On Sundays and Thursdays during J-Term, the Christian Organizations on campus have come together to host Animate Faith at 6 p.m. in The Dive. Animate Faith is a series of discussions regarding different aspects of faith and religion.

A well-attended series of discussions titled Alpha was held during last J-Term, and Animate Faith is meant to be an extension of that original program.

“I wouldn’t really call it a ‘meeting,’ but more like a hang out or life chat with good food,” First-year Emily Severson said. “Everyone shows up and there is a big buffet of super yummy food that was all home cooked right before by some volunteers. After eating, chatting, and mingling for about twenty minutes, everyone sits around in The Dive and watches a video that poses a new idea about religion and faith for us to think about.”

Those in attendance then break up into smaller groups to discuss the video through questions raised by student facilitators.

“The conversation sometimes focuses on the video, but the group members often bring the conversation other places and people throw out their own questions or thoughts, which is super cool,” Severson said. “At 7:15 everyone is free to head out, but a lot of times the conversation is so good we end up staying late.”

Senior and Small Group Facilitator Nate Paulsen is enthusiastic about the conversations the weekly topics spark.

“It’s been a lot of fun and it’s always a really cool learning experience to see people’s different perspectives on things, the questions that come up, and the answers they just don’t expect,” Paulsen said.

Animate Faith, while hosted by Christian student organizations, is an event which welcomes students from all backgrounds and religions.

“All are welcome,” Senior and Small Group Facilitator Heidi Vanderpan said. “This is a great time to jump in in the middle of the year. Let’s start this new community together.”

“The biggest thing is that this kind of program, something we hope to do every January, is built off a foundation of different perspectives,” Paulsen said. “If it starts to become too homogeneous, it loses the essence of what it is, which is a chance to really challenge people’s perspective.”

The group aims not only to challenge a variety of view points, but they also hope to provide a safe place to reach deeper understandings of their own faith.

“The ultimate goal is to develop a better dynamic of answering the real questions that surround faith,” Paulsen said. “I think for a lot of students our age, we’ve grown up with really churchy answers, and I think when you’re at college it’s the first time you get to wrestle with the real questions that may or may not have been welcome before. We’re building that dynamic and making a safe place where people can ask those questions and to grow the dialogue around it between different organizations.”

Following Animate Faith, the organizing groups will resume with their previous meeting times where students are encouraged to continue these conversations.

“I would really just like people to know that their growing doesn’t need to stop when Animate stops. Animate is an incredible place to start to grow, but there are so many places on campus that are specifically designed to help people grow their faith all year,” Severson said.

Those involved in Animate Faith recognize that not everyone may want to attend further meetings, but express hope that their discussions are impacting the community at large.

“The biggest thing is that this kind of program, something we hope to do every January, is built off a foundation of different perspectives.”—Nate Paulsen

“Hopefully Animate Faith is also something that can be influencing our campus as a whole and it’s not just this onetime thing that happened during J-Term,” Vanderpan said. “Whether people are attending Animate Faith or not, I hope they’re feeling its influence on our campus. Hopefully they’re more open to talking about their faith and to exploring those harder questions.”

Animate Faith extends an invitation to all students to participate in these discussions and enjoy a free, home-cooked meal every Sunday and Thursday for the remainder of J-Term.

-Kaity Young