A National Study on Catholic Campus Ministry

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A National Study on
Catholic Campus Ministry

A Report Prepared for the
United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops
Secretariat of Catholic Education

Brian Starks, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor,
Kennesaw State University

Maureen K. Day, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of Religion and Society,
Franciscan School of Theology

A National Study on
Catholic Campus Ministry
2017

A Report Prepared for the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Secretariat of Catholic Education

Brian Starks, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor,
Kennesaw State University

Maureen K. Day, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of Religion and Society,
Franciscan School of Theology

Foreword

Catholic campus ministry provides a unique opportunity to meet and engage young adults and
adults at every phase of Church life and testimony. The Church must be intentional and campus
ministry must be accountable in every way possible to enrich the character and formation of the
whole community; taking into account the ethnic, social and spiritual diversity of each campus
and its surrounding community. As bishops, our support, encouragement and pastoral presence is
essential. Campus ministry must address the needs of its family, inviting all to be of one mind in
meeting the needs of students, faculty and staff within its confines and among the local commu-
nity. Campus ministry can be an example for the wider Church of engagement and empowerment
of young adults. A campus minister, like a pastor, needs a holistic perspective of the campus com-
munity. Our ministry must center on people, for we are forming men and women to be people that
reflect Christ to each other and to the world.

Auxiliary Bishop Fernand Cheri
Archdiocese of New Orleans
Catholic Campus Ministry Association, Episcopal Liaison

Bishop John M. Quinn
Diocese of Winona
Committee on Catholic Education, Chairman
Higher Education Working Group, Member

Introduction

In 2016, the Secretariat of Catholic Education commissioned a National Study of Catholic
Campus Ministry. This study defined a campus minister as someone whose primary responsibility
is the pastoral care of the campus community. The study utilized an innovative, collaborative
planning process. The Assistant Director for Higher Education in the Secretariat of Catholic
Education, Barbara Humphrey McCrabb, proposed a two-pronged study and selected Brian Starks,
Associate Professor of Kennesaw State University, to be the Principal Investigator. Through two
national surveys, the research team considered 1) the formation and development of those who
minister on campus and 2) the impact of Catholic campus ministry on those who participate. This
report addresses the findings of the Campus Minister Instrument; the student data is not included
in this report.

Copyright © 2018, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved.

Photos: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat of Catholic Education, Getty Images, University

of Dayton Campus Ministry. Used with permission.

ii

Table of Contents

Foreword and Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

A Profile of Catholic Campus Ministers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Campus Ministry Today: A Changed Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Today’s Campus Ministers: Distinct and Complimentary Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Ongoing Formation and Development: Leaning into

Strengths or Developing New Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

About the Study: Process and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

iii

Executive Summary

The study yielded several key findings critical to
a thriving future for Catholic campus ministry.
Within the last few decades, there have been
many changes in the landscape of campus min-
istry, in higher education as a context for min-
istry and in the social worlds that young adults
inhabit. There are also new pastoral styles of
campus ministry, shifts among the models of
ministry that serve the campus community, dif-
fering standards of what constitutes ‘enough’
formation and more. A thoughtful analysis of
the findings yields three key takeaways:

1. The landscape of Catholic campus min-
istry has definitely changed since the writ-
ing of Empowered by the Spirit in 1985. The
Department of Education reports there are
more than 3,000 four-year colleges and univer-
sities in the United States. For the 2017 study,
the Secretariat of Catholic Education identi-
fied 1,911 campus ministers nationally, includ-
ing more than 500 FOCUS missionaries, with
1,117 responding to the survey. Of those sur-
veyed, nearly all serve at four-year institutions
with very few (43 or 2%) serving at commu-
nity colleges. Catholic campus ministers serve
at 816 campuses including Catholic, public and
private/non-Catholic institutions compared to
1,157 campuses served in 2007 according to
Catholic Campus Ministry Association records.
The Catholic Church has a pastoral presence
at approximately 1 in 4 four-year institutions.
With the Department of Education data report-
ing 1,500 Community Colleges, the Catholic
Church’s pastoral presence drops to 1 in 60 for
community colleges. Two important findings
emerge from the National Study: the rise of
missionary organizations in campus ministry
and the need for a stronger Catholic campus
ministry presence on colleges and universities,
particularly community colleges.

