Marsh Vocation

By lucchesi

A blog post or two ago, I wrote about OUTLook’s upcoming lecture series, and now, here I stand, on the other side. The experience built character, to say the least.

But first, let’s focus on the positives: I learned a lot about two fascinating topics: laws relating to discrimination and the history of HIV/AIDS in America (I was not able to attend the lecture on Evolutionary Biology, but I heard it was fantastic). I got the experience of contacting speakers and following through with getting them to speak.

So then why am I disappointed? I am going to try to parse out some of my complicated feelings about the lecture series. One of my main concerns is that all three lectures had very few attendees, with the middle one having the most attendees only because the professor invited her class to see the event. I thought that I put a lot of effort into inviting people on facebook and reminding them via facebook statuses and posts, and I now realize that the problem was not how much work I put in, but where I directed my efforts. I put most of my eggs in the facebook basket, without putting a ton of attention to flyering and making personal appearances at different group events to advertise.

I feel like I will take this main lesson into planning next year’s programming, but advertising is just the external symptom for a much larger problem. OUTLook was really small this year. From talking to Liz Douglass, the main OUTLook contact, I understand that there have been many more people contacting the chapel for personal meetings to discuss GLBTQ issues and spirituality, but fewer people have been coming to meetings. I have really been thinking about why this might be, and I have come to two conclusions: 1) like the lecture series, better, more directed advertising will help more people know that we exist, or 2) this is just a phase that the group is going through. Civilizations rise and fall, and student groups do so as well.

This led me to realize, though, that I was defining success very narrowly, just in numbers attending the lecture series. Going forth to next year, I really need to try to redefine my notion of what successful planning of the semester and year will look like. On my part, I need to be better at communicating my goals and actually following through with following the appropriate steps to achieve them. I am excited for next year’s OUTLook because I really do think it is time for us to take our rightful place as a much more visible and active part of Religious Life on campus.

posted in Robby, Uncategorized on 12.6.2012 at 1:26 am

By lucchesi

So as obvious as this post might be for this time of year, I really do think it is necessary for me to word vomit all the things that I am thankful for, especially as they relate to Marsh Chapel. This internship has changed my life, and I think taking inventory of all the small things helps the larger picture come into focus.

I am thankful for:

-attending worship with phenomenal music

-being a part of a worship community that embraces other faith traditions

-the ministry staff who put up with the occasional pun war via facebook

-the graduate interns, who show me that there is indeed life after (this round of) college

-the professional staff, who help me discern my next path

-the Gloria Patri that regularly gets stuck in my head

-my fellow undergrad interns for being the most fun people ever]

-for a brilliant weekly monologue (I believe you church people call them sermons) that gives me a fresh perspective

-the beautiful space I have the privilege to worship in every week

-an affirming faith community that lets me fully participate in the parish activities

-anyone out there who reads this blog

-knowing that I will be fed on Sundays and Mondays

So thank you guys so much. Advent approaches (my favorite time of year!) and I hope to continue to take stock of all God has blessed me with this year.

And finally, I leave you with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSBq8geuJk0

Thanks, y’all!

posted in Robby on 11.24.2012 at 8:06 pm

By lucchesi

Great news! OUTLook has a lecture series!

A few of my thoughts about the lecture series first: I understand fully that OUTLook’s constituency is very small; LGBTQ Christians are a bit of a niche, especially in a college setting. Because we don’t directly serve a large population, the lecture series is important because it brings the larger community into our work. This semester, we have three lectures, and although we are an organization through Marsh Chapel, only one of the three lectures directly deals with religion (the first one: see below). All three lectures are specifically designed to be interdisciplinary; we will be exploring queer issues in Religion, Biology, and Law, and we hope to ignite conversation among the diverse groups that will hopefully be attending this lecture.

So onto the main events!

1: AIDS, Sexuality, and the American Church in the 1980′s

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

7:00 p.m., STO B50

Prof. Anthony Petro, Boston University Religion Department

While members of the Christian Right decried the AIDS epidemic as the wrath of God, many more Christians called for care and compassion for victims of the disease and sought to involve the church in fighting AIDS. Protestants and Catholics alike quickly entered public debates regarding politically charged topics such as homosexuality and sex education. Focusing on the first decade of the epidemic in the U.S., this talk will highlight the far-reaching social and political ramifications of Christian participation for the trajectory of AIDS prevention and care.

