Campus Ministry is a school wide effort to foster spirituality, community, and service among students, faculty, staff, and administration. Our hope is to meet each person “where they are at” in order to grow in their faith. The Office for Campus Ministry has a variety of programs that reach a wide range of students and other members of our community.
Retreats, prayer, worship...
As a school we gather to celebrate our faith and community through Mass, school prayer services, class prayer services, and responses to community and world events.
The retreat program is an essential part of the communal and spiritual experience at St. Thomas. Through participating in a retreat, students are able to deepen both their personal spirituality and their relationships with classmates and faculty.
- Class Retreats: Our goal is to offer retreats at every grade level, meeting students where they are at individually, and as a class. Beyond class retreats we offer many other opportunities for students to be engaged in faith and community:
- Lock-Ins gather 40-100+ students and have two purposes: first to build community, and second to provide students with a meaningful experience of prayer. These lock-ins introduce many students to future opportunities of deeper retreats.
- Winterterm Retreat, which many students have stated to be life-changing is held in January each year. 50+ students head off to Singing Hills Retreat Center in Plainfield, NH for a 3 night retreat experience. Through small groups, student talks, music, and prayer students are led to a deeper experience of personal faith, and a celebration of community.
- Weekly Prayer Opportunities include the Liturgy of the Hours on Monday morning, the Rosary on Wednesdays at break, and Eucharistic Adoration from 12:00-1:00 daily.
Regional Youth Ministry Opportunities include the New England Catholic Youth Conference (March) and Steubenville East Youth Conference (July), as well as events sponsored by the Diocese of Manchester and Seacoast Life Teen.
Service...
When students graduate from St. Thomas we hope that they have come to a deeper commitment to service for God and others. Each student participates in a personal community service project of forty hours or more. Beyond this we provide several opportunities for service retreats and group projects.
As a school community we strive to reach out to others on local, regional, and global levels. We do this by:
- Assisting local families in need with the Catholic Charities Christmas Drive.
- Contributing to the October Canned Food Drive and Spirit Week event “Pennies from Heaven” which helps feed the poor in our New England Community through Lazarus House Ministries.
- Reaching out globally over the years to our brothers and sisters in need through partnerships with organizations such as Heifer Project International, and the Center for Student Leadership (Bolivia).
- Daily visits by students to St. Ann Healthcare, our neighboring nursing home.
Leadership
Leadership Development is an important component of our mission at St. Thomas. It is our goal to help students and faculty recognize the gifts they have been given and inspire them to use those gifts in service and leadership.
- Campus Ministry Core Team is comprised of 20-30 students who plan and facilitate meetings, prayer services, icebreakers, small groups, and retreats. These students participate in a three-day retreat experience in summer, and participate in a weekly course “Leadership in Ministry” to learn skills essential to ministry with young people in our world today.
- Senior Leadership is an opportunity for rising seniors to set individual and class goals, and build community. This program begins with an overnight retreat at Camp Fatima in June of the junior year. Students involved will help facilitate Freshmen Jumpstart and Freshmen Retreat. All seniors are invited to participate in Senior Leadership Night, an evening retreat in late August.
Community…
- Tuesday Morning Meetings: These often lively meetings are a staple of Campus Ministry. There is singing, games, small group discussion, and prayer. Once a month Campus Ministry hosts a pancake breakfast, and a guest speaker leads a discussion. Tuesday morning meetings draw about 50-70 students. This is a great way to get to know new people and grow in faith! Students do not need to sign up for Campus Ministry. They can just show up to the meetings they can make.
- Community Gatherings: We occasionally take time for gatherings such as holiday potluck dinners, movies, and lunches.
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