Campus Chaplain
Position Description
Mission
The Saint Benedict Institute seeks to promote and nurture intellectual work done from the heart of the Catholic Church, to foster an ecumenical community of Catholic Christians and friends committed to the renewal of culture, and to aid in the formation of intellectually and spiritually mature Christians by making available the riches of the Catholic tradition to Hope College and the wider community.
Background
The Saint Benedict Institute has a threefold mission which is intellectual, spiritual, and ecumenical. We are an apostolate of the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Holland, Michigan, and we serve Hope College and the broader West Michigan community. We sponsor a variety of programs aimed at cultivating intellectually serious Christians, forming students in the Catholic tradition, contributing to the ecumenical mission of the College, and nurturing the hearts of students so that they might learn to love God and their neighbors more deeply. Currently, we host a Catholic Speaker Series, a Catholic-Reformed Dialogue, spiritual retreats, a vocation discernment program for students considering religious life, spring break immersion trips to Haiti and inner-city Chicago, and an annual day of study. We work closely with Hope College’s Campus Ministries and other academic departments to provide a faithful Catholic witness. Please explore our website to see the kinds of things we do.
Description
We are seeking a priest chaplain to help establish and build the Catholic campus ministry at Hope College. On average, twenty percent of the students at Hope College are Catholic, roughly 650 students. Of these 650, we estimate that about 85% do not attend Mass—this is confirmed by the national average (Pew Research) and our own observations. The priest chaplain will be responsible for building a credible Catholic witness on Hope’s campus, one which strengthens the faithful Catholic students, draws in the lapsed Catholics, and embraces the non-Catholic students in ecumenical friendship. This priest would be responsible for forming Catholic students as faithful Catholic witnesses in an ecumenical environment and would work closely with the local Catholic parish and Hope College’s Protestant campus ministers to deepen the commitment of all students to the faith we hold in common. The Catholic chaplain would work to foster a Catholic spiritual rhythm that works in harmony with the ecumenical character of Hope College. Start date would be August 1, 2017
Responsibilities
Celebrate daily and weekend Mass, train altar servers, and cultivate a love of reverent liturgy
Encourage and offer regular Confession
Provide opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration
Lead Bible studies and Catholic devotions (e.g., rosary, Divine Office, processions, etc.)
Lead the Vocation Discernment Program, including weekly prayer and direction
Offer spiritual direction and informal counseling to students
Foster a sense of Catholic community
Bear robust witness to the joy of being Catholic and the beauty of Catholic traditions
Engage in formal and informal ecumenical dialogue on campus and in the community
Train students to engage in peer-to-peer ministry
Organize service opportunities
Supervise lay Catholic volunteers and missionaries (e.g., FOCUS)
Participate in and bless Saint Benedict Institute events
Collaborate with Catholic priests at St. Francis de Sales Church
Partner with Hope College’s Campus Ministry to coordinate efforts
Preach occasionally at Hope College’s chapel services
Partner in Saint Benedict Institute fundraising initiatives
Qualifications
A Catholic priest in good standing
A pastoral vision guided by Evangelii Gaudium
A theological vision that accords with Ex Corde Ecclesiae
A deep love of Scripture and fluency in it (see Verbum Domini)
Solid understanding of faith development and the spiritual needs of emerging adults
Experience working in ecumenical environments and a commitment to the receptive ecumenism St. John Paul II articulates in Ut Unum Sint
Ability to preach well and connect to large and small audiences
Ability to present the faith in a winsome and irenic manner
Fluency in Spanish, while not required, is a bonus
Application
Open applications accepted until the position is filled. Please send all materials to the Executive Director, Dr. Jared Ortiz, at jared.ortiz@saintbenedictinstitute.org. Please provide:
a curriculum vitae,
a list of three references with contact information (one reference should be a superior; another should be a student or parishioner you have worked with),
a list of the five most important books you’ve read with a brief explanation of why,
an answer to the following:
In light of the mission of the Saint Benedict Institute and the unique ecumenical environment of Hope College, how would you help build a Catholic culture that ministers to a community with a wide range of faith commitments? (Please answer in 500 +/- words.)
