A NEW DAY IS
MISSION AND MINISTRY ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21
During a season that often felt quite dark, Mission and Ministry communicated the truth that the light of God’s love can and will overcome all darkness.
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Without a doubt, the 2020-21 academic year was one of the most challenging anyone could have imagined. The coronavirus pandemic required us to adapt to constant changes, navigate enormous levels of uncertainty and confront the sickness and suffering of loved ones, neighbors and people around the world. In this context, the work of Mission and Ministry was more vital than ever. The division adapted to the realities of remote learning by creating new programs, finding new ways to celebrate cherished campus traditions, collaborating more widely, broadening our connections through technology, fostering community in innovative ways and providing the compassionate care that is the hallmark of the University of San Diego. While so much changed over these past 16 months, Mission and Ministry remained steadfast in our important role, serving the campus community by offering opportunities to more deeply appreciate and participate in the mission of the university, experience authentic community, grow in faith and find the strength, resilience and perseverance needed to overcome challenges. As we look forward to a brighter 2021-22, we pray and prepare for the chance to gather in more familiar ways for worship, community and service. While we can’t wait to be in-person again, all that we’ve learned this year will empower us to be more effective for years to come.
Michael Lovette-Colyer Vice President of Mission Integration
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This year, we worked with campus partners — dedicating even more time and energy — to create innovative, timely and engaging new programs, retreats and speaker series. NE W WAY S T O C ONNE C T
NE W WAY S T O UN I T E
Programs In June, we worked closely with the admissions office to offer Summer Warm-Up, online gatherings for newly admitted students designed to help welcome them to USD and introduce them to University Ministry. For the faculty, staff and students already at USD, we launched Thoughtful Thursdays, a weekly guided meditation offering a chance to pause and reflect on the past week, noticing challenges faced and graces received.
Speaker Series In the fall, we worked closely with the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture (CCTC) to offer the Catholic Perspectives on Racism and White Supremacy series. We partnered with the CCTC again in the spring to present a series titled, Indifference is Not an Option: Pope Francis, Solidarity and Fratelli Tutti. During the spring, we also collaborated with the CCTC and the Care for our Common Home Strategic Pathway to offer the Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor series. Finally, in conjunction with USD Hillel, the Humanities Center and the College of Arts and Sciences, we offered a series titled, Jewish Culture and Antisemitism.
Retreats The Black Lives are Beloved Retreat invited students to connect their faith to their concern for racial injustice. The Awake, Restore and Renew Retreat welcomed the students who had deferred starting their USD career in the fall and offered a way to spend time with a new community of friends.
The Founders Chapel Choir, current members and alumni, perform “A Gift Divine.”
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69
students were a part of Summer Warm-Up
26
Thoughtful Thursdays were offered
450
individuals participated in 1 of 4 speaker series
Even while physically distant, members of the Founders Chapel Choir worked together to create a series of beautiful musical prayers addressing the opportunities and challenges of this most unusual year. 3
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With so much changing and many familiar things not possible, we worked to continue to provide foundational elements that people look to as anchors and supports. NE W WAY S T O CE L E BR AT E Masses We live-streamed all of our Masses, including those on Sunday nights and those held daily at 12:15 p.m., as well as the Masses our community celebrates to mark special occasions such as the Mass of the Holy Spirit, Homecoming and Family Weekend Mass, Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass and the Mid-Year Graduation Mass. Prayer We adapted the Wednesday evening Mass for Peace to the Prayer for Peace, broadcasting it via Instagram Live.
NE W WAY S T O C ON T E MPL AT E Retreats We moved our retreats to an online format, including the Pre-Orientation, First-Year, Half-Time and Lenten Retreats. We added the Faculty/Staff Morning Retreats once each semester to reflect on the joys and challenges of our personal and professional lives during COVID. In September, we began Gratefulness Group lunchtime sessions. Faith Sharing Instead of meeting in the residence halls, our faith sharing groups moved to Zoom, which allowed us to expand and try new themes, many of which engaged more students than in the traditional format — an example of a new way of thinking and working that we will continue to implement in the future.
11
students received one or more of the Sacraments of Initiation
166
students were a part of 1 of our 7 retreats
296
students were a part of 1 of our 12 faithsharing groups
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We used our campus connections to broaden our community connections. NE W WAY S T O SPR E A D T HE W OR D Advent Calendar We worked with University Creative Services and Digital Communications to create our fourth digital advent calendar to meet people where they are during this special season. Op-Eds We partnered with the Office of Media Relations to author a series of articles for the San Diego Union-Tribune, including pieces describing the importance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Epiphany, the All Faith Service and our spirituality video series.
