This past Saturday we spent the day building a prayer labyrinth on the property here at the PSC. With the help of a whole bunch of students, boy scouts from local Troop 149, and a few surprise helpers, the labyrinth was put together in just under 6 hours of work. We had lunch catered by Zaxby’s, and we shared a lot of laughs and sweaty hugs by the end of the day.

Our labyrinth was created (re)using glass bottles donated by more people than I care to try and name right now, and with river rock pebbles purchased thanks to a generous donation from The Labyrinth Society. We will be holding a short dedication service this coming Monday, April 18, at four o’clock in the afternoon, and we are inviting anyone and everyone around Athens who has an interest in labyrinths. If you are reading this, you’re invited. Even if you can’t make it to this service, we invite you to come and walk the labyrinth whenever you need to take a moment of sabbath from your hectic schedule. It is open to the public, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It’s even illuminated at night by the lights in our parking lot, so feel free to walk it at any time of day or night.

Below, you can check out some more pictures.

Last weekend was a busy one at the Presbyterian Student Center.  Friday night, we held a raffle night fund-raiser to benefit our on-going Labyrinth Project.  We were joined by over forty students and friends of the PSC, and everyone had a fun time eating together and waiting with baited breath to see who would win each prize.  We raffled off donated items from students, neighbors, and local businesses, and we raised over $350 for our labyrinth by the end of the night.

Karen Hartsfield and Daniel Kilfoyle, our Student Ministers for Encounter and Community, can be seen above, holding down the ticket table.  At right, student (and three-time raffle winner) Delaney Young can be seen walking a canvas labyrinth in the Dining Hall at the PSC.  We were lucky enough to borrow this labyrinth from Fr. Dann Brown of the Episcopal Center for the evening.

On Saturday, we were honored to hold the Northeast Georgia Presbytery’s Youth Rally, concurrent with the Presbytery’s Winter Leadership Event, which was being held up the street at First Presbyterian Church.  Keynote Speaker and Vice Moderator for the 219th General Assembly, Landon Whitsitt, joined us and led the youth in a discussion about Paul’s letters to Timothy.  None of the adults were allowed to talk, and the youth really got engaged, sharing stories of what challenges and inspirations they encounter in the Church and in the world.  At right, youth from all over the Presbytery gather for a quick shout out to all of us.  You can really get a sense of the size and excitement of Saturday’s Youth Rally, but to be honest, you really had to be there.  All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.  We wrapped things up like we always do, with a fellowship meal on Sunday evening.  Doug and Peggy Bailey joined from Central Presbyterian Church, and we were grateful for the tasty chili and cornbread they made for us.

Mitch Roper

Things are looking different around the Presbyterian Student Center lately. We have a new parking lot, complete with new sidewalks, lights and updated landscaping that looks pretty impressive from the road. Another thing that is about to change, given a couple of months, some hard volunteer work and God’s blessing, is a small, unassuming circular area on the back end of our property here at 1250 South Lumpkin Street.

As part of my ministry project for the academic year, focused on prayer and mediation, I have committed to helping senior student Hayley Callaway complete a long-held dream of hers to have a prayer labyrinth at the PSC. For those who have never heard of a prayer labyrinth, it is a centuries-old prayer tool that is used to simulate a pilgrimage. Long ago, christians who couldn’t afford to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem used labyrinths, and today, many use labyrinths to simulate one’s pilgrimage toward God throughout life. Usually circular, the labyrinth consists of a single path that winds in serpentine fashion around the circle, eventually bringing its pilgrim to the center of the labyrinth, which symbolizes union with God. In the center, pilgrims can take time to pray and reflect on their personal walk of faith.

We’ve formed a Planning Committee with a handful of other students (a full list of these members is found at the bottom of this page), and we have already crafted a comprehensive vision for the labyrinth. Our students have decided to use a seven-circuit pattern for our labyrinth, which can be seen above, and we are going to define the lanes through the artful re-use of glass bottles, inverted and placed in the ground, similar to those in the picture you can see on the right. The lanes will be filled in with pea gravel, which will make the labyrinth barefoot-friendly and allow for good drainage, and  in the center we plan to have a number of small benches, as well as plaques with verses of scripture and poems, to facilitate meditative reflection. The labyrinth will be encircled by a small fence to mark it off as sacred space, and we hope to add a tree or two for shade and greenery. Construction of the labyrinth is planned for April 2011, so mark your calendars! We have a lot of fund-raising and materials collecting (bring us your glass bottles!) to do in the meantime, and we will need the help of PSC community members and friends to make this dream a reality! Please contact me, Mitch Roper, or any of the students listed below to find out how you can help us with this joyful project.

Students on Labyrinth Planning Committee:
Hayley Callaway
Kyle Mackey
Ben Sheppard
Jonathan Torres
Justin Van Wicklen

As many in our worshiping community know, the Campus Ministry Intern has a lot of various responsibilities in and around the Presbyterian Student Center. One of these responsibilities is to design and carry out a ministry project throughout the course of the year, with the intention of enhancing the PSC’s ministry through an avenue that the intern is passionate about. Last year, with the help of God and many of our students, I completed a ministry project focused on ecological stewardship. This year, with the help of God and many of our students, I hope to complete a new ministry project. This time, the focus is on cultivating a more intentional culture of prayerfulness at the Presbyterian Student Center. In formulating the idea for this project, I have looked to scripture as a guide in my thinking, in particular to a couple of verses from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (5:16-18).

I believe that our growing community is blessed in that we come together each week to worship God and pray together, and that we find joy in service and the thoughtful discussion of issues and theology. However, I also believe that we as a community tend to shy away from prayer as a constant spiritual practice outside of our weekly worship and community groups. I think that prayer is a chief avenue through which God helps us to discover our part in manifesting God’s will on earth. I also think that prayer with others can be more intimate, and therefore sometimes more uncomfortable, than even some of our most intimate physical moments with each other. For these reasons, I believe that we have to intentionally work toward being more spiritually vulnerable around each other, and I think that we as a community of faith at the Presbyterian Student Center have a lot of room for growth in this area. I recognize that my own personal prayer life is lacking as well, and I hope to encourage others to work with me to grow in prayer, both individually and in community. It is my hope that in doing so, we may live abundantly, rejoicing always, praying constantly, and giving thanks in all circumstances, since this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us.

I have set five broad goals for this project in order to help organize myself in working toward these ends. Those goals are as follows:

1. Creation of a dynamic community of prayer within the PSC.
2. Improvement of PSC facilities to facilitate prayerful practice.
3. Increased prayerful connections with local Presbyterians.
4. Increased prayerful connections with other Campus Ministries.
5. Personal spiritual growth in the direction of prayer and meditation.

Toward completing some of these goals, I already have certain things in mind, such as setting aside time every day to pray in the PSC Chapel (goals 1 & 5) and building a permanent prayer labyrinth on our property (goal 2). As we come together this academic year, I hope to involve as many students as are interested in this project to accomplish these goals; God knows I can’t do this on my own. If you have ideas that you would like to share with me, or if you would like to know more, please contact me. Also, make sure to check the ministry project bulletin board in the Dining Hall at the PSC. I will be updating it with new information about my project throughout the school year.

Mitch Roper