More than 30 students from St. Thomas’ various Christian groups assembled at the Undergraduate Student Government meeting April 17 to ask for USG’s support regarding changes to Campus Ministry, including the elimination of two staff positions.
Senior and peer minister Allen-Michael Muench shared his faith journey at the USG meeting. He said although the students were unsure of the exact changes to Campus Ministry, they wanted to gather together for dialogue.
“There have been a lot of whispers on campus about what is going on, so hopefully we can all be on the same page with that and encourage students who will be affected by the things that are going on,” Muench said.
Junior and future peer minister Adam Weinzetl helped organize the gathering. He said that going to USG was a good place for students to start making their voices heard.
“We weren’t necessarily addressing Campus Ministry downsizing here. It was more coming as the Christian student body to say our faith is really important to us, and it has had a huge impact on our lives,” Weinzetl said. “There are a lot of students who care about this; the student government should know this.”
Weinzetl said while students are upset about the elimination of two Campus Ministry positions, they hope the changes will be positive.
“It’s not that we want to stop change from happening,” Weinzelt said. “We just want to be part of the development process for what it’s going to look like, so that future students can experience the love of Christ in the way that we did.”
The official changes to Campus Ministry were announced April 21. Vice President for Mission the Rev. Larry Snyder said that the restructuring was necessary in order to align with the new strategic plan, especially the principles of “one university,” “celebrating our differences” and “Catholic-inspired community engagement.”
Snyder was also influenced by Ex Corde Ecclesiae, a document written by Pope John Paul II, which lays out a vision for Catholic universities.
“I thought our office isn’t totally lined up with (the document) because Pope John Paul says that the university should care for the spiritual needs of all its students and then especially Catholics,” Snyder said. “It’s a matter of, how do we broaden what we’re doing to come into compliance with at least having opportunities for spiritual development for all of our students.”
The Office of Campus Ministry will be reorganized into three areas: campus ministry, spirituality and mission-based service. The campus ministry branch will focus on worship and liturgy, pastoral care and music. This branch will be led by a new chaplain replacing the Rev. Erich Rutten, who has taken a new position within the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The spirituality branch, directed by School of Law professor Susan Stabile, will focus on spiritual formation, retreats, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and peer ministry. The service branch, led by coordinator of VIA and VISION Jacob Cunningham, will focus on VIA and VISION trips and a new student volunteer center called Tommies Together.
While restructuring Campus Ministry, the Office for Mission also underwent an assessment process of resources. Two staff positions will be eliminated: assistant director of liturgy, now held by Chris Labadie, and coordinator of peer ministry and communications, held by Brooke Harding.
Snyder stressed that all of the current Catholic offerings will still be available to students. In addition to those offerings, he hopes to create more opportunities for students of other faiths and create more interfaith dialogue, including forming an interfaith council next year.
“Some students might get nervous that something they found very beneficial is going to disappear, and we made a commitment that we will not do that. At the same time, we have another process that is looking at our interfaith culture on campus,” Snyder said.
Snyder believes the restructuring of Campus Ministry will strengthen St. Thomas’ Catholic identity because it will emphasize the importance of being welcoming and respectful of other traditions.
“What I hope is that everyone here is welcome at St. Thomas, but that they will all have opportunities to deepen their spirituality and relationship with God,” Snyder said. “Whether they take advantage of it, that’s their decision, but at least we can have the opportunity to do that.”
After hearing the official changes, Weinzetl hopes the initiative to create interfaith dialogues will be student-led.
“It seems like the goal is to get people talking more and to get people outside of their comfort zone. I think movements like that have to come from students, because if we are told to do it from the university it doesn’t have the same impact,” Weinzetl said.
Muench thinks the changes will lead to more student involvement in Campus Ministry.
“I think it will open the doors to people being less intimidated to participate in Campus Ministry. I do think these changes will bring about a greater involvement, and I think they already have in terms of students coming together and talking about these things,” Muench said.
Claire Noack can be reached at noac8702@stthomas.edu.