Campus Catholics live their faith at college

For those who fear that the Catholic Church is aging, Susan Nesbitt suggests attending the Sunday evening Mass at her parish.

Mrs. Nesbitt, campus minister at both the State University of New York at Oneonta and at Hartwick College, describes the 7:30 p.m. Mass at St. Mary's Church in Oneonta as "very celebratory."

"We have over 400 students attending the college liturgy," she said. "A number of parishioners come. It's a real upper to see the young people that involved. It's definitely their liturgy."

Involved youth

Besides liturgy, the college students are also involved in other aspects of parish life at St. Mary's. For example, a number of college students serve as catechists in the parish's religious education program.

"They truly make the commitment," she said. "It's wonderful for the younger children to see the commitment they make. It's a wonderful witness for younger students."

The college students are also involved in the parish's youth ministry program and encourage high school students to be involved in community service.

Practice their preaching

Their encouragement is not just empty words. It's common, according to Mrs. Nesbitt, for the college students to be involved in a variety of community service projects, from painting fences and doing yard work for the needy to hosting clothing drives and sending canned goods to Mexico.

Last year, the Newman Club in Oneonta, the Catholic campus ministry organization which combines faith and socialization, hosted a pancake breakfast for the parish to thank parishioners for their support.

Of the parishioners, Mrs. Nesbitt said, "They see the college students involvement and are very supportive."

Wide-spread effort

The parish-based program in Oneonta is just one of 13 campus ministry programs run by 18 professional campus ministers in the Albany Diocese, according to Sister Maureen O'Leary, FSP, director of campus ministry for the Diocese. She is also involved in hands-on ministry at the University at Albany, and serves as a liaison to the Albany College of Pharmacy and to Albany Law School.

On the University at Albany campus, the Newman Association hosts community suppers, prayer experiences, discussions on contemporary issues and such social activities as apple-picking and hay rides. But at the center of Catholic activities on campus is the liturgy, which she calls "our focus as a Catholic community.

Sister Maureen sees her ministry as similar to that of a midwife. She helps young adults transition from the faith of their childhood to the faith of their adult years.

"Campus ministers are bridges of peace between family and adulthood," she said. "We walk with them on a journey between adolescence and adulthood."

Questions and answers

Young adulthood is a time of questioning, especially in areas of faith, Sister Maureen explained, and campus ministers help young adults become comfortable with questioning as well as provide them with information.

"If they're comfortable with questioning," she explained, "they can come to ownership [of their faith.] To question is natural."

Without campus ministers, many young people might stop practicing their faith altogether, she believes, noting: "They could give up very easy."

For some young adults, college is the first time they are questioned by their peers about their faith. Campus ministers help provide resources so that they can respond to the questions. Said Sister Maureen, "We teach the students how to articulate the teachings of the Church."

(For more information on college campus ministry in the Albany Diocese, contact Sister Maureen O'Leary at 489-8573, ext. 22.)

Some statistics about Campus Ministry

According to the Catholic Campus Ministry Association based in Dayton, Ohio, campus ministry is important because of the numbers of young adults it reaches. Five million Catholic students are enrolled in colleges; fewer than 400,000 of them are in Catholic colleges or universities.

Campus ministry traces its roots to 1883 when the Melvin Club was founded by lay people at the University of Wisconsin. The club was designed to help Catholic students keep in touch with their religious heritage.

Soon, it evolved into the Newman Club, named for Cardinal John Henry Newman, an English leader of the Oxford Movement, the 19th-century intellectual renewal in the Church. The clubs spread to campuses across the country and were designed to help support the increasing number of Catholics attending public colleges and universities.

There are six components to campus ministry, according to the 1985 U.S. Bishops' pastoral "Empowered by the Spirit." They are: establishing a faith community, appropriating the faith, forming a good Christian conscience, personal development, establishing leadership and educating for justice. (MM)

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