In the mid-nineteen seventies, the United Ministry at Harvard University wrestled with the idea of welcoming into membership a non-supernatural religious counselor. Persuaded that naturalistic ethics could serve a religious purpose and that a portion of the student body would identify with it, the Harvard Chaplains took a chance and admitted him into membership. Ethical Humanism would be represented by Thomas Ferrick, who had the right credentials. He had been a Catholic Chaplain at Dartmouth College and at Boston State College and possessed an advanced degree in Counseling. He was sponsored by the American Humanist Association, the American Ethical Union, and the Friends of Religious Humanism.
Over the succeeding three decades, Tom worked out of his office in the basement of the Memorial Church, Harvard Yard, where students would find a warm welcome, and other chaplains came to chat. With strong student leadership he helped found the Harvard Secular Society and worked hard to win an endowment for the Chaplaincy, a gift of the late John Langeloth Loeb. Within the United Ministry, Ferrick labored on behalf of inclusiveness and pluralism, and saw the admission of Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Mormons, and Evangelical Christians, thus helping the United Ministry to become possibly the largest and most diverse group of Chaplains at any university in the world. Religious Freedom, and the personal right of every individual to determine the meaning of his or her life were at the heart of Tom’s ministry.
At his recent retirement, the United Ministry conferred Honorary Membership on him, a status he thoroughly enjoys. Tom lives on the edge of Harvard Square and is a member of the Dunster Senior Common Room. Most importantly, he remains active in the Harvard community, available to students, and ever ready to give a helping hand to his successor, Greg Epstein.
To read a profile of Tom Ferrick in Harvard Magazine, click here.