Elon University - Office of Religious Life

Annual Services

Throughout the year, several celebrations sponsored by the Truitt Center have become Elon Traditions. Mark your calendars now to join us for several of these events!

description Blessing of the Animals Service
October, celebrated during Chapel
Whitley Auditorium

Father Gerry Waterman, Franciscan Friar and campus minister for Elon's Catholic Campus Ministry, celebrated the annual Franciscan tradition of the Blessing of Animals at College Chapel. Students, faculty and staff were invited to bring their pets, or pictures of them, to the service to be blessed. St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals.

Holiday Celebration with Luminaries description

Join us at Scott Plaza for our annual holiday celebration. Hot chocolate, carol singing and hundreds of luminaries lining the walkways will mark Elon's annual "Festival of Holiday Lights." Bring your friends and your cameras!

description

Students serve as Deiners for Elon's Annual Moravian Lovefeast

Brought from Germany to Old Salem, North Carolina, by early Moravian settlers, this traditional Christmas service celebrates the Advent season with a special service. It consists of a simple meal of sweet buns and coffee served by Elon student volunteers and features seasonal music, including selections rendered by bell choirs, the chancel choir, organ and oboe. A candlelight service concludes this special celebration, as the congregation sings the traditional carol "Morning Star."

The Lovefeast service is held each year at the Elon Community Church. All members of the Elon community are welcome.

Winter Feast
January 17, 2008

Come join Elon faculty, staff and students at Winter Feast! Enjoy a home-cooked meal while chasing away the cold blast of winter! This annual pot-luck dinner is a favorite January event where we gather together as a community with area churches and enjoy the warmth of a pot-luck meal.

Baccalaureate Worship Service at Graduation

The 2008 Baccalaureate preacher will be The Right Reverend Michael B. Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. The first African American bishop to lead a southern diocese of the Episcopal Church, Curry has a national preaching and teaching ministry, and has been featured on The Protestant Hour.

The 2007 speaker was Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America?s Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances in Washington, D.C., was Elon's guest preacher at Baccalaureate for the Class of 2007 on May 18th.
Syeed is the first director of the Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances (IOICA), which opened earlier this year. The IOICA works to enhance positive relationships and understandings between Muslim Americans, government agencies and Congressional representatives.

Syeed served as secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America from 1994 to 2006, actively working to foster understanding among the world?s religions and developing global interfaith alliances. He has served on the board of advisors for the Council on American-Islamic Relations and on the board of the Council for a Parliament of the World?s Religions. A co-founder of the quarterly American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Syeed served as the publication?s editor-in-chief from 1984 to 1994.

Syeed has appeared on national networks including NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN to discuss Islamic issues in America. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Syeed earned a doctorate in sociolinguistics from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1984