The Daily Tar Heel from Chapel Hill, North Carolina • Page 3

3 (D)j Friday, February 28, 1971 ThaDsHyTar Hesl ni I 0 0 I a I i it- si ti i i 11 I i I if it i i is i Off LJ LJ LJ irJ LJ LI Lj mnam r-mi mi liiimur i i r.r.lni.i i i irin i 1 edmo iiUiili iiliVL 0 0 0 a separate church. But the churches are not dyin quietly. The University Presbyterian Church, experimenting with new forms of Religion on campus just isn't what it used to be. Not too many years ago, religion meant going to church, participating in your particular religious center, seeking out the college chaplain when you had a problem, attending required chapel services. Those times are gone.

Required chapel has been abolished. Churches with once predominantly student congregations note dramatic declines in student membership. The role of the centers on campus is under criticism and debate. Chaplains are struggling to find new ways of helping students. Religion on campus is more subtle now, less a matter of institution but more pervasive than ever before.

Students still express their religious interest in traditional ways. The faithful few still go to one of the many Chapel Hill churches or their home church. Some still participate in center activities or talk to their chaplains. But religion now to many students has become a personal thing, expressed through their life style or through drugs. Religious interest may not find its expression in church, but it crops up in the endless bull sessions, the increasing numbers of spontaneous small-group Bible studies in dorms, the religion course that is taken as that extra elective, or participation in one of the several religious groups on campus.

Religion expresses itself in modern music. Judy Collins hits the charts with "Amazing Grace." George Harrison successfully reflects eastern mysticism and captures his listeners with "My Sweet Lord." Gary Usher, RCA Victor division vice president of rock music, says, "This religious trend will get bigger and more powerful." Dr. John Shutz, chairman of the religion department, is impressed by the "variety and independence of students Religious persuasions and appetites." About 1,700 students were enrolled in religion courses at UNC last semester, an increase of about 400 over last year according to the department. With his department's resources already at "the straining point," Shutz sees students as less interested in the academic study of religion but "more interested in explaining the religious view of life in terms of personal satisfaction and quest." Popular chaplain Carl Culberson says, "Students are more interested in religion religious questions and experience." Culberson notes a risings interest in eastern religions but also "in Christianity in its various forms and theology as a way of understanding human experience." Most ministers interviewed agreed that program-oriented ministries are out, and that a deeper level of student religious interest than ever before must be reached in some other way. The puzzling, and often frustrating, question for the campus clergy is, how? The towering church buildings along Franklin Street are only short distances away from the dormitories.

But distance doesn't seem to matter any more, Students just aren't going to church. Over the last five years, according to the pastors of the downtown Chapel Hill churches near campus, student church attendance has dropped from a steady stream to a dwindling trickle. The Episcopal Church, until January without a rector, usually has less than a hundred students in a once predominantly student congregation. The University Presbyterian and Baptist churches are averaging around 200-250 students each Sunday. Presbyterian pastor Vance Barron estimated student attendance ten years ago at easily uu.

Most ministers are not pleased with this attrition, but are not too dismayed either. Barron believes this decline is no reflection on the local congregation but "the liability of a national trend of lack of church involvement." Baptist pastor Henry Turlington cited a general student rebellion against authority as well as the "maturing, questioning spirit of young people" as factors. Dr. Harvey Langill Watson, pastor of the University Methodist Church, insists that students continue to be "the lifeblood" of his church. Over 400 students fill the huge church each Sunday, Watson estimates, and occupy most of his pastoral counseling time.

While noting a slight decline in attendance this year, Watson said, "Students I know are very much respondent to the church. They see something there that is meaningful to their lives." Most students interviewed disagreed. One girl, who attends a church in Durham after 'ttrying'' Chapel Hill churches, said, "They were trying to hand me something easy. They wanted to make what I believe comfortable for me." Partly out of disenchantment with local churches, a group of students, faculty, and townspeople last fall began an experimental worship service in Gerrard Hall asjhe first step to setting up worship, is showing a slight increase in student participation. Participation has also increased a bit at the University Baptist Church, The Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church, under the leadership of rector Peter Lee, has students actively involved in several areas of church life and is making its student center in the building more accessible to students.

