Seminarians Organizing to Save Chicago Monastery

Our inter-campus student organization here in Hyde Park, SeminaryAction, is trying to acquire a monastery building that's up for sale in our neighborhood before it's gutted for condominiums (which we've been advised is most likely for the site). We're hoping to raise enough funding to purchase it before school starts if at all possible, to offer an ecumenical student housing cooperative dedicated to community service and interfaith peacemaking. Any seminary student from any school would be welcome, in order to foster supportive relationships across school and denominational lines. Eboo Patel of Interfaith Youth Core has been encouraging and advising us on the project also.

We would be grateful for any support or advice you can offer to help us, or recommendations of people we could talk to--this would be wonderful. We've written a press release and started giving media interviews on our project, which I include below if you are interested in more details. We were able to do an interview on NPR this afternoon, which we also hope will help.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Seminary students organize to save Hyde Park monastery from condo developers

August 8, 2007


HYDE PARK, CHICAGO--Students from seminaries across Hyde Park are organizing to save a neighborhood monastery from being turned into condominiums, hoping to create a center for interfaith peacemaking and volunteer community service instead.

SeminaryAction is an organization developed by students from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago Theological Seminary, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, McCormick Theological Seminary, Meadville-Lombard Theological School, and the University of Chicago Divinity School. Just over a year old, the organization has pending non-profit status and rapidly expanding programs in interreligious dialogue, direct action campaigns, and community outreach.

"We're ready to enter a multi-year lease of the facility now, but the has made the decision to sell the property, not lease it. We're trying to raise donations to purchase it, or find a 'custodian' that purchases the property and will cooperate with us for a multi-year lease for our organization," says SeminaryAction director Le Anne Clausen. Clausen is an M.Div. student at Chicago Theological Seminary and preparing for ministry in the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA).

The monastery was due to be sold to a for-profit corporation when talks recently fell through, creating the opportunity for students to act. "This is a beautiful spiritual space in our neighborhood, that has a history shared by several religious traditions who have used it. We want to honor the tradition of this place. We also want to provide affordable housing and an important learning experience for our students. We don't need more high-priced condos in Hyde Park," says Clausen. Increasing numbers of the neighborhood's residential space has been converted into high-end condominiums in recent years.

The building was home to Hyde Park's Church of Latter Day Saints before its purchase by the religious order to house students attending CTU. The modern chapel features stained-glass windows depicting the pain of warfare. "These are reminders of what has been done in the name of religious intolerance. We need a place for creating peace among religions. Getting students who will become leaders in their faith traditions to live and work together and be active in the community would go a long way toward that goal."

The proposed center would provide housing for 10-12 ministry students from differing faith backgrounds, who share household tasks and volunteer in the Hyde Park/Kenwood/Woodlawn neighborhoods on a regular basis. The center would also have a volunteer outreach center, a 'Peacemaker's Library,' a space for counselors and spiritual directors to meet with clients, and a small non-profit guest house.

Over a thousand seminary students study each week in the Hyde Park neighborhood. However, "most of our students don't have a good way to connect with the churches, organizations, and residents of our community. Students come here wanting to be immersed in Chicago as a ministry classroom, but too often, they end up withdrawing into the walls of their campuses. Very few even get to know students from other church denominations and faith backgrounds while they're here. We want to change that," says Clausen.

SeminaryAction's previous projects include an inter-campus independent student newspaper, interreligious student forums on topics such as 'Seminarians with Disabilities' and 'LGBTQ Seminarians Speak,' as well as joining forces among student groups on each campus around issues such as Eco-Justice, human rights, immigration, and the war in Iraq. Already this summer, SeminaryAction began fostering an intentional community of international and U.S.-born students from seminaries and universities in Chicago, which will also do community service projects on a regular basis. Further details about their projects can be found on their website, www.seminaryaction.org. The organization estimates that some 300 students have already participated in their programs since it first started.

Clausen developed her passion for interreligious peacemaking while serving as a human rights worker in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, through Chicago-based organizations Christian Peacemaker Teams and Voices for Creative Nonviolence /Voices in the Wilderness. As a student organizer, she has found encouragement from additional local organizations such as Interfaith Youth Core and Interfaith Worker Justice. With a previously-earned MA in Christian-Muslim relations, she hopes to continue interfaith and inter-church peacemaking work around the world.

Time is short, but Clausen and the students are hopeful. "It's possible we could make this happen before September 1st, when most classes begin. But we're going to keep trying for this as long as there's hope of it happening."

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