To respond to the need for people to be in community with one another even while separate, we developed ways to bring faith into the social-distance space.
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NE W WAY S T O A PPR E C I AT E Video Series We created a new “A Spirituality of…” series which featured USD community members describing the ways in which they experience the divine in the midst of ordinary activities such as singing, painting, swimming and teaching. Virtual Gatherings We worked with the Alumni Association to offer two new, focused gatherings — one of which addressed the theme of Grief and Gratitude and the other Easter. Likewise, we started a new Search Retreat affinity group for alumni to connect, reflect and strengthen relationships with one another, God and with the university. Prayer Services The spring semester started with the traditional All Faith Service which was broadcast to the campus community. The Grandparents Weekend Prayer Service, which was integrated into the weekend, reached more people than ever before.
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6,400
page views of the USD Advent calendar
800
devices logged on to view the Grandparents Weekend prayer service
We launched an alumni affinity group for those who attended the Search Retreat during their time on campus.
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1,025
hours of pastoral care offered to USD community members
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service projects organized by Students for Life
On campus and off, we sought and found ways of providing compassionate care. NE W WAY S T O SUPP OR T Community Outreach We partnered with Catholic Charities to implement the Emergency Food Distribution Network. We reimagined our partnership with Rachel’s Night Shelter so we could continue supporting the women experiencing homelessness. Students for Life engaged in service activities each month, reaching out to health care providers, senior citizens, prisoners and homeless women. Counseling Closer to home, we offered Care and Conversation to those seeking pastoral counseling and spiritual direction. We reached out to offer support to USD students in isolation and quarantine. We also took the lead in helping our community mourn the sudden death of a beloved colleague and one of our students. Student Success We served as Torero Connectors, working with Student Affairs to promote student success.
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dinners provided to Rachel’s Night Shelter
M I S S I ON A ND M I N I S T R Y S TA F F Michael Lovette-Colyer Vice President of Mission Integration (619) 260-4251 mlovettecolyer@sandiego.edu
Julia Campagna University Minister (619) 260-7728 campagna@sandiego.edu
Erin Bishop Director for Mission and Center for Christian Spirituality (619) 260-4785 erinbishop@sandiego.edu
Fr. Robert Capone University Chaplain (619) 260-7419 rcapone@sandiego.edu
Mark Peters Director for Mission (619) 260-2265 markp@sandiego.edu Roxana Burns Executive Assistant, Office for Mission and Center for Christian Spirituality (619) 260-4656 rburns@sandiego.edu
Sandee Gutierrez Executive Assistant, University Ministry (619) 260-4735 svasquez@sandiego.edu Mary Kruer University Minister (619) 260-5903 kruerm@sandiego.edu Aly Monteleone University Minister (619) 260-6818 amonteleone@sandiego.edu Kenny Van Tilburg Associate University Minister (619) 260-7407 kvantilburg@sandiego.edu Annette Welsh University Minister (619) 260-4600 welsha@sandiego.edu Fr. Michael White, C.S.Sp. University Chaplain and Resident Minister (619) 260-2296 mtwcssp@sandiego.edu
Jessica Brophy Resident Minister jkmccarthy@sandiego.edu Sr. Maria Dela Paz, O.S.F. Resident Minister mdelapaz@sandiego.edu Sr. Kathy Flood, O.S.F. Resident Minister kflood@sandiego.edu Alec Hartman Resident Minister ajhartman@sandiego.edu Christopher Kramer Resident Minister ckramer@sandiego.edu Miranda Maher Resident Minister mmaher@sandiego.edu Alejandro Marquez Resident Minister alejandromarquez@sandiego.edu Zachary Moeller Resident Minister zmoeller@sandiego.edu Brooke Silvas Resident Minister brookesilvas@sandiego.edu Amy Gualtieri Founders Chapel Coordinator (619) 260-2229 gualtieria@sandiego.edu Darlene Polak Wedding Coordinator (619) 260-2229 mpolak@sandiego.edu Msgr. Daniel J. Dillabough (619) 260-2247 danield@sandiego.edu Sr. Virginia Rodee, R.S.C.J. (619) 260-4784 vrodee@sandiego.edu
M I S S I ON A ND M I N I S T R Y 5998 Alcalá Park Founders Hall, Room 186-A San Diego, CA 92110-2492 (619) 260-4656 officeformission@sandiego.edu sandiego.edu/mission