Educating Campus Ministers – and the Press – About Faith-Based Service

In June, a cohort of ten individuals from CVN member programs attended the Catholic Campus Ministry Association’s (CCMA) “LAUNCH” training for new campus minsters at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Their participation in the conference, made possible by a grant to CVN from the SC Ministry Foundation, was intended to facilitate learning and relationships that could help CCMA and CVN collaborate more to meet the needs of Catholic college students as they consider next steps.

Our attendance at the conference was a great success – two member program staff were able to take part in a panel discussion on Catholic Social Teaching, where they talked about the impact of faith-based service. The National Catholic Reporter then featured a story on the LAUNCH event which included a focus on that panel and CVN programs!

The article is HERE – and it gives us an idea:

One goal of CVN is to better promote you and the field of faith-based service. This article offers a timely chance to further educate NCR and the public about who you are and what you do.

Please consider drafting a letter to the editor about the article and your work, using language like:

It was wonderful to see faith-based service represented in your recent article about the CCMA event at Seton Hall (https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/campus-ministers-gain-training-connections-seton-hall-event) with perspectives on service from two Catholic Volunteer Network member programs in attendance (FrancisCorps and Mercy Volunteer Corps).

My program, [insert name] also offers transformative service opportunities, with a focus on [insert mission or ministry]. Our volunteers [insert work that your volunteers do or a moving experience they have had]. We are also part of a network of over 150 faith-based service programs and can see how the work that we all do makes a difference in the lives of Catholic young adults. I appreciate you lifting up our shared mission.

NAME
STREET ADDRESS (only city and state will be published)
PHONE NUMBER

Letters should be no more than 250 words and should be sent to [email protected]

You can also share the article on social media:

Sample messages might include:

  • Twitter: Loved seeing the work of @CatholicVolNet programs highlighted in this @NCROnline article! At [insert program here], we see the importance of faith-based service every day! #faithandservice
  • Instagram: Love seeing our work reflected in this Catholic Reporter article featuring CVN programs like ours! #faithandservice @NCROnline @CatholicVolNet

Whatever you post, be sure to tag CVN (@CatholicVolNet) and National Catholic Reporter (@NCROnline)!