Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM)

History of Catholic Campus Ministry

Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM) is an association serving Catholic and nonCatholic universities to help students to lead an intellectual life and integrate faith in to it. The
beginning of the campus ministry can be traced back to Mr. and Mrs. John Melvin. In 1883, they
started the Melvin Club at the University of Wisconsin, to keep the Catholics on campus in touch
with each other and discuss faith with them. Later a member, Timothy Harrington, started a
similar club called the Newman club at the University of Pennsylvania to help students grow
intellectually and religiously in a campus setting. Later campus catholic clubs started popping up
in big cities such as New York, Boston, etc After the spread of the Newman Club, the National
Newman Chaplains Association was formed in 1950; later in 1969 the National Newman
Chaplains Association becomes Catholic Campus Ministry. CCM became a national
organization and can be found in almost every university. It holds national gatherings and
educational programs to assist university students in leading a spiritual life.
Catholic campus ministry of UNCC was formed over a decade ago. It was led by Sister
Elaine working from the churchs side and Donna Biolasky who is working with the UNCC
staff. Currently the organization is led by Lexi Neitzey, who was with the group since her
freshman year. This connects the catholic students to the local catholic church, so that they may
grow in Christ and fellowship.

Figured world: A figured world is a large social structure which has many group divisions
under it; it also has its own rules, manners, behavior and social norms.
For my figured world, I chose to observe Catholic Campus Ministry. I selected this topic
because I am a fervent believer and this community is made of great people who are really
faithful. Catholic Campus Ministry, commonly known as CCM, is a student organization that
encourages other students to strengthen their faith and join in fellowship. They also conduct
many group outings and volunteer works around charlotte. I wanted to observe three events this
organization takes part in. One would be a mass in a local church nearby, another would be
gathering on a Wednesday evening, and the last event would be unique event CCM is
sponsoring. During my observation, I would expect the group to welcome and appreciate
diversity considering that many members in group are from countries all over the world. The
prayers would be mostly sessions where everyone other than the speaker is quiet and reverently
listening. However, after the group prayer, members would be socializing or enjoying a good

volleyball game. Although students would be talking to each other and just being themselves,
there are some specific rules and conventions that pertain to this figured world. Ten
Commandments of God are one of the many rules that CCM expects their members to abide by.
It involves avoiding the basic wrong doing in the sight of God: such as murdering; stealing;
worshiping idols and so on. There are also guidelines in the Bible on how to lead a Christian
life; leading a prayerful and sinless life is one of the many objectives of Christians. Attending
Holy Mass every week is also expected from the members of the organization. Another big tacit
of catholic group is to repent and confess your sins; so that they may be forgiven and a believer
can attain heavenly kingdom. The group mostly engages in activities that are considered to be
morally right. Students from different backgrounds and interest come together in one place to
praise Christ and hangout with their group of friends.

Domain: A domain is an area of interest, action, thought or influence that brings a group of
people together to work for those interests and learn from each other.
Catholic or Christian Faith: Along with the opportunity to hang with some of most awesome
group of people, everyone in CCM gathers there for a reason, which is to strengthen their
Christian or Catholic faith. Wanting to fortify and learn more about the faith that makes this
group of people meet every Wednesday. Being there, the members join in fellowship and work
toward to spreading their faith.
Volleyball: Volleyball is also a big part of the CCM community. Every Wednesday after prayer
and dinner, everyone gathers outside to play a competitive round of volleyball. During that time
it does not matter if you are just a beginner or if you have been playing for a while; you join a
team and play. Everyone one comes together to contribute their skills to play the sport, but most
importantly just to have fun.

Community of Practice: A community of practice is a group of people with the same interest
coming together to work toward a common goal, learn, and socialize with each other.
Sister and Priests: CCM is made up of students and ministers alike. Though all have the
common goal of getting together to worship God, the ministers aim to guide college students in
their spiritual life. It is part of their responsibility to bring up the future generation and teach
them the importance of having Christ in their lives. They come together to enrich the students
faith and get more students to be involved in the organization.
Students: The students, unlike the ministers in the group, are here to learn and grow in their
faith. Being part of the group, students engage in activities that enhance their knowledge of God
and get a support network when they are troubled. They might also come to socialize with other

students who share the same interest as them; it could lead to new friendships and lasting
relationships.

