Wil's Place Student Lounge

Who's Wil, and why does he get his own place?

Are you looking for a quiet place to study, play, pray or just relax? Come and check us out! Our student center contains magazines, Catholic newspapers, spirituality resources, and books on religion, prayer and other theological topics. We are WiFi and/or cabled for internet. If you are looking for something other than a place to study or gather information, check out our big screen TV, pool table, foosball table or ping pong table for some extra fun. On Sunday nights after the 8 pm Mass students are invited to Newman's own "Coffee House". Free refreshments for all students! Newman's Student Center is available to all SCSU students with valid ID. Located on our second level, Wil's Place is open every day from 7:30 am until 10 pm. The services of our student center are free and open to all. We are here especially to serve the needs of SCSU and SCTC students and staff.

Giving to Newman

Make a donation to help our students have an effective and exciting experience of Christ through our efforts of Campus Ministry.

Baptism & Marriage

Looking to have your child Baptized? Baptism is our initiation into the Christian life in the Church. At baptism, parents promise to "raise their child in the pracice of the faith." Our parish has quarterly Baptismal Prepartation meetings for new or expecting parents to learn about the Sacrament of Baptism. Call our office to find out the time of our next meeting or to answer any questions you may have.

Engaged to be Married? Couples seeking to marry at the Newman Center must partake in our Marriage Preparation Course through our parishes. Contact Brenda at the Newman office--320.251.3260 ext10--for further information.

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Call our office for all your sacramental needs:

320-251-3260

Thinking About Becoming Catholic?

Then our RCIA program may be just for you! Whether you were raised in a different faith tradition and are thinking of converting to Catholicism or grew up Catholic and simply missed the Sacrament of Confirmation, we’d like to tell you about our RCIA program.

The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is a process, a journey. It is entered freely, and each person inquiring is asked to discern how God is at work in their life, and where the Spirit may be leading them. Those inquiring must pay attention to what is happening inside the self, and be free to leave the process at whatever time, for whatever reason. It is absolutely a journey of conversion, not only for the candidate or catechumen, but also for their sponsor and the entire faith community. It’s important to remember that we’re all pilgrims on the journey of faith. No one on Earth has yet achieved the goal.

The RCIA journey begins in the fall of the year, culminates with celebrating the Sacraments of Welcome (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) on our most holiest night, the Easter Vigil, and continues on post-Easter with a period of mystagogia, a time of delving deeper into the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, reflecting together what a lifetime of faith as a disciple of Christ calls us to. Catholics believe that conversion to Jesus Christ is a lifelong and ongoing process. Each person on this journey is asked to think about a sponsor, someone they would like to have accompany them on this journey. The sponsor serves as a mentor, a person of faith, and must be a confirmed Catholic. Newman helps a person find a sponsor if one is needed.

This way of bringing adult believers into the Church, reinstated by Vatican II in the mid-sixties, is closest to what the earliest Church did in the first centuries of the Church. And that’s pretty exciting. The US Bishops say that RCIA is “renewing the life of the Church in the United States” and that it must continue to be a priority in our parishes.

And it is just that here at Newman. We meet as a group for input sessions on Sunday nights at 6:15 pm in the Delta Room, the lowest level of Newman, and then celebrate the Sunday Mass together at 8 pm, where we are sent off with a community blessing at the offertory time for Breaking Open the Word. As Catholics, we believe we are not only fed in the Eucharist, but also in God’s Word to us, so more time is spent with just the candidates and catechumens (not sponsors) praying with and discussing the impact of the Sunday readings on our lives. All in all, candidates/catechumens and their sponsors are here at Newman from 6:15 pm to 9 pm each Sunday night, along with a few other special invitations such as Reconciliation liturgies, speakers and potlucks, service opportunities, midweek liturgies such as the Immaculate Conception or Ash Wednesday, and a Saturday morning retreat.

For further questions about the RCIA, please contact staff member Wendy Cichanski at 251-3260 or newman_pastoral@stcloudstate.edu.

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Bible Studies

Through the years we have had a variety of different kinds of Bible studies to help us learn more about the Word of God. We’ve done video series, weekly sessions that focus on one particular book of the Bible, Bible study themes (like the names of Jesus), Bible studies that look at the upcoming Sunday Gospel reading at Mass, etc. The number of different Bible studies available is really endless so we’re always looking for what might help us appreciate God’s word a bit more! Feel free to call the Newman Center for information about when our semester Bible study is happening!

