College Student Sponsor Program

Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,

Happy New Year! I pray your holidays were relaxing, fun, and Santa brought you everything you wanted... well at least something that you wanted. While it was nice to see my family and some friends, I was glad to be able to be home during the first anniversary of my nephews death.

I wanted to begin this year with a new ministerial option. We all know that it is during college years where many young adults drift away from The Church. Some because they no longer have a parent telling them they have to go, others because they are exposed to new religious experiences that feed their spirit in a new or different way. I believe one way we can address this loss is to strengthen the bonds between our college students and our parish and so, I want to start a “College Student Sponsor Program.”

The basic idea is to get parishioners to volunteer to be a sponsor to a student who volunteers to be part of the program. The sponsor agrees to pray for the student and keep in touch with them throughout the academic year. They might send them birthday and holiday cards, with or without a little gift. While monetary gifts are not a requirement of the program, a sponsor might choose to send an Amazon gift card to help pay for books or other necessities, or one for a coffee house for those late night study sessions. They are also asked to keep the student informed about any major event here at the parish and inquire about how the student is doing. However, I will stress that this is about supporting the student and you may never get a response from your student, but that is not the point. The idea is to offer them support and encouragement, while assuring them that they remain in our thoughts and prayers.

Beginning next week we will have two types of registration cards available, one for college students and one for sponsors. I would ask families to ask their college students if they are interested in participating. If so, please fill out one of the student cards. If you would like to be a sponsor please fill out one of those cards. You can drop the cards in the collection basket, hand them to an usher or put it in the box that will be available next Sunday. If we have more sponsors then students, some students will receive multiple sponsors. Even if you choose not to participate in this ministry, please keep our college students in your prayers.

Thanks again to all those who had anything to do with our Advent and/or Christmas liturgies, or our outreach programs. It all takes a lot of work and we could not do God’s work without you. God bless.

In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick