The Ark Five College Episcopal Center is a ministry of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts located on the campus of University of Massachusetts, dedicated to the development of alternative forms of Christian experience. Engaging this time of dramatic cultural change as an exciting opportunity for experimentation, the Ark is a place where students, faculty, and people from the area are invited to participate in worship, as well as such events as musical performances, art exhibits, academic seminars, study groups, public lectures, and the simple hospitality it offers. In the same way that the medieval monastery was “the shopping mall of the Middle Ages” rather than a sequestered mausoleum, the Ark seeks to live in the world in all its evident bounty, using the arts and learning as means to explore the nature and life of God.

To this end, The Ark plays host to a variety of programs, including concerts and art shows by students, faculty, and artists from the area; undergraduate classes such as “Belief” and “Homelessness and Shelter”; The God and Science Project, which presents scientists reflecting upon the intersection between science and religion; lectures concerning the role of religion in the political arena; and film nights and other social gatherings in which to relax from the stresses of life in the Pioneer Valley.

Recognizing the cultural divide that too often exists between the church and the world in which we live, the Ark is a community where all are welcome, and where diversity is embraced as a precious and irreplaceable gift of human life. In this spirit, questions and hesitancies about religious faith are valued as much as the answers that might emerge. In short, you are welcome at The Ark.