Mosley Sees Chapel as 'Untapped Resource'
Duke Chapel may dominate campus architecture, but the building is too often overlooked on the academic landscape, according to Albert D. Mosley, the university's new assistant dean of the chapel and director of religious life.
Whether it is a conversation about academic integrity, excessive drinking or even multiculturalism, the Duke Chapel and its religious life staff offer a "very much untapped resource," he said. "I don't know how or why, but we seem often to be excluded from the discussions. It just seems logical to me that we would be there for that."
The viewpoints offered by members of Duke's religious life staff go beyond the spiritual and academic to experience outside the ivory tower.
"Most of our people have been in churches. They've worked with congregations and have been involved in counseling programs," said Mosley, 27, who has served as an associate pastor at a number of North Carolina and Mississippi churches, including a 1999 appointment as the organizing pastor of a multiracial, multicultural congregation in downtown Jackson, Miss. "We've read the books, but we've also dealt with the real world."
Increasing the visibility of the campus religious life staff is one of several goals for the upcoming academic year, said Mosley. He also wants to increase student participation in campus ministries and strengthen the chapel's relationship with student organizations.
"Our primary mission is to be of service to students," he explained. "There are certainly ways that we can get involved in student life that don't necessarily have to be religious in nature. Of course, if a student should express an interest in what else we can offer them, we're more than interested in showing them that, too."
Mosley's decision to join the religious life staff is actually a homecoming.
Born and raised in rural Shuqualak, Miss., Mosley graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., with a degree in molecular biology. He had planned to enroll in medical school, but shifted gears in 1995 by entering the Duke Divinity School. He earned a master of divinity degree three years later.
An active member of the campus community, Mosley served as president of the Divinity School Student Body and the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association. He was a founding member of the Samuel DuBois Cook Society and a member of President Nannerl O. Keohane's Committee on Black Affairs.
Mosley also served as co-convener of the National Black Graduate Student Conference held on the Duke and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campuses. While at Duke, he received the Jameson Jones Preaching Award, the Julian Abele Appreciation Award and the William J. Griffith University Service Award.
After completing his master's degree at Duke, Mosley went on to receive his master of sacred theology degree from Yale University in 1999. He also has traveled and studied abroad, with academic sojourns in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Poland, Germany and England.
Mosley returned to Mississippi in mid-1999 to develop the Jackson congregation and to serve as an adjunct instructor at Millsaps. He returned to Durham this summer with his wife, Olivia, and son, Avery Dahzee, to join the religious life staff.
"Albert brings us a knowledge of what it is like to be a student at Duke. He understands the academic environment," said Dean of the Chapel William H. Willimon. "And he brings to us the heart of a pastor."
Mosley is aware that the campus has an increasingly diverse religious environment, Willimon said. It will be his job to build bridges to the student body while maintaining relationships with the more than 20 different recognized religious groups on campus.
"Keeping everyone talking to each other and cooperating with each other continues to be a challenge for us," Willimon said. "Albert sees that as his role. He enjoys making connections. He's a very outgoing person who will be a dynamic and engaging spokesperson for religious life at Duke."