Students Organize to Save Monastery from Condo Developers

August 8, 2007


HYDE PARK, CHICAGO--Students from several Hyde Park seminaries have organized to save a local monastery from being turned into condominiums, hoping to turn it into a center for interreligious peacemaking and volunteer community service.

SeminaryAction is an organization developed by students from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago Theological Seminary, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, McCormick Theological Seminary, Meadville-Lombard Theological School, and the University of Chicago Divinity School. Just over a year old, the group sponsors rapidly expanding programs in interfaith dialogue, direct action campaigns, and community outreach.

"We're ready to enter a multi-year lease of the facility now, but the order has made the decision to sell the property," said SeminaryAction director Le Anne Clausen. "We're trying to raise donations to purchase it, or find a 'custodian' to purchase the property who will cooperate with us for a multi-year lease for our organization." Clausen is an M.Div. student at Chicago Theological Seminary.

The order was in talks with a for-profit corporation that had planned to purchase the building, but the talks fell through in early August, creating the possibility for the students to act. The order had earlier tried to find another non-profit or religious organization to purchase the building, but were unable to do so. "This is a beautiful spiritual space in our neighborhood, that has a history shared by several religious traditions who have used it," Clausen said. "We want to honor the tradition of this place. We also want to provide affordable housing and an important learning experience for our students. We don't need more high-priced condos in Hyde Park."

The building was home to Hyde Park's Church of Latter Day Saints before the order purchased and remodeled it to house its students attending CTU. The monastery's chapel features stained-glass windows depicting the pain of war. "These are reminders of what has been done in the name of religious intolerance. We need a place for creating peace among religions," Clausen said. "We want to get students who will become leaders in their faith traditions to live and work together and be active in the community. This would go a long way toward that goal."

The proposed center would provide housing for 10-12 ministry students from differing faith tradtions. They would share household tasks and volunteer in the Hyde Park/Kenwood/Woodlawn neighborhoods on a regular basis. The center would also house a volunteer outreach center, a 'Peacemaker's Library,' a space for counselors and spiritual directors to meet with clients, and a small non-profit guest house.

Time is short, Clausen added, but the students are hopeful. "It's possible we could make this happen before September 1st, when most classes begin, she said. "But we're going to keep trying for this as long as there's hope of it happening."

More than a thousand seminary students study in the Hyde Park neighborhood. "Most of these students don't have a good way to connect with the churches, organizations, and residents of our community," Clausen said. "Students come here wanting to be immersed in Chicago as a ministry classroom, but too often they end up withdrawing into the walls of their campuses. Very few even get to know students from other church denominations and faith backgrounds while they're here. We want to change that."

Clausen developed her passion for interreligious peacemaking while serving as a human rights worker in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, through the Chicago-based organizations Christian Peacemaker Teams and Voices for Creative Nonviolence /Voices in the Wilderness. Additionally, local organizations such as Interfaith Youth Core and Interfaith Worker Justice have been supportive of the new group's efforts.

SeminaryAction's previous projects include an inter-campus independent student newspaper, interreligious student forums on topics such as 'Seminarians with Disabilities' and 'LGBTQ Seminarians Speak,' as well as joining forces among student groups on each campus which focus on as Eco-Justice, human rights, immigration, and the war in Iraq. During the summer, SeminaryAction fostered an intentional community of international and U.S.-born students from seminaries and universities in Chicago, which will also do community service projects on a regular basis.

About 300 students have already participated in the organization's programs since its inception. Further details about their projects can be found on their website, www.seminaryaction.org <http://www.seminaryaction.org/> .