There’s something uniquely powerful about being in a room full of people who understand the weight and the joy of ministry work. That was my experience at the CCMA Called25 Conference, held at the University of Notre Dame to mark 40 years since the release of Empowered by the Spirit. This landmark document continues to shape Catholic campus ministry.
We came together from different regions, apostolates, and campus contexts, yet I walked away with a renewed sense of unity and shared purpose. Even in our diverse ministries, the mission still holds: to accompany young adults with authenticity, hope, and the love of Christ.
What moved me most were the Spirit-led conversations at meals, around exhibit tables, and during sessions. Again and again, I heard a recurring theme: how urgently our students — and we, as ministers — need spaces of care, healing, and accompaniment. These conversations were all central to the call to form disciples in today’s world.
As I reflect on the new collection of essays revisiting Empowered by the Spirit, I want to share a few takeaways through the lens of the six original ministry aspects. I hope that you, too, find light for your own ministry, and that it renews your heart for mission as much as it did mine.
1. Forming the Faith Community
Then:
Empowered by the Spirit reminded us that forming a faith community is the foundation of campus ministry. Campus ministry is where students can encounter Christ through others, to feel known and loved, and to begin seeing the Church as their home. The bishops call campus ministers to gather students into a visible, vibrant community of believers where prayer, sacraments, and relationships create the conditions for growth in faith. Back then, it was a bold claim: campus ministry wasn’t just about programs or events, but about building communion.
Now:
At Called25, this vision was both affirmed and expanded. The symposium essays called us to recognize the shifting reality of student life today. The “faith community” isn’t just the Sunday Mass or Bible study group. The faith community includes students who may never enter a chapel unless someone first sees them, knows them, and invites them. The essays and discussions challenged us to consider the students who linger on the margins: those questioning their place in the Church, carrying wounds from past experiences, or struggling under the weight of grief, mental health challenges, or identity questions. What does it mean to be the Church for them? What does building a community that doesn’t require perfection or performance to belong mean?
This reimagining of community doesn’t dismiss our traditions; it deepens them. One essay pointed to the Eucharist as not only the source and summit of our faith, but also a “school of belonging”, where we learn how to receive and make space for others. Liturgies, social events, small groups — all of these must now be intentionally designed with a posture of welcome, not just for the “churched,” but for the curious, the cautious, and the quietly longing.
Takeaway:
The call to “form the faith community” hasn’t changed, but our context has. Students arriving on campus are more isolated, digitally connected but relationally starved, and often unsure whether they’re welcome in the Church. Forming the faith community today means doing more than just opening the doors. It means noticing who’s missing and going out to them. We are called to foster liturgical, social, and pastoral environments where students feel seen, safe, and ultimately sent. A faith community gathers people in and then sends them out with confidence that they belong to Christ and one another.
2. Appropriating the Faith
Then:
When Empowered by the Spirit was first written, this aspect of ministry emphasized the importance of helping students make the faith their own intellectually, personally, and spiritually. It recognized that many college students were stepping into adulthood and, for the first time, deciding whether they would continue practicing their faith apart from family or childhood tradition. Campus ministers were called to guide students in internalizing Catholic teaching, deepening their understanding, and cultivating a relationship with Christ that could carry them beyond college into lifelong discipleship.
Now:
Forty years later, this mission has become even more urgent. At Called25, the conversation around appropriating the faith centered not only on what the Church teaches, but why it matters to students in the complexity of their lives. It’s not enough to hand someone the Catechism or invite them to RCIA. Today’s students are asking:
- Does the Church see me?
- Does it care about what I’m going through?
- Is there room for my questions, my doubts, my story?
One essayist shared a phrase that has stayed with me:
“Let them borrow your faith until they find their own.”
That captured so much of what was shared in the sessions: faith is often transmitted not through lectures or apologetics, but through presence, witness, and patience. The most powerful moments don’t always happen in the classroom or at a retreat, but when a student sees your joy in the Gospel, your struggle to live it out, and your choice to stay faithful even when it’s hard.
The essays pushed us to rethink how we teach the faith as a shared way of life. Personal testimony, storytelling, and real-life connection are essential. Appropriating the faith is not a solo journey, and it rarely happens all at once. It’s a process of exploration, healing, and growth that requires mentors willing to walk with students for the long haul.
