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September 11, 2018 – David Finnegan-Hosey has filled the Barton college vacancy of college chaplain and director of campus ministries, which has been vacant since the fall of 2017 when former chaplain Jamie Eubanks departed.
Finnegan-Hosey obtained his master’s of divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He also studied clinical pastoral education at the National Institute of Health. While attending Wesley Theological Seminary, he completed an internship at American University. His experience work- ing with the students at American University contributed to his passion for higher education religious life.
Finnegan-Hosey described his devotion to working with students. “I love working with students who are starting to ask really big questions, who are coming into their own terms of what they believe, who are starting to question the beliefs they grew up with,” he said.
Prior to starting his career at Barton, Finnegan-Hosey served as a residential chaplain at George- town University in Washington, D.C. He lived in a first year residence hall with 400 first year students, providing “spiritual care for students of any or no religious background.”
In his role as chap- lain at Barton, Finnegan-Hosey provides spiritual and pastoral care for students and faculty and implements service and justice initiatives by collaborating with a representative from AmeriCorps.
As the campus ministries director, Finnegan-Hosey’s main responsibility is engaging students in religious life and spiritual growth by serving as the adviser for religious organizations on campus and creating programming that connects students of different faiths.
Finnegan-Hosey described three things that attracted him to this position at Bar- ton: the first was “the name of the position and the multiple roles the position plays which engages [his] passion and sense of calling and vocation”, the second was the “size of campus as it was a similar size to [his] undergrad where [he] felt known and where people knew [his] name,” and the third was that fact that he has family in North Carolina so the location of the position was “perfect.”
Since arriving on campus, the chaplain’s main goal has been to connect and engage with students who have not had a chaplain as a resource for some time. Because it has been almost a year since Eubanks departed, Finnegan-Hosey believes it is important for the Barton community to fully understand his role and the chapel’s role on campus.
One of his long term goals is to help create a campus-wide focus of spirituality, vocation and around questions of meaning and purpose.
In addition to meeting more students, Finnegan-Hosey is in the process of developing a common worship service on Thursday nights in the chapel commons which is a more collaborative worship service, giving students the opportunity to shape the program. He is also planning on hosting “Table Talks” in the dining hall to foster discussion around “spiritual growth and religious life topics” outside of the chapel doors.
Finnegan-Hosey’s office is located on the bottom floor of Hardy Alumni Hall and welcomes all members of the Barton community to reach out to him if they need anything.
By Alyssa Lanphear
Managing Editor