Practices of the Community: Routine activities that a community does in-order to engage in
upholding their interest and ideas.
Prayer: Considering that CCM is a Christian organization, the importance of prayer is greatly
valued, and is practiced every time we meet. Engaging in this particular activity completes that
main objective of this community, which is to join together in fellowship and praise the name of
the Lord. These acts reinforce an individuals faith in Christianity.
Mass: Another activity that members of this organization routinely participate in is the mass at
St. Thomas Aquinas Church, the church across the street, every other Wednesday before the
meeting. Attending the mass is another important aspect of Christian life. In efforts to encourage
everyone to lead a spiritual life, CCM has its members attend mass together at the local church.

Artifacts: Artifacts are any physical items or emotions that can be associated with your figured
world. It has to carry a cultural and social importance to the group.
Bible: The Bible is of great importance to this organization because it is the underlying base for
the ideas of this organization. It lays a foundation for what is expected out of each one of us
spiritually and the reasons why we gather every Wednesday.
Book bags: Book bags would be one of items that identify this community, because it is a
community mostly made of students. On Wednesday evening the amount of book bags around
the living room testifies to that; it is part of the culture of this particular community.

Actors: Actors are people who have a major role in your figured world.
Sister Elaine: She is the adult leader assigned by the parish to guide us in our spiritual life. She
is the one who organizes national retreats and other mediums for students to be closer to God.
Without her, this organization would not have any connection to the Catholic Church. She is the
mediator between us and the Catholic Church.
Lexi: She is the president of this organization; we use her house as a venue for the meetings and
volleyball games. She is the one that organizes the student activities and meetings. She plays an
important role in this community, since she is in-charge of this community.

Literacy practices: Literacy practices are activities people do to participate and communicate
in a community. It includes just regular communication methods such as: emailing; texting;
rules of the community; social norms; communitys values and attitudes; etc.
Texting: Texting is the common way that members within the community communicate with
each other. Whether it is reminding everyone of meeting times or just wants to hang out with
some members of the community.
Announcements: Announcements are done every time there is a meeting going on. It is to
inform members of the organization what is happening within the community and to get
members opinion on certain projects of CCM. It allows everyone to be in the loop on when
things are happening and how it is done.
Scriptures: The use of scripture in daily conversation is common among the group; especially
when discussing the faith. Though a person who is new to the Christian faith may not know
much about it, they yearn to learn more about it. It is Gods way of communicating with the
people of the world.
Latin: Latin is often spoken in the Holy Mass at many Catholic Churches. Depending on the
priest, the whole mass might be in Latin or the priest might only use phrases or certain words.
For Example: Christus resurrexit! is repeated during Easter mass, it mean Christ is Risen.
Another Latin phrase that is said in every mass is Ecce Agnus Dei meaning Behold the Lamb
of God.

Observation 1: Sunday, September 7th 2014, 11.30 A.M

It is 10.50 a.m. at the ST. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte NC; people are coming in to
participate in the holy mass. After taking their seats, the group starts to pray silently or sit
quietly. Occasional greetings can be heard when fellow church members who shows up to sit by
another member. A Diverse group people are gathered here to attend the Holy mass; starting
from families to groups of college kids.
Suddenly the churchs orchestra starts to play and everybody stands up. Through the middle door
the altar boys coming in carrying candles and a cross. The altar boy with cross in the front and
boys carrying the candles follow behind; the priest, in the very back of the procession, also walks
up with them. The altar boys are wearing a black long dress that reaches their feet and white
shorter dress over it. The priest had long white cape and white long dress with separate ornate
front piece. The altar boys bow in front of the altar and proceed to enter it and the priest does the
same. Some more people trickle at this point and start to participate in the mass as well.

The church choir, in the right corner of the church, start to sing a song and the rest of the public
also join them. Simultaneously one of the altar boys brings the incense burner to the blessed and
it is taken from the boy and the priest waves it around the altar. It is later given back to the boy.
Then the priest starts the mass with the prayer In the name if father and public responds.
Afterwards the priest says Lord be with you and public responds and with your spirit; this
phrase said many time throughout the mass. Another hymn starts to play and public again sings along;
then the priest says another prayer.

