Campus minister creatively taps students' energy and spirituality

Published: 2004-08-31

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (CNS) -- Father Ted Brown, the Catholic chaplain at Long Island University's Brookville campus, faces the constant challenge of reaching out to a wide range of faith levels. At the university, where he said half the students are Catholic, he attempts to appeal to those who might never have made first Communion or been confirmed and those who attend weekly Mass. He does this by making sure he includes a little bit of everything, from Mass and retreats to ski trips and multicultural events. "Believe it or not, the ski trip is one of our most spiritual trips: the beauty of the country; we're outdoors all day; we cook for each other," explained Father Brown. "We really settle into the basic stuff that is the goodness of being human." Then after a long day of skiing, perhaps at 1 a.m., when the students are yawning and sleepy-eyed, "they start asking their questions" about the meaning of life and God. "Those are good things," he told The Long Island Catholic, diocesan newspaper of Rockville Centre. But the service programs are by far the most popular campus ministry events. "I think kids are in a heroic mind-set at this age," Father Brown said. "They are very, very generous."

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