Chapel Chats

Chaplain Hannah joins the conversation about the vaccinating against COVID-19 as the campus community prepares for the fall semester back on campus. She chats with Rachel Crabtree, a third-year student at Butler University whose summer internship with Interfaith Youth Core focused on vaccine hesitancy. Chaplain Hannah ends the episode by encouraging research, careful discernment, and compassion for others as we move forward. 
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Additional resources: 

• Get the facts about COVID-19 vaccines - Mayo Clinic
• COVID-19 vaccines (who.int)
• Mayo Clinic - YouTube
• Dr. Dunkle COVID Message - YouTube
• ISDH - Novel Coronavirus: Vaccine Information and Planning
• Tell us your plans at Vaccination Status Form (forms-db.com)

In our season 2 finale episode, Chaplain Hannah hosts a conversation with graduating seniors who have been involved with Franklin College Religious Life over the last four years (and, it so happens, the four years Chaplain Hannah has worked at the college). The interview features remarks from seniors Kelsey Moorman, Katie Bond, Kirsten Nielsen, Samantha Loyd, and Chapel Chats producer Erica Irish. The group reminisces about their favorite moments in Religious Life, unpacks developing the Religious Life community covenant, and describes what lessons they are taking with them into the next chapter. The episode ends with a prayer for the summer months ahead, no matter where you are on life's journey. 

A note to our listeners: This is our final episode of Chapel Chats for the 2020-21 academic year. Please stay tuned over the summer for bonus episodes, and we will see you in the fall for season 3! Thank you for your endless support in this important project.

Franklin College is nearing commencement. But before that, the college will hold an important annual ceremony: Baccalaureate. This ecumenical event, held on the eve of commencement, is designed to help graduating seniors reflect on who they were at Franklin College, and where they are going. Chaplain Hannah discusses this idea and breaks down baccalaureate with its featured speaker, Dr. Leah Gunning Francis. Dr. Francis is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis and a book author who researched the impact of the faith community on protests in Ferguson. But before going to seminary and kickstarting her current path, Dr. Francis was on another using her undergraduate degree in corporate marketing. In this episode, Dr. Francis offers an example of life's surprising paths, and she encourages listeners to stay open to the possibilities of the future.

If you are a member of the Franklin College community, be sure to join us for baccalaureate at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 21, in the Spurlock Center. The event will also be livestreamed at www.franklincollege.edu. 

Chaplain Hannah welcomes listeners to sit in on a recent conversation in a class she is co-teaching at Franklin College on the history of the Black church with Indianapolis Tuxedo Park Baptist Church Pastor Doug Gray.  The episode features an exploration of the Black community's sacred inheritance and syncretism with Heather Brydie Harris, a scholar and activist currently working on a PhD in Pan-African studies at the University of Louisville.  Harris details the legacy of Black faith and how it evolved through the trauma of colonialism and the slave trade, creating a unique culture and new ways to express belief.

This episode was originally recorded from a class discussion and has been edited for clarity and length.

Want to learn more about Black faith in America? Reach out to Chaplain Hannah or check out the following resources:

PEW Research Center (Feb. 16, 2021): Faith Among Black Americans 

The tragic FedEx shooting in Indianapolis continues to reverberate throughout our state and the country. Of the eight victims lost in the violence, half were part of the Sikh community, a vibrant faith group that traces its roots back centuries to the Punjab region of South Asia. What does the Sikh community believe, and how can we support them during this time? Student Producer Erica Irish examines the Sikh belief system in this short reflection and offers suggestions for how we can uplift their community in this time of grief.

Support The Victims

WTHR (April 18, 2021): Here's how you can help the families of those impacted by the mass shooting at an Indianapolis FedEx facility

Learn More

The Conversation (April 17, 2021): Sikhs in America: A religious community long misunderstood is mourning deaths in Indianapolis mass shooting

The Revealer (Dec. 21, 2017): Why Sikhs Serve: The Tradition of Seva as Justice Inspired by Love

The Sikh Coalition: Sikh Awareness Recognitions From Coast to Coast

NPR (April 18, 2021): Indianapolis Sikh Community Mourns 4 Of Its Members Killed In Shooting

YouTube (Oct. 22, 2020): Language Matters! Why I'm Reclaiming the Correct Pronunciation of Sikh

Tragedy is rocking our lives in recent weeks. With numerous acts of senseless violence around the country—including the April 15 shooting at the FedEx Plainfield Operations Center, just 30 minutes from Franklin College—our hearts are in pain. What can we as a community do in the face of such loss? In this community check-in, Chaplain Hannah offers a vision for caring for ourselves and uplifting our community through traumatic events. She explains how to interpret the many emotions that can flood our thinking in response to tragedy, and what we can do to help both ourselves and each other. In the face of injustice, one of the best actions we can take is to look around—and within.

Listeners who want help processing their thoughts are encouraged to schedule a meeting with Chaplain Hannah by emailing [email protected]. You can also visit this resources page for ideas of how to reduce stress and promote healing. 

April is a BIG month for Franklin College. On April 14, the college will hold its ninth annual Give to Griz campaign, with a goal of raising $175,000 from 1,000 donors in just 24 hours. The goal? To support the college's impactful Franklin Fund, which supports our students with critical scholarships and dozens of other campus needs, from grounds keeping to learning opportunities. Give to Griz is just one example of how philanthropy can make a huge difference in community, and why we should consider how to spend our extra dollars for good. To learn more about this concept, Chaplain Hannah interviews Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development Dana Cummings and Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving Lee Ann Jourdan. Together, they explore how fundraising helps others and what motivates them in their work today. After that you'll hear from Assistant Director of Annual Giving and Special Projects Andrea Gash about Give to Griz and how you can get involved.

Ready to jump in and support Give to Griz? Consider donating online. You can also register for some fun virtual events here. If you're a student, be sure to pick up your Give to Griz passport starting April 12 to thank a donor, share your Franklin College story, and possibly earn some swag. 

He is risen! He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Join Chaplain Hannah in celebrating Jesus' resurrection through the reading of Mark 16. 

Join our host, Chaplain Hannah Adams Ingram, as she focuses our hearts on the upcoming Holy Week by reading and breaking down Luke 19:36-48.

The Office of Religious Life is continuing to explore new ways to engage the community as the season of Lent continues. Part of this effort will soon welcome the work of liturgical artist Mary Button to campus, whose latest take on the Stations of the Cross will be up for display in Richardson Chapel through Easter. In this episode, Mary joins Chaplain Hannah for an interview about her lifelong journey rooted in art and the discovery of her career in the church. Mary also provides an overview of the Stations of the Cross as an art practice and her interpretation of the traditional form through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic and other major events, including immigration, mass incarceration, and climate change.

You can learn more about Mary by visiting her website, marybutton.com.  

Be sure to visit her exhibit in Richardson Chapel between now and the week after Easter. The chapel will be open to visitors weekdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please contact Chaplain Hannah at [email protected] to schedule a specific time to visit.