2. Evolutionary History, Developmental Mechanisms, and Diversity in Human Sexuality

Thursday, November 15, 2012

7:00 p.m., SED 130

Prof. Karen Warkentin, Boston University Biology Department

The prevalence and diversity of non-reproductive sexual behavior, same-sex sexual behavior, and same-sex pairbonding and coparenting now documented in animals call into question common assumptions about functions of sexual behavior and expectations of exclusive heterosexuality. Our growing knowledge of the complexity of mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors combine to affect development also gives us new ways to think about the variation among individuals. I will examine human sexual diversity through these lenses, in the context of our deep and more recent evolutionary history.

3. No Queer Left Behind: LGBT Students’ Education Rights

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

7:00 p.m., STO B50

Prof. Orly Rachmilovitz, Boston University School of Law

Education plays a significant role in shaping one’s view of herself and of the world. As such, schools and universities are a primary source for pressures on young queer people to conform to mainstream straight society. But these environments can also promote respect for sexual diversity and facilitate empowerment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. This talk will address the legal protections for LGBT students whose education rights (access to education, safety from discrimination or harassment, and free speech rights, among others) have been violated by their educators or their fellow students. We will examine the meaning and scope of these rights both in schools and in universities, compare rights violations based on sexual orientation to those based on gender identity, and consider how to improve current law for LGBT students in the future. Participants are highly encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences during the discussion part of the evening.

I hope to see many of you there!

posted in Robby on 10.25.2012 at 11:17 pm

By lucchesi

On Wednesday, I crossed the river over to MIT to hear Bishop Gene Robinson of the Episcopal Church preside, preach, and give a mini talk back over dinner. As someone who works in LGBTQ ministry, I was ecstatic that I was going to be receiving the Eucharist from the person who really put Queer People of Faith (QPF’s, as I like to refer to us) on the map. He had spoken a few weeks ago to a crowd at the Harvard  Bookstore discussing his new book, God Believes in Love: Straight Talk about Gay Marriage, but unfortunately I was too busy watching a four hour, fifteen minute avant garde opera in Brooklyn (I promised in an earlier blog post that I would reflect on that experience here at one point, and I promise, I will! Soon!). The event was sponsored by the Lutheran Episcopal Chaplaincy at MIT; mass was said in the MIT Chapel and dinner served in an adjacent building.

I absolutely MUST go off on a little tangent about the MIT Chapel. I am a huge architecture buff, so visiting MIT’s campus is an absolute delight. The chapel was built in 1955 by a Finnish-American architect I am quite fond of, Eero Saarinen. When I first came upon the building, I admit I thought it was some sort of smokestack or vent for some underground lab, but when I stepped inside, I was surprised at how warm it felt. Once I got out of the vestibule and into the main part of the chapel, I was instantly hit by how much I thought I was in an underground chamber, which I think was a brilliant design choice by Saarinen. It evoked in me a feeling of what it might have been like to be at mass during the early history of the church, literally and figuratively underground. Appropriate, I think, for a conversation about queer spirituality.

Back to the actual event, Bishop Robinson spoke extensively in his homily about how we are all called to be prophets in our own way. As I like to think of it, making the comfortable uncomfortable and the uncomfortable comfortable. Something that he said really resounded with me: the idea that to be a prophet, we have to have a vision for what we want the world to be. I feel that it is easy, when in an activist’s position, to advocate for Change Change Change! when there is little thought put to actually how we want the world to change. I certainly admit to falling prey to this; it is easier to see the way that things aren’t going correctly than to actually find a solution. I think that it is telling that the best prophets are the ones that actually enact social change because they have a clear vision of what the Kingdom of God can look like on earth. Howard Thurman had a vision that we all could find Common Ground, and with this philosophy he nourished a university that challenges its students to find what makes them come alive and to go do it (because what this world needs is people who come alive!).

