Continuing ed: what the church can learn from campus ministry.

Mark Davidovich is a sophomore majoring in history and political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. When he left for college, he figured he'd attend Mass, but he was more interested in checking out other, non-religious activities. Still, he managed to get involved in FYSH, a small faith-sharing group organized by the Catholic campus ministry for first-year students. "We talked about college life, your faith outside of going to Mass, about integrating faith into all parts of life. It's been a really great experience for me."

So great that Davidovich was asked to lead one of this year's groups. Over the summer he attended a week-long campus ministry institute at the University of Notre Dame to gear up for his work ahead.

Something good is happening at SMU and in the more than 1,200 Catholic campus ministry programs in colleges and universities across the country. The success of campus ministry can offer five valuable insights for parishes and the church as a whole.

1 Be hospitable. With fully 25 percent (and sometimes more) of their communities turning over every year, campus ministries need to make newcomers feel important and reassure remaining members that they have not been forgotten.

The Catholic campus ministry at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, for instance, holds a welcome reception before the first Mass of the school year to give returning students, faculty, and staff a chance to meet incoming students. Sarah Bloom, a senior, planned last year's reception. "W&L is a small university, but coming to college can still be overwhelming," she says. "This reception just gives returning students and faculty the chance to show our community's heart and faith."

Bill Larson, a junior who now leads liturgical ministry, agrees. "CCM welcomed me my first day on campus and has helped me stay active in my faith while away at college."

At Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, a welcome brochure outlines the liturgical traditions of the community and upcoming events, and invites students to meet new people, deepen their understanding of the Catholic faith, and develop their spiritual life.

Paying attention to these kinds of details--a necessity in campus ministry--can also be effective for traditional parishes. New parishioner packets with invitations to become involved in various ministries and a list of contact names and numbers make for a warm welcome. Parish or steering council members, ministry leaders, and extroverted community members can be recruited to attend special liturgies in August or September or at other times to greet newcomers and invite them to take part in parish activities.

2 Value informed and formed young adults. Campus ministers work to incorporate young adults into the fabric and the leadership of the community. At Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, an executive board of students advises the chaplain on decisions affecting the Catholic Community at Tufts (CCT), and their ideas and opinions are taken seriously.

"Creating a comfortable environment in which people feel welcome is truly the key to faith community building," says Annah Jones, last year's president. "The CCT has worked to maintain an open and welcoming community where people can practice their faith the way they want and maybe even make some friends along the way."

Young adults in campus ministry programs serve as eucharistic ministers, lectors, cantors, and pastoral council members. They develop programs, lead retreats and prayer services, raise funds, and organize service projects. They do theological reflection and struggle with the occasional tensions that occur when God's people come together to talk about faith and worship.

After graduation, they are enthusiastic about serving and supporting the church with their time, talent, and treasure. Studies show that graduates of colleges and universities with strong campus ministry programs are more likely to contribute financially as well as personally to parishes.

Often, though, graduates return with tales of church committees that are less than welcoming, ministry coordinators who are threatened by new ideas, and pastoral staffs that are skeptical about what young people can offer. Campus ministers certainly must help students transition from a center that is geared toward young people to a parish that is not, but parishes that work to welcome the talents of young adults and make room for them in parish structures and programs benefit in the long run.

Personal invitations to join ministries or take on leadership roles as well as opportunities for young adults and more settled parishioners to come together can move parishes to the head of the class in embracing young adults, their talents, and their future contributions.

3 Men and women minister well together. While individual campuses may be served by just one or two staff members, the membership rolls of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association count men and women in nearly equal number. This would not be so remarkable except that it rarely occurs in any other facet of the American church, where parish ministries are typically run by women and the hierarchy consists only of men.

Campus ministry models a church of equality in leadership, decision-making, goal setting and evaluation, and in the practice of ministry. Women as well as men direct individual sites, diocesan initiatives and agencies, and serve as individual ministers. Men as well as women share in leadership of prayer, social justice initiatives, formation, and education. Teams of men and women work together to serve and empower the young adults in their communities. Parishes and dioceses would do well to emulate as much as possible the constant presence of both men and women in leadership and decision-making.

4 Lay and ordained ministers work collegially and cooperatively. At Niagara University in Niagara Falls, New York, Sister Nora Gatto directs a team that includes a priest and young lay ministers. Father Steven Beseau, the director of St. Lawrence Catholic Center at the University of Kansas, oversees 20 staff members, including another priest, several campus ministers, and ministers of evangelization and liturgical music. Frank Santoni, a layperson, co-directs the Catholic campus ministry center at Southern Methodist University with the help of a deacon and an administrative assistant.

"We're not substitutes for each other," Santoni says of his work with the deacon and visiting priests who celebrate Mass. "We're trying to complement each other so the fullness of all the leadership roles can be on display and be in ministry."

At the recent national gathering of campus ministers, ordained and lay ministers together led the group in prayer, reflected on scripture, and presented keynote addresses and workshops. More experienced campus ministers mentored those new to their positions. This kind of cooperation and collegiality fosters trust and confidence between hierarchy and people in the church as a whole.

5 Catholics, young and old, need holistic development of their faith. Healthy faith communities are formed by recognizing that everything from evangelical witness to thoughtful critique has a place in the great conversation of the church. Campus ministers know that vibrant faith communities focus on creating liturgies that can feed all and provide opportunities for dialogue with the teaching and traditions of the church. They assume that no one knows everything and that we are all learners.

Campus ministers also know that the thirst for a vigorous Catholic intellectual and spiritual life is at the heart of the search for God. By laying out the teachings of the church in context and not shrinking from questions about those teachings, the Catholic community on campus and elsewhere can help individuals be true both to intellectual endeavors and the spiritual life.

From the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where students participate in small faith-sharing groups in the dorms, to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, where the campus ministry center uses fair trade coffee to educate students, faculty, and staff about the link between economic justice for all and their choice of beverages, to Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, where students mentor Catholic schoolchildren in their faith, campus ministry works to develop faith-filled leaders for the church and the world.

Almost 90 percent of the nation's Catholic college students attend non-Catholic schools, so what happens in campus ministry at these campuses is vitally important to our church's future. In a world where classes, professors, and jobs change as often as every three months, campus ministry offers a constant center and helps integrate faith into life. These lessons learned by and through campus ministers in small colleges and large universities, public, private, and Catholic, can guide the whole church in its outreach to and formation of Catholics everywhere.

MARY DEELEY is pastoral associate at Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.