The annual student-led conference will be held Feb. 21-23 at the Numen Lumen Pavilion.
Elon will host the annual student-led Ripple Conference Feb. 21-23 at the Numen Lumen Pavilion, an event that garners attention from other colleges and universities around the region who are interested in interfaith work. This year’s theme is “Interfaith in the Real World: Cultivating Community Cooperation.”
Each year, the Ripple Conference hosts students from different institutions to learn, engage, reflect and share about religious and spiritual traditions, as well as secular worldviews. Attendees are exposed to diverse perspective and critical interfaith thinking by hearing from different speakers and breaking off into smaller groups for discussion.
This year, Ripple is co-directed by Caroline Penfield ’22 and Catherine Stallsmith ’22. Penfield, an intern in the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, sees the conference as a great way to connect with students about interfaith and have the opportunity to be exposed to wider perspectives. Penfield remembers her first experience at Ripple last year, and how impactful it was for her.
“What was so cool for me about Ripple was that not only was I hearing in general people’s different experiences and religious or other worldviews, but it was beyond engaging people in those conversations that we have here at Elon,” Penfield said. “Because students come from other schools, you get an even wider perspective.”
Penfield also highlights that some participants from different colleges and universities don’t have interfaith programs at their institutions, so Ripple can serve as an opportunity to share what elements of interfaith work have been successful at Elon and help provide ideas that everyone can draw from to bring back to their schools.
Speakers this year include:
- Rev. Jennifer Bailey, co-founder of The People’s Supper
- Rev. J Dana Trent, an ordained Baptist minister and former hospital chaplain who recently published her fourth book, “Dessert First: Preparing for Death While Savoring Life.”
- Katie Gordon, who helped create the Nuns & Nones movement
- Kevin Singer, co-founder of Neighborly Faith, an organization that encourages dialogue between evangelical Christians and Muslims
For more information about the Ripple Conference visit their website here or to learn how to get more involved with interfaith at Elon, check out the Truitt Center for Religious & Spiritual Life’s website.