Campus Catholic Ministry expands in the diocese as student populations grow in faith and in numbers

A view of the TCU Newman Center’s new location at 2000 W. Berry St. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

When it comes to college campus ministry, the diocese has its eyes on the horizon: serving students now while also focusing on the needs of future generations.

Campus ministry has long been a priority for the diocese under the direction of Bishop Michael Olson, explained Father Jonathan Wallis, vicar general and chaplain of the Texas Christian University Newman Center. 

He said, “One of the major priorities of the Annual Diocesan Appeal has been for campus ministry — it’s allowed this growth, and it’s helped provide the personnel and the place for it to happen effectively.”

For TCU and Tarleton State University, this far-sighted perspective means new facilities to accommodate the expanding number of students participating in campus ministry programs.

Holy Spirit at work

While Father Ed Hopkins ministers to his current parishioners and students, he’s also looking forward. The pastoral administrator of St. Brendan Parish in Stephenville and chaplain of Catholic campus ministry at Tarleton said, “It would really be a sin against hope to envision that we are the last group that will pray here, that we’re the last generation that’s going to worship here. 

“We want to have a place for people to do this in 50 years because we have faith that this ministry will grow and continue. We feel and see the Holy Spirit working here,” he continued.

Tarleton’s Catholic campus ministry has grown “four or five times” in size during the past five years, said Nathan Mena, campus minister of Tarleton. An average of 60 students attend daily Mass on Wednesday evening, and around 150 participate in weekend Mass.

This year Fr. Hopkins added a third weekend Mass at St. Brendan, which serves the Stephenville community as well as Tarleton students from its location across the street from the university. He said, “Even adding that third Mass, you may still have 20 or 30 people standing for the Sunday evening Mass” — the most popular time for college students.

Mena added that Bishop Olson has noticed the rate at which Tarleton State University is growing. Mena said, “When I was a student in 2014 compared to now, Tarleton has almost doubled in size. I think Bishop and the diocese together just realized we need to think big.”

Mena and Fr. Hopkins said Bishop Olson has been instrumental in helping the parish kick-start a capital campaign, estimated at $18 million. The two-phase plan will more than double the worship space and provide a new parish hall, classrooms, kitchen, offices, and a dedicated space for campus ministry.

Fr. Hopkins said the current facility allows only one meeting or program at a time in the parish. “There’s just not a lot of space. If you’re doing your Bible study, nobody else in the parish” can meet, he described.

A gift to gather

The TCU Newman Center begins the 2025-26 academic year in a new location at 2000 W. Berry St.

The property is a permanent site owned by the diocese, instead of the previous leased space. The diocese provided initial funding for the purchase of the building, which is currently being renovated, and a capital campaign has begun.

“As TCU is expanding, we’re also able to expand, and we’re able to help out in the mission of the diocese and be part of TCU’s growth,” Fr. Wallis said.

Like the plans for St. Brendan, the new TCU Newman Center is much larger, with more space for Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, and reconciliation; additional rooms for study, work, and recreation; and an outdoor gathering space.

Professor of education Dr. Michelle Bauml, a regular at TCU Newman Nights, has been faculty adviser to TCU’s Catholic student organization since 2015, when they had no facility at all.

“The students know what a gift it is to have a gathering space so close to campus,” Bauml said. “Before there was a Newman Center, students would meet on campus in rooms we would reserve every semester, but they didn’t have that regular space to pray and socialize as a Catholic community. I’ve seen the transition from no designated Newman Center to now having this space.”

In her first year as TCU campus minister, Catherine Ochoa has observed growth in TCU’s campus ministry. 

In April, TCU’s Newman Center had its largest confirmation class on record, confirming 16 students during the Easter Vigil. Mass attendance has increased significantly also, Ochoa shared.

Souls who search

In addition to TCU and Tarleton, the diocese offers campus ministry at Midwestern State University, University of North Texas, Texas Woman’s University, and University of Texas at Arlington.

Victoria Ramon, diocesan director of youth, young adult, and campus ministries, said, “Every single one of our campus ministries is growing and thriving. Participation has steadily increased over the last three years, and the diocese supports the evangelization and catechetical efforts of the campus ministers.”

Before Fr. Hopkins was ordained, he served as campus minister at TCU for more than a year. He has observed today’s college students are living in “quicksand or a swamp sort of thing,” in a world of moral relativism.

He finds students “are looking for something more and something greater than themselves. Ultimately, they’re seeking truth, which they will find through Christ. If we’re authentic and if we preach the Gospel and the whole Gospel, that appeals to them.

“The Church gives them something to hold onto. They own their own faith; they go to Mass now,” Fr. Hopkins said. “Instead of walking away when they’re bombarded with everything, hopefully we hold them and they continue to put down the roots that they’ll have now through life.”

The college years are a critical time in the faith development of students as they leave the structure of home life, prepare to live independently, and take responsibility for their own spiritual growth.

Fr. Wallis said, “The faith is important to them as something that gives them meaning and purpose and forms their identity, so that then they might be a witness to hope — in love and service of Jesus Christ and in this Church in the world.”

By Lisa Moore and Susan Moses