A Catholic at a Presbyterian College...any suggestions?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lizard31088
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lizard31088

Guest
At the college that I am attending, they are very much against Catholicism. Every full-time faculty member has to sign a statement saying they are an “evangelical protestant.” A professor recently converted to the Catholic Church and was fired.
This is, obviously, a Christian school (affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian church). However, as fellow Christians, I would think they would encourage Christianity.
Catholics on campus have always been looked down upon. There is a Catholic chaplain here (who is the priest of the local Catholic church), but he was told that he was not permitted to hold any events or groups for Catholics on campus.
You might ask why, as a Catholic, am I staying here…Well, 2 reasons: (1) I’m a junior and am just now really, really feeling the impact of this anti-Catholic feeling and the credits I have taken won’t all transfer elsewhere and I’m sooo ready to be done with school; and (2) I feel like I’m meant to be here. I have actually helped a lot of students here to get over their misconceptions of Catholics.
Recently, a few students have gotten together to have a “Catholic fellowship” meeting. The school is acknowledging that we are getting together, but will not allow us to have a “club” status. It’s a start. We were thinking that we should do something to make other students aware of the presence of Catholics on campus…not in an offensive or agressive way, but through an act of service or something of the sort. We have no clue what to do, though.
Any suggestions of what we can do to share the Catholic faith through actions (other than just in our daily living)? Thanks a bunch!!
 
Lizard31088 said:
At the college that I am attending, they are very much against Catholicism. Every full-time faculty member has to sign a statement saying they are an “evangelical protestant.” A professor recently converted to the Catholic Church and was fired.
This is, obviously, a Christian school (affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian church). However, as fellow Christians, I would think they would encourage Christianity.
Catholics on campus have always been looked down upon. There is a Catholic chaplain here (who is the priest of the local Catholic church), but he was told that he was not permitted to hold any events or groups for Catholics on campus.
You might ask why, as a Catholic, am I staying here…Well, 2 reasons: (1) I’m a junior and am just now really, really feeling the impact of this anti-Catholic feeling and the credits I have taken won’t all transfer elsewhere and I’m sooo ready to be done with school; and (2) I feel like I’m meant to be here. I have actually helped a lot of students here to get over their misconceptions of Catholics.
Recently, a few students have gotten together to have a “Catholic fellowship” meeting. The school is acknowledging that we are getting together, but will not allow us to have a “club” status. It’s a start. We were thinking that we should do something to make other students aware of the presence of Catholics on campus…not in an offensive or agressive way, but through an act of service or something of the sort. We have no clue what to do, though.
Any suggestions of what we can do to share the Catholic faith through actions (other than just in our daily living)? Thanks a bunch!!
Click to expand...
God bless you - its wonderful that you are making an effort to fellowship with others who share your faith. The best advice I can offer you is to try to live your faith by example and let those around you think about it. Also, brush up on the scriptural and historical basis of Catholicism so that you can be prepared to answer, respectfully and in love, if other students question your faith. In that environrment, some may do so sincerely, others based upon misperceptions of the Catholic faith.

Read Scott Hahn’s book Rome Sweet Home for the story of a prespyterian minister (and graduate of Gordon Evangelical seminiary) who ultimately became a Catholic (there may be classmates among you whose interest is piqued by your presence - that could be the seed that bears fruit many years from now).

Blessings,

Brian
 
Maybe you guys could organize a “getaway” to Eucharistic adoration at the closest church. (This would work best on weekends). Invite any Protestants to come.
Another way to make your presence know is to have a Bible study. This could potentially turn bad, because of all the anti-Catholics there, but it would be a start. Just be sure to know your defences, in case they start to bash you. Take a look around this site to beef up your arguments.
Also, a “rosary night” would be good. Here, you could talk about the history of the rosary/Marian devotions, then pray either part of the rosary or the whole thing.
Maybe a question/answer get- together would be helpful to the other students who have bias to Catholics.
Any big public things (signs, announcements, etc.) probably aren’t allowed at your school if they’re Catholic oriented, so don’t try to do that.
Here’s a link to a story of a Protestant convert, and why he converted:
catholic.com/thisrock/1998/9812conv.asp
That has some good arguments from a Protestant point of view.
This is a good thing you guys are doing. Keep it up!👍
Keep us updated, too. 😃
 
I just have a simple question…

Is this school located in America?Does it receive federal funding?

