Editing Stanford University (section)

=== Religious life ===
Students and staff at Stanford are of many different religions. The Stanford Office for Religious Life's mission is "to guide, nurture and enhance spiritual, religious and ethical life within the Stanford University community" by promoting enriching dialogue, meaningful ritual, and enduring friendships among people of all religious backgrounds. It is headed by a dean with the assistance of a senior associate dean and an associate dean.
[[Stanford Memorial Church]], in the center of campus, has a Sunday University Public Worship service (UPW) usually in the "Protestant Ecumenical Christian" tradition where the Memorial Church Choir sings and a sermon is preached usually by one of the Stanford deans for Religious Life. UPW sometimes has multifaith services. In addition, the church is used by the Catholic community and the other Christian denominations at Stanford. Weddings happen most Saturdays and the university has allowed blessings of same-gender relationships and legal weddings.<ref>{{cite web |title=University Public Worship |work=Office for Religious Life |publisher=Stanford University |url=https://web.stanford.edu/group/religiouslife/cgi-bin/wordpress/memorial-church/university-public-worship/ |access-date=October 5, 2013 |archive-date=July 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715011708/http://web.stanford.edu/group/religiouslife/cgi-bin/wordpress/memorial-church/university-public-worship/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In addition to the church, the Office for Religious Life has a Center for Inter-Religious Community, Learning, and Experiences (CIRCLE) on the third floor of Old Union. It offers a common room, an interfaith sanctuary, a seminar room, a student lounge area, and a reading room, as well as offices housing a number of Stanford Associated Religions (SAR) member groups and the Senior Associate Dean and Associate Dean for Religious Life. Most though not all religious student groups belong to SAR. The SAR directory includes organizations that serve atheist, [[Bahá’í]], Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and Sikh groups, though these groups vary year by year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stanford Associated Religions |work=Office for Religious Life |publisher=Stanford University |url=https://web.stanford.edu/group/religiouslife/cgi-bin/wordpress/students/sar/ |access-date=October 5, 2013 |archive-date=July 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705083841/http://web.stanford.edu/group/religiouslife/cgi-bin/wordpress/students/sar/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Windhover Contemplation Center was dedicated in October 2014, and was intended to provide spiritual sanctuary for students and staff in the midst of their course and work schedules; the center displays the "Windhover" paintings by [[Nathan Oliveira]], the late Stanford professor and artist.<ref>{{cite web |last=Xu |first=Victor |title=Windhover contemplative center to finish by early summer |work=The Stanford Daily |date=May 8, 2014 |url=http://www.stanforddaily.com/2014/05/08/windhover-contemplative-center-to-finish-by-early-summer/ |access-date=September 30, 2014}}</ref> Some religions have a larger and more formal presence on campus in addition to the student groups; these include the Catholic and Hillel communities at Stanford.<ref>{{cite web |title=Catholic Community at Stanford: About us |url=http://catholic.stanford.edu/about/welcome |access-date=December 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913010012/http://catholic.stanford.edu/about/welcome |archive-date=September 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}} The Catholic Community is a personal parish in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California|Diocese of San Jose]] and staffed by the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] and lay leaders.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hillel at Stanford: About |url=http://hillel.stanford.edu/about/ |access-date=October 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009065021/http://hillel.stanford.edu/about/ |archive-date=October 9, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>