After the prayer, everyone sits down and one member from the audience comes up to get
blessing from the priest. He then walks to the podium and starts to read the bible: 1 Corinthians
4:6-15. After he is done, he once again walks up to the priest to ask for blessing and sits down.
Another song is played and the incense is raised; however, the priest did not take the incense
burner from the altar boy this time. Everyone stands up and the choir sings the Halleluiah over
and over. Then the priest walks up to the podium and starts to the read the Gospel: Luke 6:1-5
and an altar boy swings the incense burner close by. After the gospel the message is given from
the priest and everyone begins to sit down.
After the message everyone stands back up again and another prayer is said. Then another
member of the parish comes ask for blessing from the priest and starts to say specific prayers for
sick and sad etc... The public responds by saying hear our prayers. Another hymn starts; the
priest takes the incense burner from the altar boy and waves it around before giving it back. The
priest then washes his hands and holds up a silver bowl filled with bread pieces. He blesses the
bowl and it is the body of Christ. Then he does the same with silver chalice filled with wine
and says it is the blood of Christ.
Everyone sits down again and another hymn is played; it is followed by some more prayers.
Then everyone stands back up again. Priest again blesses the bread and the wine. Then everyone
is told to give peace to each other. Members turn to their neighbors and shake their hand or hug
each other. The priest lifts up the bread and breaks it into smaller pieces. Another hymn is played
and the public kneels down; while the priest silently prays and eats the bread and drinks some
wine. The bread and wine is then given to the altar boys. A few members of the crowd come
forward to get the bread and wine from the priest; they are either given a sliver bowl filled with
bread or chalice with wine to give it rest of the parish.
After receiving the bread and wine, the public once again kneels down and pray silently among
themselves. Priest once again goes up to the altar and prays once more; the public stands back up
again. The altar boys gather up front with candles and boy with the cross in front; he leads the
way out of the parish with the priest following closely behind. The crowd prays once more and
starts to disperse.
Commentary:

It is part of the Christian tradition to go to church every Sunday. The importance of going to
the church in instilled in our faith since the Old Testament, starting from the Ten
Commandments. Not only God has literally commanded us to go church every Sunday, but by
being part of Holy Mass the Christians are celebrating Jesuss life and given forgiveness for
their sins. Also by going to the church, the attendees also get moral cleansing and become
spiritually closer to god.

Observation 2: Wednesday, September 10th 2014, 6.30 P.M.

It was another regular meeting of CCM community; I got there early so I could start my
observation from the beginning. It exactly 6.22 P.M. when I reached the venue of the meeting;
which is a ranch home located in the community opposite to the campus. Blake and Derek were
already in the house and were just talking to each other. Lexi, the president of the club was
setting up the sign-up poster for small groups meeting starting next week. Sister Elaine was
sitting and talking to some members about the retreat happening in charlotte. She didnt want
students not to attend because of not being able to pay the dues. Other member also started
arriving few minutes later. Derek, Blake and I was about to set up the volleyball net, when
Philippe and Izu came; so we all went outside to set it up.
Luke and few others came and gathered in the living room just talking to each other. Jason
started setting up the PlayStation, so they could play FIFA 2014. Luke and Jason started playing
the first game; Izu who was really into sports joined in. He and Philippe started bickering about
which sport is better: soccer or baseball. The whole group joined in the friendly banter, when Izu
started inquiring about which sport everyone liked best.
Lexi asked everyone to gather up front, so she could start the announcements. She started with
retreat that was happening next weekend; there is a fifteen dollar fee to attend. She also talked
about the small group meetings starting on next Monday and asked us to sign up. After that
Derek lead a small prayer and blessing of the food.
Christina, an older student in the organization, has prepared the dinner. She made roasted
chicken with stuffing and mashed potato. The food had a resemblance to a thanksgiving dinner
but the turkey was replaced with chicken; nonetheless the meal was fabulous. Many of us praised
her cooking skills and thanked her. During Dinner, Izu and Jason started another round of FIFA
2014; few of us migrated to the living room while the rest stayed by the dining table. Izu cracked
a few jokes on how FIFA 2014 was like food and air to him; as he played other members.
After the meal, few of us headed to the backyard to start a game of volleyball. Derek, Blake,
Luke and I were on a team, while another four members walked to other side. We were few
minutes in to the game when Lexi came and got Blake to set up the bone-fire up front.
We played a couple more games, before it started to get dark. Most of players went inside to join
in on the conversation; while Derek and I went outside help with fire. Blake was having a tough

time to get the wood to actually burn and create flames. We even tried putting paper to get the
fire to burn, but Sister Elaine suggested it was too risky. After figuring this was waste of effort
we put out the fire and gathered up front to just socialize.
Commentary:
The Wednesday Meetings is a really important part of the club; everyone try to attend all the
meetings if possible. This is the time we gather in fellowship to praise Jesus and discuss his
teaching. Through these meetings, we fortify our faith and are with people who understand
the importance of a spiritual life.