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Classes at Newman thru SCSU & CEM

Over the past several years, we have had the opportunity to offer 2 credit theology courses in conjunction with the St. Cloud Diocese and St. John’s University in Collegeville. Class topics have included Church history, Vatican II, and Christian Worship. Students can get 2 credits that can transfer to SCSU from St. John’s or simply audit the class to learn more about your faith!

This Spring Semester (2010), we are offering a class on Bio-Medical ethics with Fr. Tom Knobloch, Pastor of St. Anthony’s, St. John Cantius and Holy Spirit parishes in St. Cloud. You can stop by Newman Center to pick up a registration form or call the Catholic Education Ministries office at 320-251-0111 for more information!

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Community Meals

Newman Center has a tradition of partnering with University Lutheran to provide a monthly meal to those in our community in need. This happens the 2nd Saturday of each month! We always have a sign-up sheet in the baptismal lobby of the Newman Center the week before for those who can help. Workers are needed from 10:30 AM to about 1:30 PM, and students are always welcome to help with providing food or working to serve the meal!

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Meals served the 2nd Saturday of each month:

February 13
March 13
April 10
May 8
June 12

Discipleship Group

Be Formed! We are disciples in formation to be more like Jesus. Each week we explore topics around four general areas:

Prayer ~ How to develop our communication with God through various forms of prayer.

Knowledge ~ How to grow in understanding of Christ and His Church

Relationships ~ How to grow as individual persons and in relationship with others.

Service ~ How we give our lives away in service of others.

Meets every Monday Night at 8 pm in Wil's Place, one flight down in Newman.

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Faculty & Staff Luncheons for SCSU & SCTC

A couple times a semester, the Newman Staff invites any current or retired SCSU or SCTC faculty or staff member out to lunch! We meet in Atwood over the noon hour to hear a short presentation on some spiritual or theological topic, often related to an academic discipline at the university, and then engage each other in a spirited dialogue. At times, we have also read a short article about an issue and simply gathered to discuss it. These outreaches are a great way to help Newman members working in an academic setting get to know each other, reach out to other Catholic faculty and staff not currently associated with Newman, and even reach across ecumenical lines to invite staff and faculty of various faith backgrounds into dialogue and relationship. The lunch is free, the company good, and the topics scintillating!

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"Aesthetic versus Anaesthetic Faith in a Secular World"

WOW Extension Room
Atwood Center
Wednesday February 24
12 noon

Newman member Lin Holder, Professor Emerita from the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance, and former Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, will be leading us in discussing the role of creativity and the arts in the human relationship with God.

Please come having read the creation stories from Genesis as well as Psalm 8, and be ready for an engaging, insightful conversation!

Faith Formation

Why Parent Involvement??? A short history lesson:
Since the beginning of religious education at Newman, parents have been the primary teachers of our children. In the late 60's and early 70's, parents taught various age groups in their homes on Wednesday nights. As the parish grew and the program began to operate out of the Newman Center, parents realized that those who wanted their children involved with religious education had to take responsibility for their instruction. The first religious education director was not hired until 1986. The staff member then, as now, served as a resource person and consultant. But the program remained a parent-led one and it still is!

A parent-led program is extremely valuable for three reasons:

1) It models to children that religious education really is important to their parents;
2) parents learn themselves when teaching their children;
3) parents get to know the families in their child's grade.

REP (Religious Education Program) (P3 - Grade 6)
Newman’s REP program includes formation in several areas:

- Catechesis (knowledge of the faith)

- Apostolic Works – each grade level takes part in a different apostolic work project (service project) to help the children learn about what needs there are and how to respond to them.

- Parents are formed as they pass on the faith to their children.

- Also available is children’s liturgy of the word, which gives children an opportunity to encounter the scriptures at an age appropriate level. This ministry has been done as a partnership between the Director of Faith Formation and parents, so the children have various presentation styles and lessons throughout the year.

"789" encompasses many aspects of youth faith formation:

- Catechesis (knowledge of the faith)

- Apostolic Works Nights – we have a speaker to kick-off each year’s apostolic work nights that reflects on social justice with the youth. Then 4 class nights are devoted to performing direct service in the community.

- Community Building – the beginning of each class night allows time to socialize (an important aspect of ministry with youth) and 3 youth nights are devoted to helping the youth have fun and develop relationships with other youth of the parish.

