Aug. 19, 2015

By Marika Donders
Director for Evangelization

It's Back-To-School time and what comes to mind for most people is buying new school supplies and clothes for our kids: our teen and pre-teen kids. 

But it is also back to school time for our college "kids" who will be going AWAY for college, some of them for the first time. 

For many of them it will be the first time for them to decide whether or not to go to Mass. 

It will be a time for questioning and doubts but can also be a wonderful time of finding lifelong friendships with other students through campus ministries or Newman Centers or Catholic Student Organizations. 

Have you ever thought about what you and your parish can do to stay connected to these young adult parishioners?  Do you know which colleges your college student parishioners are attending? 

Have you ever thought about what you and your parish can do to stay connected to these young adult parishioners?

Here are some ideas:
• Pray for your parishes' college students.  Perhaps even have a special Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit to send them off. 

• Put a list of college students in your adoration chapel so that they can be prayed for.  Ask your homebound parishioners to pray for specific students.

•  Get your college students' college snail-mail addresses.  Send them a card to let them know that they are being prayed for.  Better yet, send them a care package.  Homemade cookies are always good.  So are M&Ms or Skittles or other candy.

• But also include prayer cards or a rosary and instructions on how to pray the rosary.  Or perhaps send a seasonal prayer book for Lent and Easter.  Perhaps your parish is sending out an advent booklet to give to parishioners.  Don't forget your college students!  Other suggestions would be the little book series of prayer books or the Notre Dame prayer book.

• Keep the students connected to the Diocese.  Perhaps purchase a North Country Catholic gift subscription or mail them a weekly bulletin and ask them for prayers for specific projects and programs, especially those that involve your youth.

•  Support the Campus Ministries of the colleges your college students are attending.  Let the Catholic Campus Minister know the students that are attending their college, especially if it is a secular college. 
Many colleges do not ask for church affiliations and campus ministers may not know that your college kids are there. As campus minister I loved getting an email from parishes with a list of their kids attending my college.  It allowed me as campus minister to send a personal invitation to ministry events. 

• Financial assistance: If your college students participate in either a campus ministry retreat or campus ministry mission trip, or even World Youth Day, consider a small donation towards the cost of their participation or allow the students to make an appeal for assistance through a bulletin announcement or bulletin insert (or a personal appeal if they are at one of the local colleges or are when they are home on break).

These are just some ideas to reach out stay connected with your college students.  Perhaps you have other ideas.  Feel free to share them.   Email Marika at mdonders@rcdony.org and the Office of Evangelization will collect them in a future blog post.