Chaplains and Religious Life

Christian Life at Brown

Those who identify as Christian, as well as those who are curious, questioning, or otherwise unaffiliated to any faith or practice are welcome to explore programming, whether organized by the Chaplaincy or student organizations. The worship and practices are diverse and varied on Brown University's campus.

CHAPLAINCY

The Office of the Chaplains is home to two associate chaplains for Christian communities on campus. Father Edmund McCullough, O.P. serves the Catholic Community and Reverend Del Demosthenes serves the Protestant Community.

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

Alongside the offerings of the Protestant and Catholic chaplaincies, Christian life and activities on Brown's campus are led student organizations. These organizations are advised Religious Life Affiliates (RLAs), in addition to the Student Activities Office, but are each student group is run independently by its members. 

Please see below to read more about the Catholic and Protestant Chaplaincies and Student Organizations at Brown.

Chaplains

Athletes in Action is an interdenominational Christian fellowship for any/all college athletes or athletically minded students! AIA exists to help transform student-athletes into people who will become Total Athletes, people who maximize the unique potential for which God has made them, and people who pursue God in and through sport, academics, service, leadership and their future careers.

We are a Protestant Christian group serving Brown and RISD that gathers to worship God and love people through times in the Word and in prayer and through service.

Brown Staff Christian Fellowship is open to all who identify as a Christian or who are curious about the Christian Faith. Our core members come from a diverse set of traditions. We put Jesus at the center of our lives, our minds and our hearts.Please feel free to enjoy your lunch during this time. It's totally OK to come in late and leave early. The important thing is that you show up. You will be blessed for it.

The Brown-RISD Catholic Community (BRCC) serves the students of Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Our purpose is to offer students opportunities to encounter Jesus Christ and to broaden their appreciation of their Catholic faith. We are a community of faith that strives to know, love, and serve God through divine worship, prayerful study, and charitable action. We are a diverse assembly bound together as a fellowship of believers seeking to communicate the love of God to one another and the broader community.

We are a Christian leadership development group that meets bi-weekly for worship, meals and our leadership lecture series. Our ministry offers students discipleship, fellowship, pastoral leadership, prayer, trainings and retreats. We hold a weekly prayer meeting at our ministry center which includes pancakes! Bible studies are held weekly at our ministry center. All students are welcome!

S. Stephen’s is an Episcopal parish in the Diocese of Rhode Island and is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in the midst of Brown University, it serves the communities of Providence and beyond. S. Stephen’s has stood within the Anglo-Catholic tradition since its founding, and so the Mass or the Eucharist is at the center of our common life, with ancient and timeless ceremonial used to draw attention to the Living God in our very midst. We strive to be a diverse community and come from many various backgrounds, while united in One Body through our Lord Jesus Christ. All students are welcome at every mass.

The Brown Graduate and Medical Student Christian Fellowship encourages and equips graduate and medical students of all ethnicities to live as Christ’s disciples, following Christ as we seek to be a redeeming influence among the people, ideas, and structures of the university and professions. Our four commitments, by God’s grace are: spiritual formation, evangelism and service, multicultural community, and integration of faith, learning and practice.

Protestants@Brown is an Ecumenical Protestant Group overseen by Associate Chaplain of the University for the Protestant Community.

Our mission is to cultivate a vibrant and united Protestant community. As a  newly formed subgroup of the Chaplains' Office, we aim to assemble a diverse council comprising representatives from all existing Protestant groups on campus. This collaborative approach will enable us to enhance our organizational efforts and coordinate a wide range of programs and events for the community.

Our vision includes community service initiatives and the hosting of inter-fellowship social gatherings designed for Protestants of various backgrounds and denominations. Additionally, we're in the process of planning special events such as guest speaker sessions, field trips, and retreats. Protestants@Brown is not supposed to take away from, but become an additive to any religious clubs or ties of your choosing. We wholeheartedly welcome everyone, as we believe there is power in numbers! 

We hold a mid-week Meeting for Worship, with some social time before or after. Other than that, we are a loose group that has not even kept a record of who attends, but it consists of students, staff, and sometimes people not affiliated with Brown.

As a Christian ministry, Salt and Light ultimately seeks to provide a home for students looking to learn about, pursue, or grow their Christian faith in a campus context and through the lens of the Reformed theological tradition. We are officially affiliated with Reformed University Fellowship and have an ordained minister on staff.

Religious Life Affiliates