- “789” is taught by college/university students, making it a vehicle to engage them in the parish, help them develop their faith and allow them to develop teaching skills (especially valuable for education majors)..

Confirmation
Youth can prepare for the sacrament in 10th grade or later. The preparation is done with the cluster and jointly coordinated by Newman, St. Mary’s & St. Augustine’s faith formation directors and priests. Information regarding confirmation can be found at staugs.com/faithformation/confirmation

For more information regarding any faith formation programming, please contact our Director of Faith Formation Amber Christie.

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This year's REP schedule

This year's 789 schedule

Apostolic Works Completion Form

Catholic Social Teaching & Corporal Works of Mercy

Free Student Meals

That’s right, a free meal for students! The first Thursday of the month from 5-6 pm during the fall and spring semesters we have a free home cooked meal for students in our Terrace at the Newman Center. The food is always great, there’s time to visit with friends (or make new ones), and we always have a great speaker from 5:30-6 pm. We start on time and end on time because we know students are busy. Join us for these dates during the Spring Semester of 2010 for our students meals:

March 4
April 8
MONDAY, May 3 (Finals Week!)

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Grill the Priest

Ever wanted an opportunity to ask any question you want to a priest? Now you get your chance. Try to stump one of our priests at this open Question & Answer forum held sporatically throughout the year at a local establishment.

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Mass Wednesday Nite For Students

Students, join us every Wednesday night at 9 pm for this candlelight Mass in the main chapel at Newman. It's different from the weekend because only students attend, and it's a nice get-a-way from studies and work to be with peers in prayer.

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Men's Spirituality

Join us every other Tuesday night at 8 pm in Wil's Place as we spend time together building fraternity and reflecting on the good work God is doing in us.

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Upcoming dates:

February 23
March 16

Music Ministry

The Student and Permanent member Music Ministry at Newman is a group of dedicated and occasional givers of musical gifts who enhance the sung prayer of our community. We provide musical leadership for Sunday, Feast Day and other Eucharistic Liturgies throughout the year. Our really FUN rehearsals are planned around the academic calendar on most Thursday evenings at 8:00pm in the Chapel. (We are off during the Summer and Christmas breaks) This group is dedicated to encouraging the best possible “assembly singing” at Mass by becoming effective choir members, cantors, and instrumentalists. We form ourselves as church as we “break open the Word” through Catholic ritual music. We welcome you at any time and for as long as you can! Join us for our next “Thursday Nite Live” or contact Kevin Carlson for more information.

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Prayer

In addition to our Mass times and other spiritual offerings, we have a couple of different times for particular prayers in our Christian tradition. Eucharistic Adoration is held from 9-10 pm on Tuesdays during the fall and spring semesters in our Prrayer Room, which is one flight down from our Chapel. Also, after our Student Mass on Wednesday nights, students pray the rosary at 10 pm. Our chapel is typically open from 8 am-10 pm each day; know you are welcome to stop in for quiet prayer time when you can!

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Presentations

Occasionally, we bring in speakers for presentations for our parishioners and our students. We often do this during Coffee & Rolls on Sunday mornings or on a holy day, as part of a "Triple Play" event. We will always let you know when someone is coming! If you have any ideas on what might be something of interest to you, let us know!

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Retreats

This is another offering that varies from year to year. We have had camping retreats, Advent retreats, Busy Student retreats, 1st year/transfer student retreats, Valentine’s Day retreats, end of semester/year retreats--just about something for everyone! Call the Newman office at 320-251-3260 to ask about any retreats that might be coming up. Contact Ben at newman.caduff@charterinternet.com.

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Social Justice Service Opportunities

We try to offer periodic opportunities for students to serve the community. We prepare and serve the evening meal at Anna Marie’s Shelter for battered women and children the 2nd Sunday of each month. Students can sign up on the bulletin board outside of Wil’s Place, our student center. We also have the monthly community meal the 2nd Saturday of each month from 10:30-1:30 for those in need in our community. We always needs workers to sign up for that, and students are especially encouraged to help!

Newman Center partners with other churches in St. Cloud to provide a warm place to sleep for those in our community who need a place during the winter months. This program is called Church of the Week. Participating in this program includes training! Call our office to find out when we might be hosting guests during the winter.

