From 2014-2024 the Lilly Endowment, Inc. granted funds for a set of programs related to vocational discernment for undergraduate students at the Chapel of the Cross. The umbrella title for the grant was called My Spiritual Awakening.
Projects were planned and implemented by our Lilly Leaders group of parishioners and students, co-chaired by The Rev. Mary Cat Young and Hadden Probst, UNC ’25.
My Spiritual Awakening Speaker Series
Accomplished leaders across a variety of professional areas discussed their journey to the profession they hold and their spiritual journey along the way.
View past speaker the Rev. Sharron Dinnie, Founder of Kwasa College, Springs, South Africa, October 24, 2023.
View past Speaker Margo MacIntyre, Curator of the Coker Arboretum, March 21, 2023.
View past speaker Bishop Victor Glover Bishop Victor Glover, Founder of Father’s on the Move, November 1, 2022.
View past Speaker, Joseph Knight, adjunct Professor at Duke Pratt School of Engineering and Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative, recorded February 1, 2022
View past speaker Kelsey Davis, Program Director for Blue Ridge Episcopal Service Corps and founder of Christian Athlete Circles
View past speaker: Kaze Thomas, Arts and Culture Director, Downtown Chapel Hill Partnership, livestreamed Tuesday, October 5, 2021
View past speaker: Sarah Ogletree, Program Coordinator, North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light, livestreamed Tuesday, April 13, 2021
View past speaker: Allen Buansi, Civil Rights Attorney and Chapel Hill City Council, livestreamed Tuesday, March 2, 2021
View past speaker: Jennifer Player, CEO of Orange County Habitat for Humanity, livestreamed Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Walk in Love Mentors
The Chapel of the Cross parishioners will continue to be paired with students who are glad to have an adult in their life to walk with them through a season of learning, exploration and vocational discernment throughout the academic year.
Transformative Travel
2021: In March of 2021 two students participated in a Virtual Short-term Mission Experience in conjunction with Education Equals Hope with COTC ministry partners at Cristo Liberador Episcopal Church in Quito, Ecuador.
In March of 2022 a team of students traveled to Quito, Ecuador for a week of in-person mission and ministry with our partners at E=Hope. Read more here about the experiences of our team.
Retreats and Service-learning oriented travel opportunities provided students with opportunities to experience hands-on, real-world experience with non-profit, direct service and ministry work, while also learning practices for self-reflection and vocational discovery. Students traveled to Ecuador, England and Tennessee. In March 2020 students were scheduled to travel to New York City.
Finding Your Purpose Forum
We held our first Finding Your Purpose Forum in 2019. This daylong event consisted of speakers, workshops and small groups enabled students to try on a variety of spiritual practices to use in support of their vocational reflection.
Our last forum was scheduled for February 25-26, 2022.
Musicians, actors, dancers, artists of a variety of types were invited to connect for practical and spiritual conversation around the vocational calling and passion for performance. The Finding Your Purpose Forum format provides opportunities to Learn, Grow and Lead. This Lilly Endowment, Inc. funded conference to assist undergraduate students in reflecting on their call to vocation and the intersection of spiritual life and faith in that calling. A Covid-surge limited participation in this gathering.
Namaste: Mind + Body + Spirit integration
Offerings such as Yoga for Wholeness and Healthy Eating sessions gave students practical experience in self-care and reflection on integration of the whole self while currently students and preparing to transition to post-college/professional life. These were popular offerings and we will continue to offer similarly themed programs like this for ECM.
In February 2021, an online Painting and Prayer event was created to give students the invitation and permission to be creative in their prayer practices while allowing that experience to inform their discernment and vocational reflection work. See glimpses of the virtual event for below.
Vocational Internships
Student interns were given the opportunity to delve deeply into a vocational field they are discerning about with the companionship of spiritual reflection, mentors and, leadership and study opportunities. In 2019-2020 this project provided funding for a Choral Scholar who participated in the full musical life of the parish of The Chapel of the Cross. This choral scholar had opportunities to learn, lead and reflect on the calling of Church music as a profession.
Past Internships Included:
- Choral Scholar (August 2019 – May 2022)
- Student Athlete Outreach Chaplain (January – June, 2020)
- Digital Ministry Internship (October 2020 – December 2021)
- Lilly Administrative Assistant (June 2021-December 2021)
- Lilly Administrative Assistant (September 2022-2023)
- Non-Profit/Communications Summer Internship (2024)
Veteran Outreach
Working in companionship with the Carolina Veterans Resource Center, connect with our volunteer corps in outreach, snack brigade, mentoring and other ways of showing our care and supporting our veterans who are students at UNC.
This project sun-setted in 2023.