It has been five years since a pair of Viatorian associates started a Campus Ministry program at St. Viator School in Las Vegas and its benefits keep growing.
Junior high students in Campus Ministry, back in 2015, at St. Viator School
Associates Paul and Rosy Hartz, and then Pre-Associate Brian Barrett, developed the school’s groundbreaking Campus Ministry program. After leading teens to the Viatorian Youth Congress, where they met other students from Viatorian sites and learned more about the Viatorian charism, they wanted to get to students earlier.
“We started to think that we could do more in Las Vegas to help foster the Viatorian identity,” said Rosy at the time.
Right from the start, students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades met with Campus Ministry directors once a month in the parish center for a meeting filled with faith and fellowship, teenage style.
Br. Rob Robertson helped Associate Rosy Hartz grow the Campus Ministry program
Each session starts with an icebreaker that becomes the topic of the day, which is further developed in small group activities before a closing prayer.
A grant from the Viatorian Community makes Campus Ministry possible at the school, and several more Viatorians are involved, including Associates Deborah Perez and Anthony Gugino, as well as Fr. Bill Haesaert, CSV, among others.
Over the years, Campus Ministry has grown from exploring the Viatorian charism to enriching students’ overall faith life.
“They’re more open and they have a better sense of who they are as a young person of God,” Rosy says, “and they feel they are part of the church.”