Ger
 
Any suggestions of what we can do to share the Catholic faith through actions (other than just in our daily living)? Thanks a bunch!!
Click to expand...
You could pass out rosaries… hehe just kidding.

My high school students and I are collecting soda pop cans/bottles for the nickel deposits. The money will be sent to a Maryknoll Mission project in Tanzania. It only takes 120,000 cans to build a house 👍

For local project we are going to sing Christmas carols for the people living in a nursing home.

Those are a couple ideas. If I think up more I will post them.

God bless
 
Robbinson said:
The best advice I can offer you is to try to live your faith by example and let those around you think about it. Also, brush up on the scriptural and historical basis of Catholicism so that you can be prepared to answer, respectfully and in love, if other students question your faith. In that environrment, some may do so sincerely, others based upon misperceptions of the Catholic faith.

Read Scott Hahn’s book Rome Sweet Home for the story of a prespyterian minister (and graduate of Gordon Evangelical seminiary) who ultimately became a Catholic (there may be classmates among you whose interest is piqued by your presence - that could be the seed that bears fruit many years
Click to expand...
We have definitely been talking about living our faith. We have had many questions from fellow students and have discovered that most of what people know about Catholicism comes from their parents which came from their parents, etc. Somewhere along the line the information got mangled or somebody had a bad experience with Catholicism and misstated something (it’s kind of like that telephone game where there’s a line of people who all supposedly pass along the same phrase, but sometimes it gets totally messed up by the end). We are currently doing a book study-like meeting weekly. It’s on a book that talks specifically about common misconceptions of the Catholic faith.

And yes, Steboyz, it is in America and it does receive federal funding, but it’s a private institution…

Thanks for the suggestions Highwayhound I’ll have to keep those in mind and discuss them when the group meets on Friday…well, except for the passing out rosaries one…do you want us to get mobbed? haha
 
Another idea - a good friend of mine started a Faith and Science discussion group at the nearby college. It was dubbed “Newton’s Circle”. A wide range of topics were discussed. The topics ranged from cosmology, Does God exist, mathematics, good vs. evil, etc.

If science is not your bag then you could come up with a different theme for the group.

Instead of rosaries… perhaps Miraculous Medals…??

God bless
 
If they recieive Federal funding then they can NOT discriminate against you based on your race, religion, etc.!👍
 
Just a cynical observation to cheer you up.

You will probably find no more anti-Catholic sentiment at a Presbyterian college than at a CINO Catholic school. 😛
 
One idea would be to host a Thanksgiving dinner for students who can’t get home. The Catholics can serve.
 
Faithalone

Thats exactly my point.Thats what is hard to believe.There are a lot of ways to get around the rules but most companies could not use that as an excuse to fire.We have a private Catholic girls high school that fired a teacher because her name was printed in an ad supporting abortion rights.

Ger
 
steboyz said:
Faithalone

Thats exactly my point.Thats what is hard to believe.There are a lot of ways to get around the rules but most companies could not use that as an excuse to fire.We have a private Catholic girls high school that fired a teacher because her name was printed in an ad supporting abortion rights.

Ger
Click to expand...
well in the case you describe she more than likely has a morality clause (or something of the sort) in her teaching contract, since she supported something that totally went against the Catholic Church she deserved to get her butt fired, IMHO! I would not want her teaching in my kids Private Catholic School(s) !!!
 
steboyz said:
Faithalone

Thats exactly my point.Thats what is hard to believe.There are a lot of ways to get around the rules but most companies could not use that as an excuse to fire.We have a private Catholic girls high school that fired a teacher because her name was printed in an ad supporting abortion rights.

Ger
Click to expand...
The 1st Amendment gives religious employers the right to hire people who share their religious beliefs. When faculty are hired here, they have to sign a statement of faith that says that they are an “Evangelical Protestant.” It used to say “Evangelical Christian,” which a few Catholics have taken advantage of and said that they were, indeed, evangelical christians (they are either still employed here or have retired)…the people who were fired signed the statement saying they were evangelical protestants so they were fired because they were going against the statements they signed. Other professors simply teach pre-reformation Catholicism rather than ever mentioning the “Counter Reformation” or how the church changed after the reformation. However, this was not my question…nor does it really have to do with my question…

Thank you to those who gave suggestions. They are definitely worth bringing up at our meeting.
 
