As the great hymn proclaims:
New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth. –James Russell Lowell.
When Christian denominations began to bump into each other more, college chaplains learned to be ecumenical. When religions began to bump into each other more, college chaplains learned how to be inter-faith, then inter-religious. Chaplains who direct offices of Religious Life ensure openness to all faiths; denominational chaplains have learned to co-exist closely with all faiths.
A new learning is in order, given the occasion of growing religious illiteracy in a world where religions now bump into each other sometimes violently. What role can college chaplains play?
Chaplains can go back to teaching their traditions. If they take this up, it will have to be without the former doctrinal methods. It will have to be with a pedagogy that enables students to learn from each other by grappling with the sacred texts, themselves.
How can they do this? By asking them to perform a text, or some portion thereof. Take a verse, take it from the page to the stage–in song, in poetry, in mime, in drama. See how they learn!