An Invaluable Resource for Interfaith Communities
A blessing is a moment to be tender, to permit our hearts to be open and awake, to be where and as we are, to acknowledge our humanity, our snark, our joy, and to be one body even for one moment.
In settings across the world, communities of all kinds gather to mourn, to celebrate, to demand justice, to mark transitions, or simply to spend time together. Some of these communities have a faith or religious tradition in common, but many do not.
When a chaplain or other religious leader is called upon to offer a prayer or a blessing before a diverse community, where might he or she turn?
Dr. Janet Fuller, Co-Director of the MA in Chaplaincy at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, has written a book that offers dozens of prayers for chaplains or others to use for many different circumstances.
Blessings For Your Students: A Useful Chaplaincy Resource
The book, Blessings for Your Students: Prayers for Interfaith Communities in Higher Education, leans toward higher ed because of Dr. Fuller’s 40-year-plus experience as a higher ed chaplain.
But the prayers can be used in many settings outside of higher ed. They can be adapted for use in hospitals, prisons, continuous care retirement communities, military gatherings, holiday celebrations, and more.
“Aimed primarily for chaplains, it is also useful for those who care for and mentor students, who seek an eclectic spiritual life, and those who aim to live more inclusively and spiritually,” Dr. Fuller says in the book.
Blessings for Your Students is divided into sections:
- Blessings for Transition and Change
- Blessings for Challenge, Crisis, and Grief
- Blessings for Justice
- Blessings of Wonder and Hope
- Blessings of Gratitude
- Blessings for Occasions
Some titles include blessings for “A 100th Birthday,” “A Rainy Commencement Weekend,” “Family Weekend Football,” and “Halloween.”
“Amen” is always an option, but Dr. Fuller writes that each blessing can be tailored to the occasion and the audience by closing with phrases such as “May it be so,” “This we ask,” “Namaste,” or “With Open Hands and Hearts.”
The book is a useful resource for anyone called to offer words of inspiration or comfort at gatherings where the participants have different kinds of religious commitment or no commitment at all. There’s something for everyone in this slim volume.
About Hartford International University
HIU offers degree programs in Interreligious Studies and co-publishes the Journal of Interreligious Studies. Our curriculum balances scholarly analysis and reflection with the practical application of interreligious studies principles and methods, preparing students for careers in chaplaincy, peacebuilding, or community leadership where they will engage directly with people who subscribe to different traditions of belief and practice.
Tags: resources for interfaith chaplaincy, resources for interfaith communities