Tusculum College will host an Interfaith Candlelight Prayer Service as part of its new Individual Wellness through Community Engagement Initiative.
According to Tusculum President Nancy B. Moody, the new initiative is a campus-wide program with the primary purpose of encouraging the Tusculum community—including students, faculty, staff and alumni—to lead and maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
The prayer service will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 8:30 p.m., at Pioneer Field. Plans for the service include seven religious leaders from six faith traditions, including Christianity (Protestants and Catholics), Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and those who are spiritual but not religious (Unitarian).
“This event promises to open our academic year on a powerful, thoughtful and communal note,” said Dr. Moody.
The general public is invited to attend.
The college will provide a candle to everyone as he enters the field. Dr. Moody added that there will be 1,000 points of light to symbolize the college’s commitment to our community, to one another and to efforts to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
“Wellness is a lifelong pursuit and often requires peer encouragement,” said Wayne Thomas, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and one of the architects of the new program. “As such, our aim is to indoctrinate its importance and approaches on our campuses through continuous communal activities that reach our entire population and focus on social, physical, intellectual, emotional and/or spiritual (SPIES) health.
“Additionally, we recognize that people succeed better if every aspect of their lives is attended to, thus addressing our students’ wellness and satisfaction significantly improves retention. Each SPIES event will be campus-wide, and the planning for every event will have the needs of each entity of Tusculum’s community in mind.”