Newman Cooperators

Newman Cooperators are parishioners or Catholic KSC faculty or staff members who would you like get involved with campus ministry at the Newman Center. What we have found over the years is that many of our college students, many of whom worship with us every Sunday for nine months out of the year continue to feel like they are just visitors to our parish who are just passing through.  You can make a difference by assisting our college students to find their spiritual home-away-from-home in our parish while they are at College at Keene State.

 

There are many ways that you can help:

Say Hello. This may seem obvious, but our students are here for nine months out of the year and even when they are juniors or seniors, they still feel like guests visiting our parish, rather than members of our parish. So if you see a student at Mass, say hello, ask them how they are doing, how classes are going, etc. Make them feel welcome.

We need greeters. In addition to just saying hello, we need people at the beginning of the year to greet students, to invite them to the Newman Center and campus ministry. We will have brochures available as well as business cards with where they can find us online, so we can connect with them. Better yet, if you can get their name, we can make sure to contact and invite them.

"If you feed them, they will come." Perhaps you would like to cook a meal - for example for after the Student Mass - or help out with the brunch on the other Sundays. In the beginning of the year we will have a cook-out where we could always use a hand with the grill. Later in the year, there will be opportunities for pot luck suppers, etc.

Transportation. One of our biggest problems with organizing outings is transportation. Most of our students do not have cars on campus. So if we want to go hike Mt. Monadnock, or go snow-tubing at Granite Gorge or similar events, we need to rent a car or a van. This is not an insurmountable problem, but if you have a van and would like to help out on occasion, let us know.

Perhaps you can provide a change of scenery. Perhaps you have a nice backyard, or live on a pond, or on a farm. Perhaps a group of students could come for a cookout, or a swim, or just for a visit to get away from the "institution" of the campus and the noise of downtown.

Be a guest speaker. Come to the Newman Center to share your story about why you are Catholic or what your faith means to you. Perhaps you are active in another ministry in our parishes: Knights of Columbus, music, outreach, Catholic Daughters, RCIA, etc. and could share how being an active member has impacted your faith life. Perhaps you have a particular hobby or gift or life skill that you can share, whether it is cooking a healthy meal in a microwave or how to put together a winning resume. Come and share your wisdom and your story with the students.

Perhaps you have an idea of your own. Mainly, the idea is to let students know that they are part of our parish community and not just visitors. And if you are a professor or staff member at KSC, it will help students to know that there is someone else they can talk to on campus, who might understand. If you are interested in helping out, contact Marika or fill out our COOPERATOR FORM.

 

Contact Information

Marika Donders, Director of the Newman Center
161 Main Street, Suite 11
Keene, NH 03431
Tel: 603-357-1444
Email: ksc.newman.ctr@gmail.com