Campus Ministers Evangelize

Christine Hoehn and Mike Roesch serve as the campus ministers at the University of Southern Indiana and the University of Evansville, respectively. Through regular Newman Club meetings, Mass, retreats, and service projects, Hoehn and Roesch serve – and help – young adults on both campuses.

"The questions pertaining to faith and religious life are things that everyone addresses at some point in their life," Roesch said. "Whether raised Catholic or raised with nothing, it's something everyone ends up confronting at some point. To have someone on campus who is able to help students in any way to look at those issues and to be the presence of the church is vitally important."

Each Newman Center hosts weekly dinner meetings where students gather to share a meal and discuss a variety of topics with guest presenters that include seminarians from St. Meinrad. Both also host on-campus Masses every Sunday and most holy days of obligation.

"We are going to continue to expand awareness of our programs – especially Sunday Mass," Hoehn said. "We are at freshman orientations talking to parents and talking to students. What makes me saddest is when I find a junior or senior who says, 'We have mass on campus?' So we have to continually announce our presence or make our presence known."

Each Newman Center reaches beyond the campus it serves. Hoehn and Roesch plan retreats each semester, including a combined event for students from both schools that St. Meinrad often hosts. Each center also arranges a “Busy Person's Retreat” before finals week, when students pray and meet with a spiritual director on their own time.

The Newman Centers also complete monthly service projects. Students help at Evansville’s St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, the Santa Breakfast at St. Vincent Center for Children and Families, and local food co-ops.

"We help students see that part of what we're doing is feeding the poor, helping the needy … doing those things we're commanded to do," Hoehn said. "It's always been a good experience doing service with the students because there's an understanding that we're living out our gospel values."

Along with lending a hand locally, the clubs extend their reaches to other areas. For their fall break, volunteers from USI's Newman Center are headed for Saint Louis, while UE volunteers will travel to North Central West Virginia in the spring. While staying at the Hubbard House run by the Daughters of Charity, USI will volunteer with St. Vincent de Paul, Our Lady's Inn, and a Catholic Worker House. UE students will be working with Nazareth Farms in Salem, W.Va., to help the rural poor and learn about Catholic social teaching.

As the 2014-15 school year opens, Roesch hopes to start a UE Newman Center peer-minister program of five groups to help new students meet upperclassman and form stronger community bonds. Hoehn has a ministry team to help her design the USI Newman Catholic Community shirts, organize Sunday Mass and reach out to new students on campus.

"When you have students who are interested and excited about it, that sells itself," Hoehn said. "They tell each other, and it's great to see students helping others stay excited about their faith and challenging one another. I always say that the best thing is for me to get out of the way … to allow people to do what they need to do. I want to see myself decrease and Christ increase."