University officials announced early Tuesday morning that the Rev. Linda Morgan-Clement, chaplain and director of interfaith campus ministry at The College of Wooster in Ohio, is the second finalist for the University of Richmond's permanent chaplain position.
The Rev. Craig Kocher of Duke University, the second candidate under consideration, will briefly speak and answer questions from community members at 3 p.m. today in Jepson Hall room 120. Morgan-Clement will meet with a handful of students at 4 p.m. Wednesday, ahead of a 3 p.m. general introductory meeting Thursday in Jepson Hall room 118.
At The Collegian's request, the office of university communications has agreed to videotape the sessions of both chaplaincy candidates. The videos will be posted on the chaplaincy's Web site Thursday night for several days after to allow students, faculty and staff to view them and offer feedback, said Lisa Van Riper, vice president of university communications.
Additional instructions will be released Thursday in Spiderbytes, Van Riper said, but students, faculty and staff would need their university login and password to access the videos. A feature will allow feedback on the candidates to be sent to Ann Lloyd Breeden, secretary to the Board of Trustees and the university official running the chaplaincy search.
Acting Chaplain Kate O'Dwyer Randall is not expected to attend either forum because she is on vacation.
Morgan-Clement, a member of the U.S. Presbyterian Church and president of the Presbyterian College Chaplains Association, has developed the chaplain program at Wooster since 1996, working with students of different faiths, religious groups and staff on campus, according to the announcement.
She is an adjunct faculty member in the Religious Studies department, has been a delegate to the Consultation on Church Union, a commissioner to the General Assembly of the U.S. Presbyterian Church and served on Presbytery committees.
Morgan-Clement has worked on women's advocacy, worship planning, advocacy for racial and ethnic concerns, training for committees on ministry, interim pastors training and new pastor
training. She earned a bachelor's from Carroll College in Helena, Mont., a master's of
divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, and a doctor of ministry from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
The second candidate, Kocher (pronounced COKE-er), joined the Duke University Chapel staff in 2003 as assistant dean and director of religious life. In 2007, he was promoted to associate dean and director of religious life.
Kocher directs the work of 25 religious life groups on Duke's campus and was associate pastor at Davidson United Methodist Church before arriving at Duke. He was also campus minister to Davidson College.
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After earning a bachelor's in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he received his master's in divinity from Duke Divinity School. Currently, Kocher is completing a Master of Theology at the divinity school and is working on his doctorate at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., with focus on the intersection of faith and campus culture.
An ordained elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, Kocher has been published in Pulpit Resource, The Christian Century and The Journal of College Values.
Contact The Collegian's editor-in-chief at editor@thecollegianur.com
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