Lee, who arrived from a church in Washington, D.C, best expresses the problem of the local church. t(Were not in the business to provide emotional tranquilizers. When we do that we become popular," he said. But popularity is not a sign of the health of the church. "We have to think," he said, "of how do we share the joy and vitality of faith in an honest and legitimate way without being dishonest to the abrasive and demanding aspect of faith." V.V 1 SMppnim -Li ul 0 0 0 I-; Denominational student centers are suffering from poor student participation almost as badly as the churches, but there is still controversy over their alleged death on campus.

The role of student religious centers has come under sharp criticism from students and clergy as student religious interest has shifted from an orthodox theological focus to a more personal religious expression and social activism Activities at the centers vary. Speakers, discussions and community projects are the most common, including such things as the upcoming Walk Against Hunger by the YMCA-YWCA and the Washington Witness trip held this week. The Baptist Student Union has dealt with sensitivity training and this year began with the Chaplains Assocation a weekly Battle House Buffet to informally bring together students and faculty. The Newman Foundation ministers to over 850 Catholic students, while the Hillel Foundation is a gathering place for all three Jewish "denominations" Conservative, Orthodox and Reform. Some students on campus as well as several of the local ministers and chaplains consider the centers out-moded and unheeded.

Norman Gustaveson, YMCA chaplain, concedes centers "have lost a lot of their student support." But he adds, "At the same time, on this campus recent trends contradict this." Despite criticisms, Robert Johnson, director of the Wesley Foundation for 14 years, 4tfeels good" about his ministry at the center, where response has never been stronger." Johnson feels centers are still very much alive on campus, so much so he has been unable to spend much time in his capacity as chaplain to Morrison dormitory. He stressed the increasing ecumenical outreach of the center as well as the function of the center as a "parish church" for his "floating congregation" of 300 students. The center ministry has changed from being program-oriented, Johnson observed, "to a ministry that acts as a half-way house based on where we are and where they've been." Johnson recognizes the dangers of a center rninistry, but says, "'ministers have been premature in Si abandoning structures -thit are stUl viable. Students at a meeting of College Life listen to a guest sponsored by the Campus Crusade for Christ. (Staff photo speaker Tuesday night in the Carolina Union.

College Life is by John Gellman) i tj tin jfc fflentt GUnapl mil cinrami gem 0 0 0 increasing "spirit of mutual help and cooperation, attempting to find joint ways of working on the campus." One issue the chaplains as a group have decided to take a "long, serious look at" this spring is the question of race relations. A new role to define the role of chaplain and set up an experimental ministry is now being made by the Episcopal Chaplaincy Board, working with Episcopal chaplain Matthews. Matthews and the board-comprised of students, faculty and townspeople-are involved in a three-year experiment, keeping careful records of the progress made by the chaplain. At the end of the experiment, the board will submit a report to the bishop exarnining in detail the chaplaincy and its future. Generally, however, Culberson reflects the opinions of other chaplains and ministers when he said, "The real challenge is to try to work towards a time of close contact and shared responsibility." One student, though, put the goal of the chaplains on the level he needed.

"If they can show me they're worth listening to," he said, "and that I can talk to them, we may be able to get something counseling on a wide variety of student problems, some chaplains have developed specialties. Matthews concentrates on drug problems. Culberson deals with a good number of draft worries and problem pregnancies. Jean Luker, at the YWCA, is skilled at coordinating community volunteer-type programs. "Chaplains are working together in a healthy way," Johnson noted.

Matthews said he is "counting on chaplains complementing each other." For years chaplains have been a close-knit group. But this year, chaplains have been especially pleased by the promise shown by the Chaplains Association. The Chaplains Association, comprised of all University chaplains, meets twice monthly and is called by its chairman, Norman Gustavson, "a professional group." "This year we spent more time thinking about our role in the University and setting priorities for our work in the spring," Gustaveson said. "What's emerging is a kind of informal understanding of a more corporate approach to the campus." Gustaveson sees more possibilities and actions through the Chaplains Association than there was in the past because of an cYou can have a ministry anywhere, but a building can facilitate a ministry in many ways." But, Johnson conceded, There is a real temptation to get tied down to buildings. Programs have collapsed.