Takeaway:
Our students don’t need more information. They’re swimming in information. What they need is formation that’s relational, consistent, and deeply rooted in lived experience. To accompany students today means walking with them through uncertainty and giving them space to wrestle, to question, and even to push back without fear that they’ll be dismissed or corrected too quickly. If we want students to appropriate the faith for themselves, we must start by offering them a version that feels authentic, human, and worthy of their trust.
3. Forming the Christian Conscience
Then:
Empowered by the Spirit, the bishops recognized the role of campus ministry in helping students form their consciences in light of the Gospel and the teachings of the Church. College is often a time of big decisions about identity, relationships, vocation, and purpose, and the bishops understood that young adults need guidance in learning to discern wisely and faithfully. This aspect of ministry was about cultivating mature Catholics who could wrestle with ethical questions, think critically, and make decisions rooted in both truth and love.
Now:
At Called25, this call felt more relevant than ever. But it also felt more complicated. Students today are navigating a noisy world of social media, polarized politics, generational divides, and competing narratives of justice and truth. In that context, forming conscience can’t begin with doctrine. It has to start with dialogue. The essays emphasized that students need a safe space before sacred space. They need a place to bring real questions without fear of being judged or shut down.
In one powerful session, someone said, “We can’t expect students to live the Church’s moral teachings if we’ve never helped them see the beauty behind them.” That struck a chord. We spend so much time explaining what the Church teaches, but far less time helping students understand why it’s rooted in love, freedom, and human dignity. Without that foundation, Church teaching can feel like a set of rules meant to exclude or control rather than a path to joy and flourishing.
The essays also made space for the inner work of conscience formation. Students don’t just need guidance on significant ethical issues; they need help naming their fears, understanding their motivations, and learning how to listen for the voice of God in their own lives. Spiritual direction, mentorship, prayer practices, and reflective conversations are all essential tools for shaping a conscience that is informed by the Church and alive with the Spirit.
Takeaway:
Forming conscience in today’s campus ministry means more listening than lecturing. It means meeting students in the gray spaces and walking with them patiently as they discern how to follow Christ in a confusing world. We are called to be companions on the journey — people who can witness to the goodness of Church teaching by the integrity and compassion of our own lives. In a culture that often prizes being right over being good, campus ministers have the opportunity to model a different way: one rooted in humility, conviction, and above all, Love.
4. Educating for Peace and Justice
Then:
Empowered by the Spirit named the pursuit of justice as a central dimension of campus ministry, a vital expression of Catholic identity. It called ministers to help students connect their faith with action, to see service not as charity alone but as solidarity, and to recognize the deep links between the Gospel and the work of justice and peace. Students were to be formed with a Catholic social conscience, aware of global and local issues, and equipped to respond with compassion, courage, and integrity.
Now:
The essays invited us to look at the real people in our campus communities who are suffering. The students navigating homelessness or food insecurity, those burdened by mental illness, survivors of trauma or violence, and communities facing systemic injustice. One of the most powerful contributions came from a campus minister who spoke about accompanying unhoused students, not as a service project, but as a long-term ministry of presence, advocacy, and love.
We were repeatedly reminded that justice begins with proximity. If our ministries don’t place us near the pain of others, we risk speaking about justice without ever living it. The essays highlight the importance of immersion experiences, service-learning, and especially reflective practices that help students process what they see and do. Without that, justice efforts can become transactional, performative, or detached from spiritual transformation.
Another theme that emerged was kinship: the idea that justice isn’t something we do for others but seek with them. This lens challenges campus ministers to educate about issues and foster relationships across lines of difference. Whether through partnerships with local organizations, community-based learning, or conversations that bridge political and ideological divides, our ministries can become schools of mercy — where students learn to see the face of Christ in every person they encounter.
Takeaway:
Today, educating for peace and justice means creating space for encounter, reflection, and action. It means helping students connect their faith with the real struggles of the world, and inviting them to respond with generosity, humility, listening, and a willingness to be changed. Justice is not just something we teach, but something we model. It shows up in how we treat each student, allocate our resources, and embody the Church’s call to stand with the poor, the excluded, and the wounded. If we want students to believe in the Church’s social teaching, they must see us living it first.
5. Facilitating Personal Development
Then:
In Empowered by the Spirit, the bishops named personal development an essential part of campus ministry because college isn’t just about intellectual growth. It’s also a time of intense emotional, social, and spiritual formation. This aspect of ministry was about helping students discover who they are, who God is calling them to be, and how their gifts and struggles can become part of their vocation. Campus ministers were encouraged to create environments that supported the whole person, not just as future professionals or members of the Church, but as beloved children of God.
