College religious organizations

Religious departments in higher education

Faith based services provide access to activities, events and counselling that allow students to pursue spiritual growth and development. Many campuses offer multi-faith spaces, ministering to those who identify with a specific religious group or those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious.[1]

Canadian campus faith and spirituality

Many Canadian universities offer multi-faith chaplaincy services. Chaplains may offer faith-specific support and counselling for students, staff, and faculty dealing with stress, grief or loneliness, or they can be present for non-religious students with questions about faith and for those wrestling with spiritual meaning in their lives. Overall, chaplains are committed to supporting the spiritual well-being of the university community using a holistic approach. Chaplains can run worship services, social events, or meal programs. [2] Universities may offer multi-faith rooms for prayer or reflection.

Christian groups

The need for pastoral services in secular universities can be traced back to the writings of John Henry Newman advocating for societies of Catholic students to be established at secular universities in England. The rising popularity of public universities in many parts of the world over sectarian private universities also necessitated a need for Christian ministerial services for students. At the same time Christian churches in the vicinity of colleges and universities may provide worship and ministerial services to local students.

Roman Catholic

In the United States there are about 250 Catholic Newman Centers that minister to Catholic students at public universities. They trace their origin to the Newman movement and are ministered by laypeople, local parishes, or religious institutes.[3] More recently, lay apostolates such as the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), established in 1997, are ministering to and re-evangelizing Catholic university students and young adults.[4]

Latter-Day Saint

LDS Student Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Protestant

Protestant Christian and ecumenical groups following their establishment also created ministries especially focused on evangelizing students. One most recognizable group is Cru, originally known as Campus Crusade for Christ, an interdenominational Christian ministry established in 1951 on the campus of UCLA which has ministries in over a thousand universities.[5] Various other evangelical groups have worldwide networks of campus ministries including the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, World Student Christian Federation, and The Navigators. Often Protestant denominations will also have a related para-church student fellowship ministry or college group directly or indirectly affiliated with their denomination, sometimes named by it. Additionally, independent churches will often have college ministries which may extend onto constituent college campuses in the form of a student organization. List of multi-campus protestant college ministries:

India

Jewish groups

References
  1. "Authors discuss their new book on religion in American higher education". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  2. "The role of university chaplain evolves with the times". University Affairs. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  3. "What is Newman?". Western Dominican Province. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  4. "The Main Thing". Fellowship of Catholic University Students. Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  5. "Campus Ministry fact sheet". Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
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