Other Details

Whitworth University has long been an institution that has sought to provide access to and flourishing for students from underrepresented populations in higher education. This meant including women in the college from its founding in 1890, welcoming one of the first African American students to college in the Pacific Northwest in the first decade of the 1900s, and inviting interned Japanese American students to enroll at Whitworth during WWII. Whitworth has taken bold steps to become the kind of Christian community that recognizes God’s heart for equity, justice, and flourishing, particularly for students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. This commitment has led to significant developments that include an expanded Office of Student Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, the establishment of a Chief Diversity Officer who serves on the President’s Cabinet, and this position in Campus Ministry that specifically works for the Christian spiritual flourishing for our Black, Indigenous, & People of Color students. “These developments have helped support our BIPOC population which has expanded from about 11% to 32% over the past 10 years.”

Although Whitworth is an unapologetically Christian institution, honoring the sole Lordship of Jesus Christ as witnessed to in Christian Scripture, students attending Whitworth are not expected or required to be Christians. As a result, we have a diversity of religious beliefs as well. In our pluralistic community, we openly and boldly seek to help all students have as many opportunities as possible to take steps closer to Jesus. We do this while celebrating students’ cultural heritage and each student’s journey of faith.

The Campus Ministry Team is committed to communicating the good news of Jesus in a way that recognizes the cosmic nature of Jesus’ redemptive work, that through the blood of the cross, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things (Colossians 1:19-20). This is demonstrated in our commitment to a gospel that seeks to hold together Jesus and justice—the call to love God and love neighbor—not as competing pursuits but as ones that cannot be separated. Our faith in Jesus leads us to care about things God cares about. This is exemplified in numerous ways, including the Campus Ministry team’s efforts to hire students that reflect our student diversity, our engagement with books and speakers that help us grow in God’s heart for racial justice and the flourishing of all, and the hiring of a Graduate Assistant for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Ministries to work with the Associate Chaplain.

The Associate Chaplain for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Ministries is housed within our Whitworth University Campus Ministry team. The position would be full time, one of three campus pastors. This role is responsible for shepherding a Christ-centered ministry for our university community (along side other campus pastors), particularly attending to our BIPOC and historically underrepresented populations. Job responsibilities include leading ministry programs (chapel services, small groups, etc), pastoral care, and collaborating with other campus partners and departments. A full job description can be found on our website.