We're dealing with a different world." The two non-Protestant centers are holding their own amidst change. The Catholic Newman Foundation is unique amont local church institutions in that most Catholics on campus attend services each week. Director Thomas Palko, who replaced Father Albert Todd a few weeks ago, attributes continued Catholic participation to a combination of upbringing, new forms of worship and genuine student interest. Father Palko, who has already instituted some new center activities, including a drama group, wants "to make the center as available as possible for all students and their needs-spiritual, social, and intellectual." Rabbi Howard Rabinowitz, director of the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation and the only full-time campus rabbi in North Carolina, has found an apathy prevalent among Jewish students last year broken by a small group of Zionist Jewish students. Calling themselves the Hamagshimim ('The Ful these students are trying to raise concern for Israel and Soviet Jewry with Rabinowitz' support.

While Rabinowitz must spend more of his time at Duke this year and low sabbath participation has increased only slightly, he still views the center as "a unique opportunity" for the 400 Jewish students on campus. "Without a center," he said, "a Jew would have no place to express his Jewishness." If the churches and the student religious centers are in trouble, there is still hope for the chaplains. This was the consensus among the 'ministers, students and chaplains themselves who were questioned about the often undefinable role of chaplains on campus. Twelve chaplains are now on the Chapel Hill campus, representing a variety of denominations and becoming involved in many areas of campus life. Five chaplains now actively work within the residence college system "through an informal arrangement with the Department of Residence Life, and most chaplains are "on call" at a particular dorm in case of emergencies.

No chaplain works full-time in the dorms. LCarl Culberson, one of the most active dorm chaplains, spends less than half his time in James Residence College. Chaplains, once the main bulwark of theological study and denominational tties, are finding themselves increasingly I involved in secular social concerns and politics. The Episcopal chaplain, Lex Matthews, has only been at UNC since August and is already active in working with the drug problem in Chapel Hill. Several chaplains have at different times involved themselves in local campus issues, community projects and political I activism.

Ministers in Chapel Hill generally agree that the chaplain's greatest function is ireaching those students who are alienated from the institutional church. Baptist pastor Dr. Henry Turlington I-feels the chaplains "tend to catch those with religious interests who wantlo" be involved but can't stand programs." Methodist minister Dr. H. Langill Watson assigns two contributions to the chaplain.

"Not only do chaplains work better than anyone with those who are disillusioned with the church," he said, "they are more able to experiment, to be 4 more socially involved than others." Fred Culbreth, assistant director of Residence Life, calls the chaplains "one of the best allies students can find, because they are totally people-oriented." But there are problems with being a chaplain at UNC, not the least of which is the chaplain's own quest for self-identity. "We're all trying to be flexible to meet the religious needs of the campus," Episcopal chaplain Matthews explained. "But we're trying to be true to the historic church, too. You're always in danger of selling out or not being relevant an awful tension." Chaplain Bob Johnson sees the chaplain as a "very marginal man of the University and of the Church. Too often he is tempted to really prove himself as one of the Chaplains don't want to be but they're not sure where to go-" "There's a certain amount of self-torture," Matthews said, 4tbecause we're in a role that has a lot of ambiguity.

And you're constantly wondering what the job description should be. You're also wondering whether you're doing that job description justice." Another problem the chaplain faces is a simple lack of time to do everything expected of him. One of the limitations of the chaplains in the residence halls is that the chaplaincy is often a "frustrating added demand" placed on the clergyman after he arrives on campus. A residence chaplaincy, Johnson believes, should be "a full-time thing or nothing." Culberson agrees, calling the present system "quite inefficient" because of a lack of time and too many people in the dorms to establish adequate relationships. The University is considering a partial solution to increased counseling demands.

This week the State Personnel Office was considering a plan by the University to hire two people for each dorm, one to serve as an administrator and the other as a full-time counselor for students. Culbreth, however, in explaining the proposed new system, said, "I don't think well ever run out of the need for chaplains." Citing traditional student distrust of University authority, Culbreth believes the chaplains are "super non-threatening" and thus more accessible to students than University counselors. Another problem of the chaplain is "breaking into" the job and overcoming student distrust. John Meeker, sponsored by the Disciples of Christ and in his first year at UNC, found "it takes a great deal of time to be accepted by students." "My office is not flooded," Meeker said. "Yet a number of people have come to find out what sort of curiousity it is who lives in the basement of Cobb dorm." "Sometimes people just laugh," Matthews says.

