Bishop Renames UNLV Newman Community
The Catholic Community at the Diocese's only university celebrated the opening of the new academic year at the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit on Sunday, September 15, 2002. After invoking the Holy Spirit's blessing on the UNLV Catholic Newman Community, Bishop Joseph Pepe blessed an icon of St. Thomas Aquinas, the 13th century Dominican theologian, and announced that UNLV's Catholic community would be known as "St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Newman Community". The growth the Newman community has experienced in the last year forced the young community to move its year-beginning celebration to a borrowed worship space. A record crowd of students, parents, faculty, staff and friends of Newman gathered in the sanctuary of the University United Methodist Church to hear the Bishop's homily and participate in the concelebrated Mass of the Holy Spirit. The use of the Methodist worship space for this celebration punctuated the need for a new home for the newly named St. Thomas Aquinas Community. Since 1974, when UNLV's enrollment was less than 5000, Catholic students have gathered at the Interfaith Student Center along with students from Protestant and Jewish communities. Recognizing the need for a new Catholic center to serve a Catholic university population more than 7500 strong, diocesan officials are moving ahead enthusiastically with plans to develop a Catholic parish to serve the UNLV community. These plans build on what has come before in the Newman community: grow out of what is happening today and look to a bright future for Catholics at the university.
NEWMAN YESTERDAY
In 1963, the Von Tobel Family donated a plot of land near the newly-formed Nevada Southern University to the Diocese of Reno. The deed granting the land to the Diocese read: "The use of the within property shall be and is hereby restricted for Catholic Church purposes including but not limited to Newman Center, parking, dining, housing, recreational, educational, and library facilities, and this restriction shall run with the land; and in the event of its violation, the said property described above shall revert to the undersigned grantors." From the beginning of the new university, the Diocese had established a Newman Club on campus and gave its care to the Viatorian Fathers. There had always been a plan to eventually build a Newman Center on the donated property. Unfortunately, the diocese did not have the financial resources to build a center. The donated land stood empty. In 1972, the recently re-named University of Nevada, Las Vegas approached the Diocese with a proposal to swap land.
By that time, there had already been several years of discussion with Protestant and Jewish leaders about the possibility of establishing an ecumenical center at UNLV. The Diocese was already a cooperator in a successful interfaith endeavor at the University of Nevada, Reno; and such centers were springing up all over the country. The Von Tobel Family gave their consent for the land swap with the university and agreed that the use of the land for an ecumenical center would not violate the restricted use clause of the deed. Leaders of Las Vegas'
religious communities began raising money to build the ecumenical center on Diocesan property. In 1975 a scaled down version of the original plans for an interfaith center was dedicated and a programming entity called "United Campus Ministry" began programming from the "Center for Religion, Life, and Peace." The Diocese entered into a 20 year, one-dollarper- year lease with United Campus Ministry for the use of the land. The upkeep and operation of the building was left to an independent board which was financially supported by Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant communities. In the 28 years since the dedication of the Interfaith Center, various levels of commitment and interfaith cooperation have existed. Today, the Interfaith Center is operated by a nonprofit board composed of representatives of the constituent religious communities. Each of the three organizations provide staffing and programming independent of one another and pay an occupancy fee for the common services provided by the Interfaith Student Center (utilities, clerical services, cleaningservices etc.) Newman's ongoing commitment has varied during these last thirty years.
At times the Diocese has provided a full-time priest chaplain and at others lay chaplains have carried out the Newman Ministry. Fr. Walter Nowak C.S.V., the first Newman Chaplain in the Interfaith Center was so highly thought of that the only expansion, the addition of the multipurpose room in 1986, was named for him. As UNLV has continued to grow, especially in the 90s, Newman remained a very small ministry.
When the Diocese of Las Vegas was created in 1996 it was recognized that the ministry to the Diocese's only university was inadequate.
Part of that inadequacy is due to continued participation in the Interfaith Center. Questions are asked about the best stewardship of our limited financial resources. The limited size of the building, the relative age of the building, delayed maintenance concerns, and scheduling conflicts all contribute to limitations on the ability of the Newman community to minister and grow in the current context.
Planning has begun for an alternative future for the Newman community.