My work with QPF’s implies one part of my vision for the world: I envision a Church that fully includes and affirms all of its members, not just despite of their differences, but explicitly because of them. It is our differences that make up our identities, and I absolutely believe that we find Common Ground when we discover all that makes us so unique and interesting.

PS: I also blogged about Bishop Robinson and prophetic visions for my Dramaturgy class. I am trying to have a few topics that I blog about both for my CFA class and for this Marsh Chapel blog. Check it out here!

Bishop Robinson and I at MIT

posted in Robby on 10.17.2012 at 10:53 pm

By lucchesi

Today, I had my weekly meeting with one of the internship mentors, and he informed me that our name-tags had finally arrived! This was one of the highlights of my week because I have been waiting for one of these name-tags for a good month. But these aren’t your average sticker, “Hello, my name is:” name-tags. These are name-tags are silver (colored) and have super fancy magnetic backs so that you can keep them on your lapel and not pin a hole in your shirt. They are all etched in a beautiful font, perfectly centered and proportioned, and raise an otherwise average outfit to the next level.

But as nice as these name-tags make me look, there is a much more important reason I was so jazzed about their arrival. As shallow as a pretty name-tag might seem, at this university, those little silver name-tags mean something extremely important: leadership. I had already received one name-tag (from my job as a First Year Student Outreach Project/FYSOP Coordinator through the Community Service Center here at BU), and I used to joke around with people that I would judge my success at this university by how many silver name-tags I could accrue. Currently, the count is three name-tags (I also work in the Orientation Office as an academic year Program Adviser). Wearing one of those name-tags, I not only look official, but I am official. For FYSOP (and also my current Orientation position), the silver name-tag set me apart as someone that parents and/or students could come talk to with questions. Much responsibility is put in the hands of those with the coveted name-tags, and when I received my first silver name-tag for FYSOP, I truly wore it around the office as a badge of honor.

Now when I heard that the name-tags arrived, I think I did a little happy jump, and scuttled quickly into the Ministry office behind Soren ready to pounce on my new accessory.

Low and Behold, the Moment of Truth, And BAM!!! Robbie Lucchesi.

It should be noted that my name is spelled “Robby”.

From the evidence I have collected, this was not an effort at sabotaging my ministry efforts; it was apparently an honest mistake. Someone had written my name correctly, and oddly enough, someone else had “corrected” it from “Robby” to “Robbie”. This is all okay, though, because I wanted my proper name, “Robert”, to appear on the name-tag anyways, so this gave me an excuse to request another one without sounding petulant.

This brought up an interesting thinking point for me, though. I go by Robby to all of my friends and most of the people at Marsh Chapel as well, but I’ve recently tried seeing what would happen in a few classes if I go by Robert instead. Calling me Robert is the vocal equivalent of the silver name-tag. It gives legitimacy and weight to whatever I am saying or doing, and when I am in a ministry setting, I feel that Robert is more appropriate to the role I have. Robby is a pretty loud, outgoing, fun-loving guy, but sometimes worries that people don’t take him as seriously when he is accidentally a bit too rambunctious. However, Robert with his Silver Name-Tag sometimes loses the sense of joy and play that led him to the ministry in the first place. But as I patiently await my new name-tag, I know that as both Robby and Robert, I’ve been trusted with an immense amount of responsibility, and so my challenge moving forth is to find a balance between the two.

And including this sentence and the title, I used “name-tag” twenty times in this post.

posted in Robby on 10.4.2012 at 11:54 pm

By lucchesi

During our clergy ethics training, Soren (our internship advisor) asked the interns a number of questions, the goal being to realize that if we answered “no” to most/all of these questions, we needed to reevaluate the ways we allocate our time. I answered yes to most of them (Do you have significant outside activities? Yes! The Theatre. Do you have people you can talk to outside the ministry setting? Yes! In the Theatre.) and no to only a few (Do you have an exercise routine? Um…working on it). The only question that truly made me pause was one about taking a day off every week for yourself. I could not honestly say that I did, and that was exemplified by the fact that the next day, I was off on a student leadership retreat on Saturday, and then my Marsh Chapel duties on Sunday. I fell seriously behind on work, and I told myself I would complete everything the following weekend, but oh wait, I had planned a trip to New York to see a four hour, fifteen minute avant garde opera (more about how I found God in that during a later blog post). So basically, in addition to my blogging falling behind (sorry guys), I was a week and a half behind in reading and homework for a few other classes as well.