Lizard31088 said:
At the college that I am attending, they are very much against Catholicism. Every full-time faculty member has to sign a statement saying they are an “evangelical protestant.” A professor recently converted to the Catholic Church and was fired.
This is, obviously, a Christian school (affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian church). However, as fellow Christians, I would think they would encourage Christianity.
Catholics on campus have always been looked down upon. There is a Catholic chaplain here (who is the priest of the local Catholic church), but he was told that he was not permitted to hold any events or groups for Catholics on campus.
You might ask why, as a Catholic, am I staying here…Well, 2 reasons: (1) I’m a junior and am just now really, really feeling the impact of this anti-Catholic feeling and the credits I have taken won’t all transfer elsewhere and I’m sooo ready to be done with school; and (2) I feel like I’m meant to be here. I have actually helped a lot of students here to get over their misconceptions of Catholics.
Recently, a few students have gotten together to have a “Catholic fellowship” meeting. The school is acknowledging that we are getting together, but will not allow us to have a “club” status. It’s a start. We were thinking that we should do something to make other students aware of the presence of Catholics on campus…not in an offensive or agressive way, but through an act of service or something of the sort. We have no clue what to do, though.
Any suggestions of what we can do to share the Catholic faith through actions (other than just in our daily living)? Thanks a bunch!!
Click to expand...
My guess is that a Bible study group would be least offensive since they could hardly object to that. But you need a guide. Maybe father knows a layman who is versed in Scripture.
 
My daughter is Catholic at a formerly Presbyterian College that is now independent. She had a Reformed roommate that led her into a Bible Study. I was surprised when my daughter started asking me questions about the strange doctrines she heard about and wanting apologetics information. I gave her a cheat sheet of Bible verses that explained the differences. It ended up that she was defending Catholic beliefs and correcting misperceptions in that Bible Study. Now she says she will never marry anyone who is not Catholic. She can’t tolerate things like “no free will” or “Jesus came only to save some.” She is a much more committed Catholic now.
She tried to restart a Newman club too. It started out as a group that played board games at first. The logic of that is that this area is 25% Catholic, so it was a good way to meet people that could be potential members. The nearest parish adopted the campus and helped to provide rides to Mass.
 
bettyg51 said:
My daughter is Catholic at a formerly Presbyterian College that is now independent. She had a Reformed roommate that led her into a Bible Study. I was surprised when my daughter started asking me questions about the strange doctrines she heard about and wanting apologetics information. I gave her a cheat sheet of Bible verses that explained the differences. It ended up that she was defending Catholic beliefs and correcting misperceptions in that Bible Study. Now she says she will never marry anyone who is not Catholic. She can’t tolerate things like “no free will” or “Jesus came only to save some.” She is a much more committed Catholic now.
She tried to restart a Newman club too. It started out as a group that played board games at first. The logic of that is that this area is 25% Catholic, so it was a good way to meet people that could be potential members. The nearest parish adopted the campus and helped to provide rides to Mass.
Click to expand...
We are trying really hard to get a group started, but we are finding more and more that many fellow Catholics are intimadated. There are about 126ish students who marked “Catholic” on their applications (I’m sure many are not really of any religious affiliation, but put Catholic because their parents are–and 126 is a lot considering the size of the whole school). However, there have only been about 5 of us who have gotten together (and 2 who would like to come, but we can’t find a good time for them). I asked a few people who I know to be Catholic to come and they said that they didn’t want others to know that they are Catholic because they are afraid of the consequences they would face from fellow students. In my experience here, most are accepting, at least to the point of not making a big deal about our religious differences.
The nearest parish here is not very active. I have been attending Mass there for the entire time I’ve been here (I’m a junior this year) and have had to force my way into getting involved because they just don’t seem to want “outsiders” intruding their personal space. I have just felt unwelcomed by everyone except the priest…and he is in charge of 2 parishes so he’s extremely busy.
Thanks for sharing your daughter’s success story. It is definitely encouraging!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top