By Kevyn Price
Bellarmine Campus Ministry held an Encounter Interfaith Retreat March 17 to 24. The event had virtual and optional in-person activities, and this retreat was created to allow participants to do the retreat at their own pace.
Interim Assistant Director of Campus Ministry Anderson Reeves said the Interfaith Retreat is something that has been done for a couple of years but the virtual format is new.
“We have some synchronous components, but it is really meant to be completed at the pace of the participants’ desire. They will learn about different faith traditions through some intensive study at first, and then we take them through some application processes,” Reeves said.
This is the first year the retreat had a hyflex model, but this model allowed students and faculty who did not join for the scheduled time to be able to complete the retreat whenever they wanted.
The retreat explored a variety of world religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. Other world religions were also discussed. Participants were also encouraged to explore faith themes, such as agape love, life purpose, afterlife and redemption, in pop culture.
Bellarmine senior Allie Moore planned to attend the retreat last year, but it was canceled because of Covid. This is Moore’s second faith retreat and she first attended in 2019. Moore said she likes that the retreat was asynchronous because she was able to participate in the retreat based on her schedule and she could live stream different religious services.
“I know some of the activities I wouldn’t have been able to take part in because my schedule is so busy and hectic, so this year is different because of the asynchronous stuff, but I am looking forward to still being able to attend those houses of worship even if it isn’t in-person,” Moore said.
Campus Ministry interfaith intern Kristina Lynch helped with the planning process and said it was very interesting and exciting to explore the different topics for the retreat.
“I have enjoyed learning how we can understand different faith themes in pop culture. It takes a really different spin on these topics that people tend to hear about on their own walks of faith. It just takes a different spin on it and gives you a better understanding of it, so I think that is interesting,” Lynch said.
Resources from the Interfaith Retreat are available online, although all in-person activities have concluded. The materials from the retreat are a standing resource for Bellarmine students and faculty. For more information or to access the Interfaith Retreat resources, visit bit.ly/encountertretreat