Canterbury On The Hill

Canterbury Off The Hill

www.hartneyjames.com

Ministering to the students and alumni of Kenyon College in order to convey the unconditional love of a gracious God.

Finding Peace in the In-between

by Jensie Harley (‘10)

“Say your name, year, major, and the best thing that happened to you today.” So begins Tuesday Night Dinner, as strangers and friends alike pause to listen to one another. As this group of 30 or so college students announce to the room that they got to take a nap today, or enjoyed cooking the food we are about to eat, or had a really good conversation with a friend or relative, I begin to relax and stop worrying about myself and my work. Then, as a peer minister leads a prayer, beginning with thanks for the day, for the opportunity to come together, and for each other’s fellowship, I feel gratitude overcome my stress and my doubts. To me, this pause for reflection and gratitude makes Canterbury’s dinners special and precious in the midst of a hectic collegiate lifestyle.

But this is only the beginning. The food - fresh, local (as in from the backyard vegetable garden), and prepared by students under the direction of chaplain and chef Karl Stevens, marks a gustatory highlight in my week. The gathering together over Canterbury’s dinners reminds me of Virginia Woolf’s description of the effect of a good meal: “And thus by degrees was lit, half–way down the spine, which is the seat of the soul, not that hard little electric light which we call brilliance, as it pops in and out upon our lips, but the more profound, subtle and subterranean glow which is the rich yellow flame of rational intercourse.” In the case of Tuesday Night Dinner, a presentation given by a professor, community member, or student fuels this rich yellow flame.

Speakers at Canterbury provide another break from the everyday, one of learning and teaching for pure enjoyment. One talk that I particularly remember from last year was by Professor Carol Schumacher in the math department, about the Mandelbrot set. This group of numbers can be visualized into stunning landscapes of colorful swirls and spirals, and, because the set is infinitely complex, it changes as the picture is magnified billions, trillions, even an infinite number of times. After introducing the topic, Professor Schumacher told us that the Mandelbrot set reminded her of the order and beauty of the world, and thus, of God’s presence in the world. After watching some of the almost psychedelic videos made from zooming into the Mandelbrot set, we could not help but share her sense of awe and wonder.

Professor Schumacher also told us that just as the most interesting parts of the Mandelbrot set occur at its border, where numbers almost but don’t quite make it into the set, so the most interesting parts of life occur in the in-betweens, rather than in black and white. I’d like to think that my time at Kenyon is one of those interesting moments of liminality and transition. Not quite living at home, not quite living on my own, deciding what I want to do, and what kind of person I want to be, college can seem like the riot of swiftly changing forms and colors that are produced from zooming into the Mandelbrot set. As interesting and beautiful as the Mandelbrot border is, though, it cannot be appreciated without pausing the screen for a moment. Tuesday Night Dinner is a time to pause and appreciate the world around me. Without such a pause, even if it is only to say the best part of the day, much of the beauty of a place like Kenyon would pass me by.

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Our Mission

The mission of Kenyon Canterbury at Harcourt Parish is to minister to the students of Kenyon College, regardless of religious affiliation, in order to convey the unconditional love of a gracious God; and to encourage Episcopalian and other students of Kenyon College to deepen their faith through the liturgy and theology of the Episcopal Church.

Four Essential Components of the Ministry

Community:  Through ongoing and occasional programs, Kenyon Canterbury seeks to build a community of believers who support each other’s growth in faith.  Specifically, we invite speakers to weekly Tuesday night dinners who address a range of topics from mysticism, to social justice, art and literature; we raise up students to be lay leaders of the church; and, we provide for the future of the church by helping students discern calls to ordained ministry.

Justice:  Kenyon Canterbury demonstrates the faith of its members by working for justice, both through acts of charity and advocating on behalf of those who do not share in the prosperity and comfort that we are blessed with.

Joy:  We partake in activities and events whose sole purpose is the expression of the deep joy that is at the root of the Christian life.  We know that we are “forgiven, loved, and free,” and we express the joy this gives us so that it may serve as an example to others.

Prayer:  In all of these efforts and activities, we are sustained and strengthened by prayer.  We are committed to the practice of both public and private prayer, and provide opportunities and training for both on a weekly basis.