Now:
The essays and conversations repeatedly returned to one shared reality: our students are not okay. Anxiety, depression, loneliness, and burnout are no longer occasional struggles—they are defining features of this generation’s college experience. Many campus ministers echoed that these challenges aren’t just showing up in counseling offices but in Bible studies, leadership teams, and even among ministers themselves.
The question that emerged wasn’t just “How do we support students in crisis?” but “How do we build sustainable, compassionate, and human ministries?” One essay focused on mental health in higher education and emphasized that campus ministry isn’t meant to replace therapy or clinical care; rather, we are called to accompany students in their suffering, reduce stigma, and make space for honest conversations about pain, healing, and hope.
There was also a strong push to normalize imperfection. Many students feel pressure to be high-achieving, high-performing Catholics, especially those involved in leadership or formation. But true personal development includes learning how to ask for help, how to rest, how to grieve, and how to grow through failure. It also includes helping students develop emotional intelligence, healthy boundaries, and a sense of identity rooted not in what they do, but in who they are.
Takeaway:
Today, facilitating personal development means ministering with empathy, presence, and care. We are tasked with reminding students that their worth is not earned by what they achieve, especially in ministry. We can’t talk about vocation without talking about wellness. And we can’t walk with students through discernment unless we also walk with them through heartbreak and disappointment. One of the most powerful things a campus minister can do right now is to model what a healthy, grounded, faithful adult looks like—not perfect, but present. Our students need emotionally honest people who are willing to walk with them through the beautiful, messy reality of becoming.
6. Developing Leaders for the Future
Then:
Empowered by the Spirit called campus ministry a “training ground” for future leaders in the Church and the world. It recognized the unique opportunity college presents for students to form habits, beliefs, and identities. The bishops urged ministers to create spaces where students could become responsible, discover their gifts, and learn how to serve. Leadership development was about skill-building and about discipleship. Helping young adults become leaders meant forming them as whole persons: grounded in faith, open to others, and ready to respond to God’s call in whatever field or vocation awaited them.
Now:
At Called25, this dialogue emerged around how today’s students are eager to make a difference but also carry deep questions about their place in the Church and ability to lead within it. Some are discerning the priesthood or religious life. Others are passionate about justice, education, or medicine. Still others are simply trying to survive college with their faith intact.
One recurring insight was the shift from leader as expert to leader as disciple—a shift in mindset from charisma and perfection to humility and love. One campus minister shared how their ministry had restructured student leadership to focus less on event planning and more on personal formation and peer accompaniment. The fruit? More authenticity, joy, and students who saw leadership as an invitation to serve and love others well.
The essays also challenged us to consider legacy: Are we forming students to take ownership of the Church’s mission beyond campus? Are we giving them tools to lead in parishes, workplaces, and family life? Are we forming leaders who can navigate complexity with grace, speak the truth with love, and hold space for those who feel far from the Church?
Takeaway:
Developing leaders for the future means investing in students today as volunteers, yes, but also as protagonists in the life of the Church. This means giving them real responsibility, walking with them as they grow, and reminding them that leadership isn’t about being in charge, it’s about being faithful. The best leadership formation happens in relationships. When we create cultures of mentorship, shared prayer, and honest feedback, we help students become the kind of leaders the Church desperately needs: humble, hopeful, and deeply in love with Christ.
A Shared Mission
Forty years ago, Empowered by the Spirit gave us a vision for what campus ministry could be: bold, faithful, rooted in relationship, and responsive to students' real lives.
The world our students are navigating has changed dramatically since 1985, but the heart of our work remains the same: to accompany young people with love, truth, and hope as they discover who they are and who God is calling them to be.
This work takes time and trust, and the fruit isn’t immediate. Campus ministry asks something deeper from us — a posture of patience, presence, and humility. We are asked to make space for the work God is already doing in the lives of the students we serve.
Empowered by the Spirit reminds us that this work was never meant to be done alone. We walk alongside students, fellow ministers, and the wider Church, united by a common call to follow where the Spirit leads.
If you're looking for ways to strengthen outreach, build community, and accompany students more intentionally, I’d love to connect about how Newman Connection can support your campus through partnership.