Vision, Values and Goals

VISION
The Spiritual Life Center is here to serve, support, nurture and celebrate the spiritual and religious well-being of every person at NU. It aspires to be a place of welcome, connection, learning, service, respect and growth for the NU community and beyond.

VALUES
The vision of the Spiritual Life Center is expressed with regard for these core values:

• Spiritual Development
  through exploration, education, and sacred attention
  
• Personal Integration
  through a healthy balance of body, mind, and spirit
  
• Spiritual Expression
  through sharing, service to others, and personal integrity
  
• Community Development
  through groups, programs, and collaborative efforts
  
• Respect and Harmony
  through diversity, appreciation, and interfaith cooperation

GOALS
The vision of the Spiritual Life Center is expressed through the accomplishment of these general goals:

• Nurture spiritual growth...
  Build campus awareness of the role and importance of spirituality. Encourage an NU vision that institutionally honors the spiritual well-being of those in its campus community, local neighborhood, and greater world community. Nurture each individual's spiritual journey.
  
• Support religious education, practice, and tradition...
  Offer accessible appropriate worship and meeting space, spiritual resources and materials, a strong diverse team of staff and chaplains, and a range of worship and program opportunities.
  
• Celebrate diversity and multi-faith/ ecumenical engagement...
  Foster respect for diversity among and within faith traditions. Serve and support those who are marginalized within their faith communities, and those who hold to no particular spiritual tradition. Build a campus atmosphere of active interfaith dialogue and cooperative engagement which promotes both respect for "the other," as well as a healthy commitment to one’s own belief.
  
• Build community...
  Offer programs and groups that encourage true and healthy relationships among people. Support campus systems that assist each student to succeed and be upheld by a caring community, even in challenging times. Create and support opportunities for people to gather.
  
• Encourage life balance, wellness, and fulfillment...
  Help improve the overall quality of life for those at NU. Support personal well-being, healing, and a holistic view of the self as a way to access greater clarity and joy in life. Offer training in practices that support spiritually healthy responses to stress, and reduce destructive or addictive behaviors.
  
• Advance service, justice, and integrity...
  Foster a program of social action and volunteerism in the community which is informed at its root by spiritual values and imperatives.  Help integrate ethical and moral concerns into daily campus, community, and professional life.
  
• Uphold academic success, leadership, and learning...
  Advance the institution's educational goals by offering co-curricular educational programs. Create opportunities to experience faith practices, which complement the academic study of religion. Offer leadership training with a concern for spiritual principles and values. Reward positive spiritual leadership through faith-based scholarships and other forms of recognition.
  
• Foster responsible global citizenship...
  Help build cultural competencies through travel for service and discovery. Support the unique spiritual needs of international students. Offer peace-building skills in a religiously diverse world.