In October 1986, I came to the University of New Brunswick for what was, I thought, the closing chapter in my decade-long journey at that institution. I received my M.Sc. degree at fall convocation, and headed back to Toronto, to continue my M.Div. degree at Wycliffe College. Now, another decade later, I'm back. Three years in seminary were followed by 10 years as a parish priest in the diocese of Fredericton, and then a tremendous opportunity came along. After years of worry that it would have to be a budget-cut item, the diocesan council ratified a five-year contract position for the university chaplaincy at UNB. Armed with that security, I felt my way clear to apply for the position. The bishop appointed me to the position last August.
Having spent only a couple of months as the chaplain, the full measure of the work is not clear in my mind yet. Then again, I have only to speak with my ministry colleague Fr. Monte Peters, the Roman Catholic chaplain at the university since 1970, to get the best possible one-line description of the ministry.
Monte calls the work "intentional loitering."
Being a Christian chaplain in a secular university is a textbook example of being "in the world and not of it." There are no courses in religious studies at UNB, and the opportunities to infiltrate have to be taken with ingenuity and timing, never losing grasp of tact and charity. It is a change to be truly an adjunct who is technically described as "a welcome guest of the university."
That being said, university chaplaincy has been a breath of fresh air for me in many senses. Most contacts are one-on-one. They are initiated by God's grace, and they grow when the chaplain allows that grace to shine through by being an attentive ear, by being a person who will be commended by students and faculty who have turned to him in a time of need or a time when they just wanted a sense that someone cared.