"A chaplain is received with mixed feelings. Some need him, others tolerate him." While chaplains are "generalists," WMWV.W v.v.v.v.v.v V.V.V.V.V. Story by Ken Ripley Christians, spod news ding mystics sprea These small movements, however, reflecting eastern mysticism and personal religion, have captured the interest of a small and steady number of students. The impact of these groups on campus is mixed. Only a few students have responded to the Baha'i Club, despite three years of effort by senior Mack EzzelL "Krishna Consciousness" ceased to exist as a formal group last year when two Krishna "missionaries" left "to go where there are more people." The largest and most permanent group on campus are the followers of Avatar Meher Baba, an Indian mystic who died on January 31, 1969.

Claiming Baba still lives "inside us," the small group maintains the Meher Baba Information Center on Columbia Street. Few. local or campus ministers expressed any personal contact with these non-Christian groups. Dr. Henry Turlington at the University Baptist Church reflected a consensus viewpoint, however, when he said, "I've known some students who, in rejecting the church, found some meaning to life in these other religions.

"I'm glad, at least, for that." refuting criticism," Ricky Mill commented. Mill pends five hours a day, he says, talking to people Lidividually about Christ. Jack Tuttle, president of Carolina Christian Fellowship, pointed out the need for more communication and cooperation among the different campus groups. "Not enough communication exists," he said, referring to the groups' relationships to campus ministries. Tuttle is pleased with the way the groups c-exist on campus, but would like to see more unity among them.

"There's no animosity and real sense of competition," he related. "But we're not as close as we would like to be. We tend to stay in our own little shelis." Despite their, differences and problems, the organizations feel and ministers agree the evangelistic groups are on campus to stay. "If they help a person, that's great," said Father Thomas Palko of the Newman Foundation. "Only good can come from that." If the campus ministries, however critical, accept the evangelistic Christian groups on campus as complementing their own ministries, the small non-Christian groups go virtually unnoticed.

An evangelistic theology and youthful idealism characterize the eight non-denomination religious organizations on campus. At the same time, growing student interest in eastern mysticism and a general anti-institutional religous enthusiasm has led to the appearance of several non-Christian religious movements in Chapel Hill. Seven different Christian groups function on a regular basis at UNC: Carolina Christian Fellowship, Campus Crusade for Christ, The Navigators, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, FOCUS, Team and the fledgling Way. Notable among these campus groups is their diversity of approach and organization while all reflecting a similarity of aggressive, evangelistic theology. Most groups are directed primarily at undergraduate students.

FOCUS is a fellowship for graduate students, faculty and University staff. Campus Crusade for Christ, the largest Christian group on campus with a ministry of several hundred students, is a national organization with five full-time staff members headed by Ricky Mill, who plans and coordinates Crusade's ministry. Carolina Christian Fellowship and FOCUS, both affiliated with the national Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, are student planned and run with only the occasional support and resources of an Inter-Varsity staff member. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a national organization with such members as UNC basketball's Dave Chadwick and football's Bill Brafford, concentrates on a ministry among coaches and athletes. The Way, a new group on campus, uses a programmed Bible study to present, their interpretation of Christianity.

These organizations operate independently of each other, though occasionally they combine for an all-campus activity such as the showing of the movie "His Land" last fall. But several problems exist for the campus Christian groups. There is little contact between these groups and the institutional ministries, resulting in a vague sense of mutual distrust. Several campus chaplains and many local ministers are critical of the organizations, especially the more visible Campus Crusade Christians. Some ministers feel different groups are "simplistic" and "unrealistic" in their belief that "God solves all your problems." "These groups are generally fundamental in belief, over-interested in and simplistic in their idea there's some simple way to God," criticized Methodist pasto- H.

Langell Watson. Despite their criticism, most ministers agree that Campus Crusade and the other evangelistic groups complement the denominational ministries, though most decry t. 'i lack of social consciousness. "There needs to be a place for both," Episcopal minister Pete Lee said. Watson later conceded, 'They do reach some people, and for those who like it, fine." Crusade staff member Tom Walsh responded as did the other Christian groups by saying, "We aren't trying to ignore problems.

We're trying, 1 first, to establish a foundation for solving them -Jesus Christ. Basically, the Gospel is simple. "Most criticism of our group," Walsh continued, "is merely a lack of real understanding about what we are trying to do. This country needs major reform, but the major reform has to be changing people." "I've seen too many people respond simply to to what Jesus is all about to spend all my time.