Last Spring, ENC announced that Professor Montague Williams would be taking over as Campus Chaplain. The student body expressed much satisfaction over this. Williams, now two months into the academic year as Chaplain, shares his vision for what he hopes to bring to the campus.
For this academic year, Williams has chosen a particular theme to be at the center of Chapel meetings: “Prayer and Hope for the Kingdom.”
“I notice that some students who come to ENC are really pumped about being part of a Christian college campus as a place where they get to go deeper into their Christian faith journey, but they do not often know how to go further with that, how to go deeper,” Williams said. “I want to take the year and look more specifically at what it means to come before our God in prayer.”
“He understands how important prayer is, especially in the context of community,” said SGA Director of Spiritual Life, senior Emily Ludwig. “Although prayer is a core component of spiritual life, it is often forgotten. [Montague] has carved out time for us to put away all the distractions and pray together as a campus community, and I think that is so awesome.”
Senior Rose Percy, who also serves as one of the student chaplains, has had previous experience working with Montague in the office of Student Development and expresses her excitement of having Williams as Chaplain. “I think the theme [of prayer] is very needed for our campus. We begin all our meetings in the [Student Development] office by praying for ENC and keeping this theme in mind,” Percy said. “I enjoy working with Montague as a chaplain because I know he cares about students, and he cares about issues students care about.”
“[College] is one of the most transformative times in a human being’s life,” Williams explained, acknowledging the importance of his goal for not just the spiritual well-being of students, but also the overall betterment of each life on campus.