NEWMAN TODAY
Bishop Daniel Walsh, the first bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Las Vegas, articulated a vision of a much larger ministry on campus at UNLV. He recognized that the Newman Club had not grown with the University. He made the expansion of the ministry and the building of a Catholic Church to serve the university community one of the priorities of his episcopacy. The Church called Bishop Walsh to a new ministry before his vision could be realized. His successor, Bishop Joseph Pepe, continues to be concerned about the ministry. His love for students and campus ministry stems from his own involvement in that ministry in Philadelphia immediately after his ordination. He has publicly expressed his desire to see a university parish developed at UNLV in the next decade. In 1998 Bishop Walsh invited the Friars of the Western Dominican Province to assume pastoral responsibility for the Newman Center. The Dominicans have been campus ministers since moving to the university district of Seattle in 1908. In the last half of the 20th century, they committed themselves to broaden their commitment to that ministry and currently minister at 15 campuses all over the Western US. The Dominicans bring their campus ministry experience to Las Vegas and have committed themselves to seeing this ministry flourish. Among the priorities for helping this ministry to grow has been the recruiting and forming of strong and committed student leadership. Four student peer ministers are responsible for various aspects of ministry leadership and for leading a Newman student council. The Diocese has committed itself to empowering these young servant leaders by authorizing salaries for them and funding their attendance at this year's national Catholic Campus Ministry Leadership Institute in Philadelphia, PA. Together, the Dominican chaplain and these student leaders seek to offer a comprehensive campus ministry program. St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Newman Community operates like a quasi-parish on Campus to provide worship, social, community outreach, catechetical, and leadership opportunities to the entire Catholic population at the university—students, faculty, administration, or support staff. The focus of the ministry will always be on the very particular needs of the young adults which make up the university population. In 1985 the bishops of the United States authored a pastoral letter entitled "Empowered by the Spirit," in which they laid out the following goals for ministry on American university campuses:?
?to form a faith community in which Catholic students find acceptance and encounter Christ, ?to help students understand and take responsibility for their faith in an adult way through appropriate catechesis and faith formation, ?to journey with students as they seek to form themselves morally, ?to help make our campus and our world more just, ?to aid students in their personal development, ?to form and provide Christ-like servant leaders for the future of the Church and the world.
FACING THE FUTURE:
As the scope of a comprehensive campus ministry program broadens and student participation increases, the constraints of space and calendar force the Newman Community to aggressively seek alternatives to continued participation in the Interfaith Student Center. Planning is well under way for a new home for the Newman Community. The Diocese is in the enviable position of owning a very desirable plot of land close to the University residence halls. This marvelous resource will be used to establish a center worthy of a university of the size and breadth of UNLV. There are numerous considerations being taken into account as planning aggressively moves forward. Newman ministry should have cutting-edge liturgies which inspire the university community with the width and breadth of our tradition and plumb the depths of contemporary worship as well. This demands a uniquely Catholic worship space. Among our first priorities will be the building of a Catholic chapel to serve the Catholic community at the university. The Interfaith Center has a single room in which most of the programming for both Hillel and Newman takes place. Many of the activities that take place there are like squeezing a square peg into a round hole.
There is room on diocese-owned property to build a Newman Center that includes various programming spaces: classrooms, meeting rooms, and a student lounge. A Newman Center can offer a city, a region, or a diocese an invaluable resource by becoming a center for adult continuing religious formation. By offering lecture series, and opening classes to those from outside the university community, the Center enriches the life of the entire community. With the right funding and facilities a Newman Center can also build up a great theological or religious studies library for use by the entire community. The Catholic community is committed to continuing to minister in an interfaith and ecumenical context. Catholics have always been in the forefront of such efforts and will take a leadership role in visioning interfaith cooperation on UNLV's campus in the future. Work has already begun on gathering a Newman Development Board to assist the Diocese, the Dominicans, and our student leaders in moving forward for the future. A Development campaign will begin very soon. The "buzz" has already begun and much excitement has been generated for this project. Prayer and financial contributions are both deeply appreciated. If you would like more information about St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Newman Community, our development plans for the future, or if you would like to contribute to the Newman Building Fund, please contact Fr. Bartholomew Hutcherson, O.P. at 702-736-0887.
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