New Canterbury House opens as religious on campus

Episcopal Campus Ministry — a community that operates through the Canterbury Fellowship at IU — has opened a new house on Seventh Street.

Linda Johnson, the Episcopal chaplain and president of the IU Campus Religious Leaders Association, said the Canterbury House will be a spiritual home to all students, faculty and staff.

“We have different rooms in our house for services such as Christianity, Buddhism and Koran,” Johnson said. “The house is an Episcopal House — that is our identity — but is open to any religion and any tradition.”

Johnson said the Ministry has been around since 1960s, but this is the first time it has a house for most of its services. However, the ministry’s regular Thursday service will still be at Trinity Episcopal Church on 111 S. Grant St.

The planning phase for the house construction started three years ago, Johnson said, and it only needs minor finishing touches. Johnson said service attendance in the new house has been good.

“There were about 40 to 50 students usually there at the service, all in good faiths,” Johnson said.

She also said though the house is known for the worship and spiritual support for Anglican tradition, the ministry is also working to open its doors for all faiths.

Johnson said Sandy Britton, the Leo R. Dowling International Center director, approached her after a service, asking the possibility of having Muslim students to come to the house to have prayers.

“I said yes,” Johnson said. “That would be a wonderful thing to do. We try to create intercultural conversations.”


— Kevin Wang