Ross Burns, Ordained Interfaith Minister Fall 2019
“Going through ChI, and having ChI move through me, is one of the top 5 most important chapters of my life,” 2019 Chaplaincy Institute Alumni, Ross Burns shares.
“It pulled me out of self-conscious introversion and pumped up my confidence juices more than I thought possible. Enough to allow me to walk into a hospital room as a Chaplain and strike up a conversation with anyone interested. Enough to facilitate spiritual exploration with hospice patients, bearing witness to their beauty and walking with them towards the gates of death.
Burns describes his love for the academic curriculum and comforted it
Theologically, ChI packed quite the punch. The academic load was almost never dry and boring, but always flavored with enough in-classroom emotional counterforce to really bring home the deep-seated spiritual wisdom contained within the traditions we studied.
The bonds forged with my fellow seminarians remain intact to this day. We’re all always sitting in that circle, facing and supporting one another. The relationships are part of ChI’s gift of experimental discernment, which is embodied, confrontational, playful, and accessible.
Whether your connection to ChI is through Gina Rose or that cherished faculty member who shared deeply with you or to your fellow students, this connection has a purpose. ChI graduates do things. This is a place for the training and preparation of healers — and that is sacred work! I trust this sense of mission has inspired your past gifts to ChI.