This blog was written and submitted by Ruth Krueger, Canterbury House Episcopal Campus Ministry Chaplain/ Associate for Parish Life & Campus Ministry Chaplain for the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, Corvallis.
Canterbury House Episcopal Campus Ministry at Oregon State University is going strong this fall. We started the year with Beaver Community Fair, on October 1, a welcome week event, where we had a table featuring our mugs, designed by our student club president Alice Lulich. The mugs have a beautiful heart design in rainbow colors with the presiding bishop’s quote, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God,” as well as our ministry house address and information on the back. The mugs were very popular, and the few hundred students who stopped by our booth were happy to receive one, filled with candy, of course. We had significant and meaningful conversations with many students, who were happy, and sometimes surprised, by our message of God as Love and inclusion.
For now, we are holding our weekly meetings online, hoping that Covid numbers will go down enough to allow us to gather around our table for dinner once again. Currently, we are engaged in a series of presentations on a variety of faith paths, and the students are fully engaged in learning about other faiths, and in connecting them to how we live as Christians. Next month, we will have a two-week series on homelessness and will be learning about ways that we can get involved in serving the houseless community in Corvallis.
Meanwhile, our hygiene supply shed is a thriving outreach to students and neighbors in need. Canterbury House is located on a corner of the OSU campus and sees a lot of student traffic walking to class every day. Our hygiene shed is a box much like the little lending libraries you see around town, but filled with hygiene supplies like toothpaste, soap, deodorant, and shampoo. We stock the shed twice a week. From the house I often see students stopping by to pick up supplies. This project was the idea of the students, and they help to keep it going. We are funded, in part, by a grant we received from the Young Adult and Campus Ministries last year.
We appreciate your prayers for our campus ministry. Please pray for the students in our club, and the students outside our club who stop by the house weekly for snack packs on the go or to use the hygiene shed, as well as for those who stopped by our table at the fair. It is prayer that keeps our ministry going, and offers our students the support they need as they build a life of independence, and explore what their faith means to them as adults.
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Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom: Enlighten by your
Holy Spirit those who teach and those who learn, that,
rejoicing in the knowledge of your truth, they may worship
you and serve you from generation to generation; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
About Canterbury House:
Canterbury House OSU is an Episcopal campus ministry in Corvallis. We are located in a 100-year-old house across the street from the Oregon State University campus, where we offer a place of respite for students and a place to build friendships and share faith.
We have a weekly dinner for students free of charge followed by conversation and evening prayer. Guest speakers attend our dinners once per term to discuss a wide range of topics from empowering women and confronting racism to what it’s like to grow up and navigate the world as a member of the LGBTQ community.
We love to have fun together. This year we enjoyed pizza and movie nights, barbecues, a smores party, a camping trip, and planting a community garden.
Canterbury House is also involved in outreach to students as we extend the love of Jesus in our community. We are here to offer the inclusivity and radical hospitality of Jesus in practical and spiritual ways to all students!
If you are new to Oregon State University or are just finding out about us, we would love to meet you. You can start with Monday evening dinners at 6:00. Our address is 2265 NW Arnold Way Corvallis, OR. 97330. Visit us on our Facebook Group or their Instagram page.
Ruth Krueger
I serve as the chaplain of Canterbury House OSU. More than anything in my life and work, I desire to build loving community in my church, the campus ministry, my family, and with the people I see day to day as I navigate life. I graduated as an “older-than-average” student from Oregon State in 2015 with an undergrad degree in Liberal Studies and minors in English and Writing. I am employed as the Associate for Parish Life at the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan in Corvallis and part time by the Diocese of Oregon as the OSU campus ministry chaplain. I have three adult daughters who all live close by, and three young granddaughters who the cutest little girls you have ever seen. I read and write poetry. I love nature, the beach and picnics as well as a good movie or book. It is my privilege to welcome all students to grow in their faith and enjoy good food and company at Canterbury House. You can contact me at Krueger.ruth1@gmail.com with any questions.