The Office of the Chaplain commences new religious program 

A Simple Meal: centered around bread and grape juice.  

“Simple” may sound like an overly gracious term to describe this meal, but the heartiness of Wofford’s newest religious program, A Simple Meal, intends to rest in the message, not the menu. 

The first gathering for A Simple Meal, meant to be a weekly non-denominational program, was held at 5:15 p.m. on Wed. Feb. 20 in Wofford’s Mickel Chapel. The chapel’s location below Leonard Auditorium in Old Main offered a quiet setting for students to worship.  

As students trickled into the chapel, sophomore Will Haltiwanger ‘22 played gentle hymns on the piano to set the tone for the service. The college’s chaplain, Reverend Ron Robison, welcomed everyone after they were seated, offering the words, “Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” He then explained the concept of A Simple Meal, reassuring those in the rows of chairs before him that all were welcome, no matter how great or how modest their faith.  

“Rev Ron’s” welcome was followed by an invitation to sing the traditional hymn, “Come Thou Fount,” led by Ally McDonough ‘22 and Grayson Carter ’22 and accompanied by Haltiwanger on the piano. The group then joined in reciting the Lord’s Prayer in unison.  

Carter Rief, ’19, presented a concise but impactful message explaining and responding to John 10: 11-15, which reads:  

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and they know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”  

Rief focused on the “I am” statements Jesus makes in this passage and in other parables and explained them as “tool[s] Jesus uses…to get us familiar with who he is.” He also unpacked the metaphorical relations in the passage, in which the sheep parallel God’s children and the shepherd parallels Christ—the latter more explicitly stated in the verses.  

He noted both how humbling it is to be considered sheep, whose “wisdom and knowledge are truly bound up and incomplete,” as well as how comforting it is to know that Christ is “the good shepherd” who lays down his life for his people. In light of this, Rief reminded those gathered that, according to Christian principle, “we have the opportunity to know Christ’s intimacy.”  

To conclude his portion of the service, Rief acknowledged the distractions abuzz at school and in life which complicate the goal to hear Christ’s voice, but ended by saying, “our hope and prayer is that this place, each week, is a place where we can be oriented around that truth [of Christ’s love].” 

After Rief’s words, Rev Ron reapproached the front of the chapel, reflected on the message that had just been shared, and led the congregation in a prayer of thanksgiving before inviting all to join in the sacrament of communion, or a blessing, if their religion does not permit them to take communion in that setting. Communion, Robinson explained, is for “those who have much faith [and] those who have little faith.” A number of students served as communion assistants, sharing the words “the body of Christ, broken for you” and “the blood of Christ, shed for you” as those who wished to partake of the sacrament were offered symbolic wafers and juice.  

After communion, during which Haltiwanger again played soft hymns, all were invited to light a candle and nestle it in a bowl of sand as a visual representation of a prayer offering. When all who wished to participate had received communion, Robinson shared a benediction and invited everyone to join in conversation and soup afterwards. 

A Simple Meal is sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain and WAGS (Wofford Angel Guild) and will be held weekly at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday’s in Mickel Chapel. For more information, contact Elizabeth Shields: [email protected], Rev Ron: [email protected], or Carter Rief: [email protected].  

Caption: The first gathering for A Simple Meal saw a packed house in Mickel Chapel.