Job Description

Job no: 493086

Work type: Staff Full Time - Full Year

Location: Lewiston, ME

Categories: Other Departments: Equity & Inclusion

Title: Multifaith Chaplain

Position Purpose:

The Multifaith Chaplain, reporting to the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, assumes primary responsibility for the management and development of spiritual life of Bates College.

Job Duties:

• Honoring and uplifting religious and spiritual life at Bates.
• Coordinating multifaith outreach and programming for the campus in cooperation with the diverse religious and spiritual communities represented at the college.
• Supporting and working closely with student leaders from student-led religious and spiritual groups.
• Offering spiritual conversation and guidance to students, staff, and faculty.
• Routinely meeting with the President to prepare for institutional ceremonies and advise on campus climate for spiritual and religious life.
• Providing care to individuals and to the campus as a whole as necessary, particularly with respect to crisis intervention and support.
• Serving as a confidential resource for students, staff, and faculty under Bates’ Title IX and Civil Rights policies, including for community members affected by grief and sexual assault.
• Hiring, mentoring, and collaborating with student Multifaith Fellows on programs related to spiritual life that facilitate meaningful connections and spiritual wellness.
• Approving, supporting, and managing cooperative relationships with Associate Chaplain and Spiritual Advisors who are endorsed by external religious bodies to serve as spiritual leaders for student religious organizations and the campus community.
• Overseeing initiatives to advance religious pluralism on campus and deepen the bonds of belonging and community.
• Officiating at funerals, weddings, etc. for the campus community as needed.
• Planning and implementing lectures, seminars, and series that explore and promote the intellectual and ethical dimensions of spiritual life.
• Working with students on, and taking primary responsibility for, the annual Baccalaureate event on Commencement Weekend.
• Providing leadership for and participating in college ceremonies (e.g., Opening Convocation, Memorial Tree Planting, Commencement, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day programming, Reunion Weekend ceremonies, etc.).
• Representing the Multifaith Chaplaincy on a variety of college committees and in community meetings.
• Managing office personnel and budget; developing job descriptions, hiring, and supervising the work of office personnel such as the Assistant or Associate Chaplain and Program Coordinator.
• Stewarding the Peter J. Gomes Chapel and related sacred space for worship and contemplation on campus.
• Overseeing office publications, website, and publicity.
• Designing, refining, and implementing relevant policies.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education

• Graduate degree in religious, theological, or spiritual studies, or related field, from an accredited institution.
• Credentials and authorization appropriate to one’s own religious community and/or tradition.

Experience

Experience in a comparable professional position in the religious and spiritual life office of an accredited college or university.

Skills and Knowledge

• Commitment to equity and inclusion, and serving the needs of a culturally and educationally diverse community.
• Demonstrated commitment to the mission of Bates College and to the highest ethical standards.
• Understanding of and commitment to the goals of liberal arts education broadly and to Bates’ mission of “educating the whole person.”
• Commitment to a student-centered approach and enthusiasm for working closely with students.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in an environment that prizes and promotes access, community and belonging for all members of the campus community.
• Desire, knowledge, and ability to work effectively with people of all cultural backgrounds and religious traditions and with those who have no formal religious affiliation and/or who are openly skeptical about such affiliations; demonstrated ability to treat all people with respect and regard knowledge of, commitment to and experience in a wide variety of issues relating to social justice.
• Demonstrated creativity in ritual planning and leadership across many religious traditions.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively; dedication to a team model.
• Excellent speaking, writing, and organizational skills.
• Excellent supervisory skills.

Benefits:

Bates College offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits (health, dental, sick leave, 24 days of vacation, 2 personal days, 13 paid holidays, dependent care subsidy, free parking, access to library and athletic facilities & more), and a supportive, collegial environment in a drug and smoke-free workplace.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

Bates College is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and providing an educational and work environment free from discrimination. The college prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status and other legally protected statuses in the recruitment and admission of its students, in the administration of its education policies and programs, or in the recruitment of its faculty and staff. Bates College adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations. All college faculty, staff, students, contractors, visitors, and volunteers are responsible for understanding and complying with the Non-Discrimination Policy.

Inquiries concerning the college’s policies, compliance with applicable laws, statutes, and regulations (such as Title VII, Title IX, and ADA/Section 504), and complaints may be directed to Gwen Lexow, Title IX Officer, 207-786-6445 or via email at glexow@bates.edu.

About Bates:

Bates is internationally recognized as a leading liberal arts college, attracting 2,000 students from across the U.S. and around the world.

Since 1855, Bates has been dedicated to educating the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. Committed to opportunity and excellence, Bates has always admitted students without regard to gender, race, religion, or national origin.

Cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action, Bates prepares leaders sustained by a love of learning and zeal for responsible stewardship of the wider world. Bates engages the forces — intellectual trends, demographic changes, and technology — that are transforming higher education and the world into which our students graduate.

Bates has highly competitive admissions, graduates over 90 percent of its entering students, and more than half of its alumni earn graduate degrees. Bates employs 200 faculty members and 550 staff.

The college is proud of deep roots in the Lewiston/Auburn community, Maine’s second-largest urban area with a population of approximately 65,000. Bates is located on a beautiful, 133-acre, traditional New England campus in Lewiston, an emerging city with an entrepreneurial climate, a lively arts scene, and a dynamic business community. Bates is 35 miles north of Portland, 140 miles north of Boston, and 350 miles north of New York City.

Advertised: 12 Jan 2026

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