Observation 3: Thursday, September 11th 2014, 5.30 P.M.

This is one of the irregular meetings of the CCM members; as always it is held at the house in a
community opposite to the campus. It was a rushed meeting for the members involved in playing
volleyball for CCM in the intramurals. As I was walking up to the house, I saw that Blake was
outside on phone with somebody. I waved to him as I walked up the steps to find Lexi in the sofa
watching the show Friends. Then Jordan and Derek came in from the kitchen and we started
talking about different T.V. shows. Few minutes later Blake walked in with Luke behind him;
Izu made his presents as he walked with hand full of books.
Blake then suggested that we set up the volleyball net and start practicing before the game
tonight. As we were about to start Anup and Philippe ran in to the backyard by jumping the
fence. We all greeted each other and spilt into teams. Philippe, Blake, Izu and Luke joined
together and walked to opposite field, while I and rest of the troop got into positions. We had the
ball first and Derek served. He got it across the net and they managed to put it back into the air
before getting the ball across the net. We are bunch of amateur volleyball players, so nobody felt
embarrassed when someone messed up. Most of the hits either went out or did not quite make it
across the net. We are surrounded by very supportive group of people.
Half way through our first game, Jeffery walked into the back yard. He joined the team but he
got a call from one of girls from his dance team; so he went to dance practice. We played couple
of games before one of the strings from the volleyball net holder broke from a particularly hard
hit. Also it was beginning to rain. Philippe and I started rolling the volleyball net and we all
made it to the house before the rain started pouring.
We sat around in circles and chatted about different stuff; Izu and Philippe started a conversation
on which small groups to join and what to do during those times. One of conversations that came
up was the topic of purgatory. Anoop was talking about how he doesnt really believe in the

existence of a purgatory, while Derek argued that purgatory does exist and supported his
argument with references from the bible. Most of his references were from Revelations, many
people have hard time comprehending the full extent of that section. I found the topic interesting
because I was new to the idea of purgatory. Izu at this time was talking about a student he
knows, but forgot the name; he could not think any adjectives other the person being short and
words like you know or this day. Jordan being the cheeky person he is, he decided to poke fun
at Izu but he did not notice. The whole situation created a roar of laughter from rest of us.
Eventually Izu had to go because he was meeting some people at the library. Anup and Philippe
decided to run to their house though it was pouring out. Jordan also started to leave and I also
had to get back. Other decided to go grab dinner from outside and call it day.
Commentary:
These meetings are different from the regular meetings. They do not necessarily relate to the
catholic faith but are held to strengthen our bond as a community and with each other. This
time we met because we had specific goal practicing volleyball and just to hang out.

Interview: Jeffery Thundathil

1. Tell me about your experience about being part of the CCM?
CCM has a great influence in my college life. It has kept me strong in my faith by providing me a
good support group of friends.

2. Give an example of a time how CCM affected your life?

I am currently the treasurer for a dance team on campus. I was able to learn a lot of the
opportunities that is available to us as a team through the information I got from helping out at
CCM .

3. How important is being part of CCM in your life?

I would say it is very important like I said earlier it keeps me strong in my faith also at the same
time it is also a place where I can go to get away from all the stress of college.

4. Give an example of a time when you felt that God has abandoned you?
I guess one time that I felt like God abandoned me was during my freshman year I got bad
grades. Now looking back at it I see it more like a wakeup call for me to focus more on my school
work and to put more effort and work into it.

5. Reflect on your spiritual life and how close you are to God?
I would say I have a pretty decent spiritual life. I wouldn't say it is as good as it needs to be and
there are times when I feel like I am drifting apart from God. I am part of my diocese ' youth
leadership team which helps me come back to God whenever I go astray.

Citations

"CCMA History." CCMA History. CCMA, 2014. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.

<http://www.ccmanet.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=75>.