Frequently Asked Questions
The Emory Interfaith Center will be a muti-faith resource center for spiritual, cultural, service and social justice learning, programming, and practice as well as a gathering space, a study space, and a reception space for Emory's many vibrant spiritual and philosophical communities.
There are a number of reasons why an Interfaith Center will be valuable on Emory's campus. Emory has had a tradition of strong interfaith work for at least 30 years since the founding of the Inter-Religious Council, and before that significant Jewish and Christian relations and dialogue. The campus in blessed with multiple Christian and Jewish sacred spaces, including Cannon Chapel which had two dedications" one Christian and one interfaith. But as Emory's religious diversity has grown, more and more communities and activities are filling existing spaces.
Cannon Chapel is also used for academic purposes Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm, and it does not offer multiple chaplain offices in close proximity to its programming spaces. The new center will be a welcoming, hospitable "home away from home" for undergraduates and all graduate and professional students. It will center Emory's historically underrepresented spiritual communities and it will be both a lively resource and a symbol of the university's strong commitment to interfaith dialogue, learning, peacemaking, and service.
This project has been contemplated for many years in order to create a place of worship, prayer, meditation, and retreat on campus for Emory's diverse spiritual communities that will also be a space to foster interfaith engagement, education, dialogue, service, and social justice work.
Dean Susan Henry Crowe was a strong proponent of this idea, and under her leadership, a major feasibility study was conducted in 2004 for a center that would cost some $26.5M. That plan became economically infeasible but led to modifications made to Cannon Chapel in 2013. But a center continued to be strongly supported by faculty, staff, and students, including with op-eds in Spring 2019. With the appointment of Dean Gregory W. McGonigle in August 2019, conversations began to return to this project to create a beautiful space for Emory's new multifaith chaplaincy.
No terms are perfect when it comes to describing religion, spirituality, and philosophy - which often speak about things not seen or fully experienced. "Interfaith" is currently the most commonly used term for discussing the relationship between religions, spiritualities, and philosophies, including nonreligion and Humanism. It assumes diverse spiritual practices at peace with one another and working together to advance the common good.
The center will be primarily for all current Emory students, faculty, and staff, from both undergraduate and graduate/professional schools. It may also host alumni, family, and friends events, and it will be a nexus for connecting with the neighborhood, the wider community, and beyond.
Our hope is that the Interfaith Center, located on a crossroads and at the edge of the Druid Hills community, can be a nexus between campus and community around spirituality, service, and social justice. The larger Atlanta community already supports spiritual life on campus and the campus is engaged in local spiritual and interfaith life, so this will be a natural support for that.
The new Interfaith Center will have many helpful features.
The Interfaith Center will be a place of worship, prayer, meditation, and retreat on campus for Emory's diverse spiritual communities and also a space to foster interfaith engagement, education, dialogue, service, and social justice work. It will be a home away from home for Emory's diverse spiritual communities, as well as a gateway between the campus and the Atlanta community and world beyond.
Cannon Chapel is the main university chapel on Emory's Atlanta campus and offers the large gathering spaces needed for some 25 weekly spiritual services and gatherings that take place there. In recent years, as Emory's spiritual life has diversified, it has become increasingly busy. The Interfaith Center will be a complement to Cannon Chapel, allowing contiguous office, program, and meeting space for Emory's multi-faith chaplains and spiritual leaders. OSRL and the Dean of Religious Life will continue to maintain an office in Cannon Chapel.
The Interfaith Center is slated for completion in Spring/Summer 2023 and opening in Fall 2023.
Emory selected Menafee Architecture to be the lead architects of this project, based on similar student center work they have done at Spelman College and elsewhere.
The interior design is inspired by the Living Mandala Garden next to the front ramp of Cannon Chapel on Emory's campus. This beautiful sacred garden, which was the idea of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and placed at Emory with support from OSRL in 2012, is now maintained by the Emory Buddhist Chaplaincy and interfaith friends. Its beautiful colors invite meditation and reflection on our lives and the whole universe, and it alternates between inviting rest and action.
To design the new Interfaith Center, a stakeholder engagement process has been conducted involving students, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors to provide input to shape the project. The following channels were used to engage the community for design input: OSRL Staff and Affiliate meetings; Inter-Religious Council meetings; an Open Campus Engagement Session; and an Online Campus Survey.
Everyone is invited to reach out and be in touch with OSRL about contributing to the interfaith center project, whether with ideas or financial support. We are currently raising funds to place some of the important religious goods in the center such as shrines for the Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist communities. We also have an interfaith fund to support a special commons.
Some other examples of universities with vibrant Interfaith Centers are Tufts University and Elon University.