During the 2024-2025 school year, the Lutheran Center has been lucky to have seven Interfaith Fellows working in the center. The Interfaith Fellows program was started in 2020 to give students an opportunity to learn about the diversity of religious expression on St. Olaf’s campus and to connect more deeply across lines of religious difference. This year, our Interfaith Fellows have created and led student-focused programming, supported the programming of the center, and learned about and engaged with a religious tradition other than their own. As the year comes to an end, the Interfaith Fellows wanted to share some final thoughts on what they learned and how this experience will continue to shape their sense of self and community:

From Branko Dubravcic Suarez ‘25:

During my time as an Interfaith Fellow, I was able to learn from a variety of religions, spiritualities, meaning-making sources, and about myself and what truly nourishes me. I had the privilege of learning from other Interfaith Fellows and staff members about their traditions, vocations, and ways to engage with others along lines of religious differences. One of the highlights from my time as an Interfaith Fellow was working with a team of Fellows in creating a space for queer religious/spiritual folks on campus. We went through some months of planning and engaging with different centers on campus (the Ministry Office and Taylor Center), asking for student feedback, and talking with Peter, Deanna, and Pippa on ways to make this idea a reality. There are many religious and queer groups on campus, but we did not find a group that was both religious and queer, so we believed that creating such a space was important to keep building community on campus. This last semester we started the “Queer Interfaith Circle,” a space for students to build community and talk about topics such as queer history, religious text, and vocation. I got especially excited to see new faces there, hear testimonies from queer peers navigating their religious and nonreligious lives, and have allies joining us to learn more about how to better  support their queer friends. As the year (and my time at St Olaf) comes to an end, I feel very grateful for my work at the Lutheran Center, everything I learned, and all the amazing people I met there.

From Lucy Lindgren ‘25:

I have thoroughly enjoyed working as an Interfaith Fellow this year. From planning and facilitating events to having the opportunity to learn in depth about faith traditions to the incredible staff members and student Interfaith Fellows who created a wonderful work environment, the time I spent in the Lutheran Center and supporting events was simply a joy. A project that has been especially meaningful to me this semester has been creating the Queer Interfaith Circle with Branko Dubravcic Suarez and Addie Flesch. It has been immensely fulfilling to work on this project and see it grow from an idea to a reality. Every other Monday we gathered for dinner, fellowship, and time to discuss our personal experiences with the intersection of faith and queer identity. Over six sessions we covered a variety of topics including religious texts and traditions, vocation, queer history, and peace, and were incredibly honored to host Rev. Dr. Matt Marohl, Rav Michaela Brown, Rev. Peter Carlson Schattauer, and Dr. Jaden Janak as guest speakers. Through working on this project, I have gained valuable experience in event coordination and interfaith leadership, and formed meaningful connections, including friendships that I look forward to nurturing for years to come. To those who helped create this group – through planning, attending, and sharing your presence and story with us – thank you. I feel so blessed to have worked with you, spent time with you, and collaborated in making something close to our hearts into a reality.

From Addie Flesch ‘26:

The importance of interfaith work grows as our society becomes more divisive politically, socially, and religiously. The aim of the Interfaith Fellows is to promote dialogue across lines of religious difference to the St. Olaf community. Throughout my time as a fellow, I reflected on my own religion as an ELCA Lutheran and the connections I found amongst other religious or spiritual practices. I chose to learn more about Native American Spirituality this semester and had the opportunity to have a discussion with Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy – Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion, member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and pastor. Dr. Sherman-Conroy is the first Native woman to earn a PhD in theology within the ELCA, connecting her spirituality with Christianity as another way to deepen her relationship with God. My conversation with Dr. Sherman-Conroy began a spring semester of conversations around individual’s meaning making systems and values. I helped lead a Death over Dinner conversation where 10 students gathered over a meal to discuss death and dying. While not explicitly a religious conversation, meaning making systems naturally come up in conversation while thinking about death. I also helped lead the pilot semester of the Queer Interfaith Circle with Lucy and Branko that created a space on campus for students to talk about their queer identities and faith. After facilitating and participating in these conversations, I learned the importance of curiosity and active listening. Conversing with someone who is different from you is not about thinking of your response while they are talking but just listening. As a religion major, I have learned about different world religions but my work as an Interfaith Fellow has shown me that religion is always individualised. Interfaith work is about listening to an individual’s stories to connect across differences.

From Emery Jansen ‘26:

Thinking about my year as an Interfaith Fellow, I am struck by the applicability of the skills I developed to other areas of my life. My work challenged me to grow interpersonally and deepen my understanding of concurrent coursework. Engaging with the plurality inherent within and between religious traditions equipped me for discussions of method and aim within the study of religion. I am learning to explore complexity within myself and others around me—to recognize the truth in many, often conflicting, things all at once. And in doing so, I hope to better myself as a member of the St. Olaf community.

From Zach Martin ‘26:

A highlight of the year for me was attending a Unitarian Universalist (UU) service! As part of a project called Connecting Across Lines of Religious Difference, I engaged more deeply with the UU tradition. One of the ways I did this was by attending a service at the nearby Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northfield. I attended near the beginning of April and the speaker’s topic was, fittingly, fools and foolishness. From the reading of Plato’s allegory of the cave to a musical performance featuring guitar and harmonica, the service was fun and interesting – not at all what I expected at a church service! I am glad my work as an Interfaith Fellow gave me the opportunity to try something new that I likely would not otherwise have enjoyed.

We are so grateful for all the ways that our Interfaith Fellows showed up this year to reflect on their own systems of meaning-making and to connect across lines of religious difference. Their willingness to connect and collaborate, curiosity, spiritual humility, and “rooted openness” is admirable in a world where certainty and division are celebrated. Next year, we have 13 Interfaith Fellows joining our team and look forward to sharing with you about all that they do!