I have been aware that taking time for myself has been an issue since 8^th grade when I was the “yearbook editor” and spent every single recess cooped up in the computer lab organizing photos of my friends who were outside building friendships without me. In high school, I at least learned how to be social within the confines of the mountain of responsibilities I put on myself, and this year, for the first time, in college, I finally learned how to say no to an activity. However, I still find myself falling into the trap of using my one day off, Saturdays, for “work”. I miss the days over the summer when I truly did have time to read a book or go to the beach.

Speaking about books I haven’t had time to read, Abraham Joshua Heschel’s book The Sabbath (see what I did there?). I picked it up because I thought I would be motivated to get to Marsh Chapel early enough for the book club, but let’s be honest: during the week, I start class every day at 8 a.m. except for Thursdays, which start at 9:30 a.m., so the extra hour on Sunday mornings really means a lot to me in a purely selfish, superficial way. I read the introduction, and it sounds like a great book, and it relates to my struggle to find a significant amount of time every week to just let me relax in God’s presence. So I am using this blog as a contract to myself that I will read The Sabbath and finish it by Thanksgiving. It is not a huge read, so I am also hoping I can get it done by the end of October. And one I am done, I will, in a blog post, explore my relationship with my day off.

My habit for scheduling out my Saturdays to the millisecond with “fun” activities has made me lose touch with a number of things, namely the joy that I used to experience in being spontaneous. And although I never want to be one of those people who schedules spontaneity into their day, I need to follow my impulses more and take a greater risk every once in a while. I believe that this is what the Sabbath can mean for me personally as I intentionally explore what it means to take time for God, and thus take time for myself.

posted in Robby on 09.29.2012 at 7:51 pm

By lucchesi

My name is Robert Lucchesi (although once you get to know me you can call me Robby), and I am one of the Marsh Associate Interns for the 2012-2013 academic year! I am honored and humbled to be working with the Chapel at the literal center of Boston University. I am a Theatre Arts major in the College of Fine Arts and a Religion minor in the College of Arts and Sciences. When I got to college, I was quite sure that I wanted to pursue a life in the Theatre, but after a tumultuous freshman year, I began to doubt that theatre was truly what God was calling me to do. By sophomore year, I began to discern what my next step would be at BU; I knew transferring or changing majors was an option, but theatre was still my creative passion. I am incredibly blessed in the School of Theatre to have an immense amount of flexibility in my schedule, so at the beginning of this most recent summer, I decided to stay in CFA and pursue ministry through my Religion minor and outside activities. After I graduate, I want to volunteer for a year or two and then pursue a Masters of Divinity degree.

My interests in religion are twofold: academic and ministerial. From an academic standpoint, I enjoy studying the intersections of Art and Architecture History and Religion. I see the creative impulses of artists as expressions of God’s grace and presence in our lives, and art, whether it is visual or performing, has always been a tool for me to explore my personal relationship with what I see as the ultimate creator. From a more practical and ministerial perspective, I focus on ministry towards the LGBTQ community. Queer people of faith face unique challenges in both the LGBTQ community and religious communities worldwide, and I hope to help empower us, especially youth and young adults, to challenge the perception that religion and sexuality always have to be at odds. I will be the student leader for OUTLook, the LGBTQ ministry group at Marsh Chapel, and I hope to facilitate dialogue and fellowship that strengthens our community of believers.

So if you interested in having a conversation, email me!: lucchesi@bu.edu. Also, I am blogging (under the username roblucchesi) for another blog for my Dramaturgy class, and I plan to discuss a lot more religion and art over there (not to mention, you can read other posts written by my brilliant classmates!).

God Bless

Robert

posted in Robby on 09.11.2012 at 9:23 pm