fostering community takes intentionality and effort. Like physical strength training, building community requires a working knowledge of which muscles are weak, which are unbalanced, and which exercises are useful in building strength and balance. Growth in authenticity and embodied hospitality are two of the “exercises” we use to help foster an intentional community of difference.

Programs

• Interfaith and Religion-Science Dialogues
• Holiday Celebrations
• "Religions of Columbia" fieldtrips to synagogues, mosques, and temples
• Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Direction
• Annual Traditions: Blessing of the Animals, Lessons and Carols
• Midterm Mindfulness
• And so much more!

Connect with Spiritual Life

For current programming and events, check out the CFS and pages!