Department Student Retreat Program

In her book Big Questions, Worthy Dreams, Sharon Parks argues that it is in small group settings with interested peers and mentors that students can best identify their callings and gifts. The retreat setting is optimal for building faculty to student relationships. Developmentally, students ask the hard questions and get personal direct responses in small group settings from people they find credible. The Lilly Vocation Project funds vocation-themed retreats for academic departments or student life groups. These retreats provide intimate settings for student/faculty discussions, small group conversations, and focused conversation and reflection on who God calls them to be.

Student evaluations note retreats as significantly influencing both vocational choices and commitment levels. Departmental retreats are successful, because they include readings on vocation appropriate to the department's mission and style. For example, English majors study Annie Dillard and Dorothy Sayers, while philosophy majors learn what Thomas Aquinas and Martha Nussbaum thought about vocation. Lilly support lets Calvin expand this retreat program to include many more departments and student organizations.

APPLICATION FORM

Contact: Shirley Roels, Lilly Vocation Project Director
roel at calvin.edu 616-526-6557, Raybrook Office Suite 201