We also partner with SCSU on the "Donate, Don’t Ditch" program in Spring, which collects gently used items from students and donates them to local charities. Feel free to call our office at 320-251-3260 or stop in with questions about local service opportunities, or contact Ben at newman.caduff@charterinternet.com

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Spring Break Trips

Spring Semester 2010, we have two great trips for students! We will be working on building/repairing homes in Kentucky with Christian Appalachian Project and looking into immigration issues in Arizona with Humane Borders. Both of these trips will be happening over spring break, March 6-13.

The Kentucky trip includes a stop at the University of Notre Dame, which is always a hit with students, and Christian Appalachian Project always hosts college students from all over the country! The Humane Borders trip could also include a trip across the border into Mexico! Call Ben at the Newman Center for more information or stop in and pick up an application! Applications are due by SUNDAY, JANUARY 31!

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Theology on Tap

Sublink Data

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Wil Illies Lectures

THE LOSS OF A SPECIAL PRIEST AND FRIEND

Rev. Wilfred A. Illies, Newman's first pastor and dedicated supporter, died on March 25, 2003. Left are memories of his inspirational words and enthusiastic celebration of the good he brought out in each of us. Wil was a priest, a spiritual counselor and teacher for students, parishioners, and searching souls. Those who came into his presence miss his sense of joy, encouragement, and ability to bring one closer to Christ. Like John Henry Cardinal Newman, Wil was a scholar, a person who loved to discuss ideas and pursue the truth. His openness to others and to different perspectives was refreshing. He attracted many to a closer life with Christ and a renewed understanding of church and religion.

Because he touched so many people in a special way, it seemed appropriate that a memorial be established to help keep his memory and spirit alive, not only for those who were privileged to know him, but also for future generations.

VISION STATEMENT

The defining piece in creating a living memorial to Father Illies was the establishment of an endowed fund for a special annual lecture to honor his life and work and challenge future generations in finding a fuller understanding of the love of Christ and His church. Through his own words from the pulpit and by inviting "cutting edge" speakers to the St. Cloud State University Newman Center, Father Illies clearly demonstrated his love for and faith in the spoken word. In the spirit of John Henry Cardinal Newman's motto, Cor Ad Cor Loquitor (Heart Speaks to Heart),

As a fitting tribute to Father Illies, an annual lecture program named "The Rev. Wilfred A. Illies Heart Speaks to Heart Lecture” is held each Spring. The lectures reflect the theological, philosophical and guiding principles that were important to Fr. Illies and continue the spirit of education and spiritual development for which he laid the groundwork as pastor of various faith communities. His work with students, parishes and the greater St. Cloud community in areas such as the ecumenical movement, liturgical reform, individual responsibility and the spiritual development of the individual will be addressed in this lecture series.

The 5th annual lecture with Dr. Richard R Gaillardetz, entitled "Becoming a Community of Dialogue and Discernment: Moving Beyond Demonization in Public Discourse", will be held on Saturday, April 17, 2010, in the Newman Center Chapel.

Previous Lectures:

Rev. Dr. Maxwell E. Johnson, ELCA
• April 22, 2006
Walking Wet from the Hungry Feast: Living Out Our Baptism in a Eucharistic Way

Fr. Jan Michael Joncas
• April 12, 2007
Words Worthy of Worship: Changing English Texts for the Roman Rite

Dr. Margaret O’Gara
• April 19, 2008
Rethinking Infallibility

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Ending Prayer

May Christ support us all the day long, til the shadows lengthen and the evening come, and the busy world is hushed and the fever of life is over and our work is done.

Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodgingand a holy rest and peace at the last.

Amen.

Women's Spirituality

Once a month, we give our college women something really special! We gather all our feminine energy in one place and pamper our female college students with a homecooked meal by candlelight, prayer, laughter, small and large group sharing, quiet time for reflection and journaling, and a unique closing ritual. Usually after women try this once, they never want to miss it! Topics may range from learning about and praying with a biblical woman, a female saint or mystic, or engaging some current issue affecting women today such as immigration, poverty, or domestic violence. Staff member Wendy Cichanski co-leads this effort along with parishioners Mary Helen Montgomery and Kathy Langer. Our Franciscan sisters living in St. Cloud (S. Cordy, S. Loretta, and S. Clara) provide the monthly meal and participate in the sessions each month as well.

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College women--Join us!

We meet on Thursdays at 5 pm (always ending by 7 pm) in Wil’s Place (one level down in Newman Center).

February 25
March 25
April 22