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Religious Life: Nourishing and Engaging
An Interview with Colleen O'Toole
Liz Carr, Catholic Chaplain; Colleen O'Toole '11; Catherine McGuinness '11; Alfonso Procaccini, Italian Language and Literature.
1. How long have you been involved with the Chapel and what is your affiliation?
Colleen O'Toole, 2011, part of Radical Catholic Feminists for two years
2. What made you get involved with Chapel-sponsored activities/organizations?
I saw a table at the org fair and my friends joked that it would be the perfect organization for me, since I was Catholic and feminist. Lo and behold, it was.
3. What experience(s) have you had as a result of your relationship with the Chapel that has impacted your life?
I have met wonderful women who have helped me through my daily life, made and strengthened relationships with people, learned about new causes, explored my religion, and been able to have a safe space where I can complain about or celebrate my faith.
4. What were you expecting from your interactions with the Chapel? Was it different from what you expected? If so, how?
I was a little nervous about coming to a school that was unaffiliated with a religion, and a bit worried that I wouldn't have a faith community to support me.
5. What have you learned about your own spirituality? (Can you share any lessons or anecdotes?)
I've learned a lot about the historical basis of some of my beliefs, why I believe what I do and how to best articulate my case, and that I am now more able to see God in the world and in others.
6. Have you made any connections (physical, mental, spiritual) that you think you may not have otherwise made?
The people I have met at the Chapel have led me towards so much information and helped me explore and strengthen my faith, I can safely say I would be an entirely different person without them.
7. Do you have any funny, strange or unbelievable incidents you want to share?
When I told my father I wanted to be a religion major, he wasn't too keen on the idea and was sure I'd never get a job. I brought him to Parent Weekend and introduced him to Liz Carr, the Catholic chaplain. After they had finished speaking he told me that it was okay that I was a religion major because then I could take over for Liz when she retired.
8. What two words would you use to describe your experience with Religious Life?
Nourishing and engaging!
A Time Capsule Discovered
 Two to three feet from the ceiling hung a concrete block in the storage room in the lower level of the Chapel. Awkward was this mass of concrete attached to the ceiling, but never was there a thought about what it was until workmen needed a place for the new ventilation system and the concrete block was in the way. Questions about what it could be circulated and the most likely scenario was that it was a compartment for a time capsule.  A little research led Dean Jennifer Walters to believe there could be a time capsule from when the Chapel was built, though no one she spoke with had any definitive knowledge. Another clue was the engraved "1955" at the front stoop of the Chapel, an engraving like that often indicative of a time capsule and its location seemingly over the concrete mass.
The workmen chipped off the concrete on February 24th and found a sealed 3-foot tall, tin or copper rectangular canister with a beautiful patina developed from years of exposure in the encasement - a time capsule. Workmen and staff already at the Chapel anxiously awaited the arrival of others from archives and campus publicity for the opening of the unusual container. A couple of workmen were needed, one with an electric sawing device to cut a large opening on the bottom of the canister, making it possible to reach in and pull out the contents.
There was quite an interesting assortment of items in the capsule all dating back to the 1950s and mostly related to the Chapel- many photos of the Chapel's construction, copies of the Sophian, an article from the Daily Hampshire Gazette,  an old Smith College bulletin, an annual report from President Benjamin Wright, an interfaith community bulletin, a Holy Bible with a handwritten note from the College Chaplain Richard Unsworth from May 1955. Also inside was a note from Helen Hills Hills about a few things she placed in the capsule, including a copy of the words she spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony on April 12, 1954 and a "good snapshot of my husband and me taken in Tennessee the day after our 39th anniversary which ushered in the  last full year which we were privileged to spend together. As you know, he is to share the worship of this Chapel with me, because the great organ is to be erected to his memory, the picture is in a silver frame which is labeled STERLING, which accords with his character."
All of the items will go to the Smith Archives, except for the container, which will remain in the Chapel, where it will not be encased in concrete.
Learning About Faith
 When Kelly Forbush '09 first came to Smith she wasn't sure that she would major in religion. It wasn't until her involvement with the Helen Hills Hills Chapel that her future came into clear vision. Initially she ran the gamut of many of the religious organizations on campus to find her way, searching, looking, investigating, and probing. She became president of Ecumencial Christian Community (ECC), a protestant student organization, in her sophomore year, a position that took her nearly a year to fully learn. She found that "playing around with different activities," even "failing a few times," was good for the soul especially if you are in an environment that catches you when you fall.
"I've learned about my own faith."
Kelly Forbush '09
That defined Kelly's experience at the Chapel over the four years that she has participated in activities and held leadership roles. She put on a Hunger Banquet, ran a meditation/prayer group, called Taize, and organized a Christmas pageant, retelling the life of Jesus, even after breaking her foot (which, she says, was the best thing that could have happened because it taught her to delegate and trust others).
Last semester Kelly "preached and put together an entirely student-led worship experience," The Rev. Dr. Leon Tilson Burrows, Smith's Protestant Chaplain remembers. "Kelly thinks deeply about theological issues...A testament to Kelly's spiritual wisdom and maturity is that she has forged relationships with students of other religious traditions," says Rev. Burrows. "Going to the different religious organizations was amazing...I've learned about my own faith," she says with glowing eyes and a spirited voice. "It showed me how different religious groups (Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Pagan) can come together...at the Chapel it happens."
Kelly's clear on her next steps, applying to seminary. For her it was this summer that helped crystallize things. From contacts she had developed from the Chapel, she became involved with the Council for Youth and Young Adult Ministries at the national setting of the United Church of Christ, which holds meetings in Cleveland, Ohio twice a year. From there she learned about a special conference in Geneva, Switzerland, whose focus was on the sustainability of water world-wide. At the conference there were various communication styles to contend with, many cultures, and different values. She discovered that she was prepared to work with a diverse, fiercely intelligent and passionate group that took the world's water issues to heart and mind. She presented her project recently as part of "Smith Elects the World" in the Campus Center in November.
It was reflective of the part of her that had been evolving all along. In Switzerland, she had to reach out to people she didn't know, connect with them and come up with an end product with the group. She observed that the skill sets that she acquired at the Chapel enriched her life in many ways that she had never dreamed of. Her advice to first years - "really explore, look around on Edigest, and be patient...Feeling lost is not unusual. Learning how to say I need help" comes with time. "It's okay to fall...to not have close friends upon arriving at Smith (eventually you'll make some)... to say I want this or I want to do that." Students can organize specific religious programs once they figure out what they want to do because the Chapel has resources, financial and human, which support creative programming and activities. Becoming involved and knowing what you want is half the battle.
Newman Group Forges Ties
Smith and Amherst students from the Newman Catholic group got together to watch "Monty Python" and the "Search for the Holy Grail" in the Chapel's Bodman Lounge in October. Students enjoyed Chinese food for dinner and one student, caught up in the spirit of the day, brought in home-made fortune cookies dipped in chocolate. The students watched the movies, talked about their studies and discussed how to forge lasting ties among the two groups.
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