2. The distinct models of ministry (office-
based, parish-based, center-based, diocesan /
multi-campus and missionary) as well as pas-
toral styles of Catholic campus ministry yield
differences in the campus ministers’ perceived
importance of pastoral skills and programmatic
offerings. The variety of models reflect the
diverse and complex nature of the Catholic
faith. While no one model captures the full-
ness of the Catholic faith, collectively these
models represent the incredible breadth of the
Catholic faith. This diversity of models offers
a variety of paths to encounter Christ, simul-
taneously calling for greater respect and appre-
ciation among campus ministers as well as for
honest ministerial self-assessment. Valuing the
many gifts within the body of campus ministry
better meets the unique pastoral needs of indi-
viduals as well as any particular needs of the
campus community.

3. Significant variation in training, formation,
and certification exists among those serving in
campus ministry. Among those who perceive
they possess greater training and formation
in an area, they report feeling more efficacy
in that area, increased satisfaction when per-
forming that ministerial task and show greater
interest in receiving additional training in that
area. In areas where they feel less competent,
they report lower levels of satisfaction and effi-
cacy, as well as less interest in pursuing addi-
tional training in that area. The bishops’ vision
for campus ministry, articulated in Empowered
by the Spirit, calls for “find[ing] dedicated per-
sons for this ministry who have a solid faith, a
love for the academic world and the ability to
relate well to both inquiring students and an
educated faculty. They need proper training,
which includes personal development, practi-
cal experience and theological study” (#104).
In fact, 40% of campus ministers have not

1

completed ministerial degrees upon entering
campus ministry. All campus ministers should
be given educational access to foundational
and ongoing training and formation necessary
for responsible ministry in a campus setting.

These takeaways suggest a comprehensive
ministerial solution is required for growth in
presence and efficacy within campus ministry,
respect and appreciation among campus min-
isters and enhanced competency among those
who serve. For growth, Catholic campus min-
isters need to reach far more campuses than
they currently serve. Community colleges pres-
ent a particularly urgent need. Growth should
also be conceived of in terms of qualitative as
well as quantitative expansion to better serve
the needs of students and the entire campus
community through creativity and innovation.
Cooperation, rooted in respect and appreciation,
can help facilitate this growth. There are many
different ways campus ministers reach out,
engage and form students. As will be discussed
in the pages that follow, there are import-
ant assets and liabilities within these varied

approaches. To maximize the pastoral efficacy of
campus ministry, ministers and those who sup-
port them must cast aside any posture of defen-
siveness or suspicion of a ministerial model in
favor of openness and critical self-awareness.
If campus ministers and their institutions can
embrace their personal gifts as well as recognize
their own limits, they will more readily coop-
erate with others whose gifts can complement
their own. Finally, campus ministers must con-
tinue to improve and expand their competen-
cies. This study illuminates the wide variation
in formation among campus ministers and the
ways in which this affects their experiences of
campus ministry as well as their understanding
of ministry more generally.

These findings illustrate the reality of cam-
pus ministry today so that informed leaders,
campus ministers and other stakeholders can
more intentionally influence the trajectory of
Catholic campus ministry, the Catholicity of
young adults, and the health and vitality of the
next generation of Catholics.

2

Profile of Catholic Campus Ministers

2017: 1,911 identified CMs (campus ministers) | 1,117 responses, 56% response rate

PERSONAL

OVERALL
43% 57%

69%
LAYPERSONS

60%

40%

31%
ORDAINED AND
RELIGIOUS

26%

5%

MEDIAN AGE

35

29

54

86%

OF CAMPUS
MINISTERS ARE
WHITE
NON-HISPANIC

90% of CMs work full-time

42%

report entering campus
ministry out of a “sense of call”
to campus ministry

31%

of CMs are married

MEAN NUMBER OF YEARS EXPERIENCE

6.9

2.2

6.7

7.5

9

9.6

Limited-term missionary-based

Parish-based Newman

Office-based

center

Diocesan
with multiple
campuses

3