by Aaron Butts
For many at Capital, Pastor Amy Oehlschlaeger is the woman who gives the prayers at events like the tree lighting or convocation.
But there is a lot more to Capital’s campus minister than what one might see from the pulpit.
According to Pastor Amy, her job description goes beyond what one might see in church.
She described a part of her job as this: “Listening to a lot of students and offering pastoral care when they are grieving, or when they are having roommate issues or anything that’s going on in their lives.
A lot of students just stop by to talk and I’m here to listen,” Oehlschlaeger said.
But her job for the past five years here at Capital goes further than just helping students.
“I interact with faculty as well,” she said. “A number of the staff seek me out for consul on a number of things.” She helps to run a class with faculty on Hope, as well as offers devotions at faculty meetings.
According to Oehlschlaeger, a big part of her job is being there for people.
“When there’s a crisis on campus, or when something happens, it’s good to have someone to be there and to meet with faculty and staff and also to offer the language of the church to our campus,” she said.
When asked about her title at Capital as the campus minister, she laughed and said,
“I’m the designated spiritual leader of the campus.” Her roles are not limited to merely Christians. She is an advisor for a few different Christian organizations on campus, but also to the Capital Interfaith Association which she really enjoys.
“One thing that I went to recently that I thought was cool was the atheist and agnostic panel that the Capital Interfaith Association put together,” she said.
What many students may not know about her is her life outside of her office. She is a lover of art, and got to study some of it while she was in college, studying abroad in Rome.
“I took classes like renaissance and baroque art history. So I got to see paintings by Raphael, or Michelangelo and gave my oral report on the Pieta in St. Peter’s Basilica, which is one of the most fabulous works of art.”
She has traveled to many foreign countries beyond her study abroad in college.
Recently, she took a group of students from Capital and from Trinity Seminary to Germany with Dr. Joy Schroeder and explored the sites of the reformation, and she has also taken numerous trips to Africa and the Caribbean.
But Oehlschlaeger stressed that although there are incredible things to be seen overseas, there is also plenty to see around here.
“You can travel to far off places, but I’m also discovering that you can just take a weekend or a day and go someplace local,” she said.
“Ohio has not only a lot of great art, but also a lot of great history, from the presidents to my trip to Dayton where I learned all about Orville and Wilbur Wright.”
She admitted that her love for history and art has been her obsession.
“I started to keep a list of all of the art museums I’ve been to. It’s about three pages long,” she said.
“I’ve tried to visit all of the art museums in Ohio, and I’ve seen all of them but two: Akron and Toledo. I collect art museums you might say.”
Another hobby that excites her is dance.
“I really like to dance and take ballroom dancing classes every week,” she said. “This week, Orchesis invited me to dance in their program, but I had to turn them down because it is the same day as ecumenical advocacy day.
But I’m hoping next year it won’t be, and I can show off my tango!”
Pastor Amy encourages any student who may want to talk, to please come visit her in the basement of the campus center, or meet with her off campus at Cup o’ Joe or Starbucks because “students sometimes share a lot more when they’re not here at Capital.”
abutts@capital.edu
