Members of the St. Patrick Newman Club attended the annual SEEK Conference held in Columbus, Ohio, in January. (Photo by Maggie Lynch)
By Laura Melius
Sioux Falls may not have a Catholic university within its city limits, but it does have a dynamic Newman Club reaching out from within the Diving Mercy Pastorate.
Stationed at Christ the King Parish, near both the University of Sioux Falls and Augustana University campuses, the Christ the King Campus Ministry has served college-aged students from the area for almost 20 years. It has only been since 2021, however, that the ministry has employed a full-time campus minister.
“That was a very exciting turning point for this ministry,” current Newman Club Director Traci Austin said of the hiring of the first campus minister, Cody Fischer. “This built the foundation. It was an exciting year to have someone on staff full time to pour themselves into the ministry. At the end of that academic year, the former side chapel was repurposed as the first student lounge.”
Traci, who had been praying for an opportunity to serve in a college ministry in the Diocese of Sioux Falls, gratefully accepted the position in 2022. She began overseeing the group’s mission, organizing, planning and hosting events and working and praying with students directly as a mentor and Bible study leader.
In 2024, the campus ministry sent a formal request to Bishop DeGrood to form a Newman Club, replacing Christ the King Campus Ministry.
“As it became more concrete, we wanted it to be more recognizable and visible for prospective students and parents,” Traci explained. The forming of a Newman Club would also connect them with the other Newman ministries in the diocese so they could all be united in their mission.
Finding a home
A Newman Club differs from Newman Centers, which have their own buildings and are considered their own parishes. “As we are a Newman Club, we belong to the Divine Mercy Pastorate, and our Newman lounge is at Christ the King Parish,” Traci explained. Dakota State University in Madison is home to the other Newman Club in the diocese.
“I think that many people consider Newman Clubs and Newman Centers to be ‘homes away from home,’ which is definitely true,” Traci continued. “Having a home in a parish during your time in college is so important. Having a Newman lounge nearby at least two of our campuses, Mass, confession, and adoration available at our parishes, and a Catholic community to belong to are some of the most important parts of a Newman Club.”
After Bishop DeGrood gave his approval, the discernment process to find a name began. The group desired a name unique from the parishes in the pastorate, and to choose a saint who had held a deep connection to Divine Mercy. After much prayer and discernment by both leaders and students, the saints were eventually narrowed to two—St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Patrick.
“As many will likely know, St. Patrick was not Irish but was enslaved and threatened to be killed by the Irish people. Later in his life, he was sent back to Ireland as a bishop,” Traci explained.
“A student pointed out that, in many ways, this is what it can be like as a college student. You encounter Jesus, you begin to make serious changes to the way you live your life, but then you return to the same friends, roommates, classrooms and sports teams that you were maybe living in sin with. But you return changed, as a missionary, hopefully with a merciful heart ready to spend yourself as St. Patrick did,” she continued.
It was agreed upon that St. Patrick would be a fitting saint for their mission, and so, the St. Patrick Newman Club was formed.
All college students and college-aged individuals in the area are welcome at the Newman lounge. Some may not have chosen to attend college, or have already completed a two-year degree, and desire a place to join in community with others their age. “We have different groups of students that come to different events, but altogether we probably have over 50 students involved with St. Patrick Newman in some way,” Traci said.
During the school year, the club meets for Newman Nights each Sunday evening, which bring students together for prayer and a meal to begin the new week. “I love our Newman Nights,” student Bryn Devlin said. “We gather for evening prayer, parishioners often support us by gifting us a delicious meal, and then we get to eat and be holy as a community. It’s nothing big or extravagant, but it feels like a family dinner away from home.”
On Wednesdays, they meet for The Voyage, which is a more formative gathering.
“We do anything from praying together, discussing tenets of the Catholic faith, learning different prayer methods, and occasionally inviting guest speakers to share about an aspect of faith,” Traci explained.
The club also hosts small group Bible studies, service events, community nights and men’s and women’s nights throughout the school year. A group recently attended the SEEK Conference for Catholic college students in Columbus, Ohio, in January.
Shared journeys
As the Newman Club is a part of the larger pastorate, this brings many opportunities for all ages to share their faith journeys. Father Paul Rutten, the pastor in the Divine Mercy Pastorate, which also includes St. Mary in Sioux Falls and St. John Paul II in Harrisburg, has seen the benefits of these college-aged young people engaging with fellow parishioners, allowing them both to be catechized and to catechize others.
“College-age students are usually not part of the evangelizing or catechesis picture as they are usually off somewhere else for their education,” Father Rutten said. “With the Newman Club as part of our pastorate, we have a great opportunity for our parishes to embrace these young people at a critical stage in their lives.”
Newman Club member Kennedy Reents has been grateful for the parish’s support in this way. “Being part of a parish has helped me see the Church from a different perspective. I’ve loved worshipping alongside families and people in different stages of life. It’s grounding and reminds me that the faith doesn’t end when I graduate,” she said.
“Getting to hear and see all of the families at Mass is something that I find great joy in,” Bryn added. “We, as a Newman Club, are still young adults. Some of us are married, but none of us have full families yet. Seeing all generations attend Mass, and how each type of person can be an active part of the Church, makes it feel less daunting when we reach the point in our lives when we outgrow the Newman Club and integrate into parish life.”
Father Rutten noted that Newman students often serve the parishes in teaching religious education, providing music ministry or assisting in other areas of parish life.
“After graduation, they are already accustomed to knowing they belong and to serving,” Traci added. “Just as our college students witness the faith of adults and families in our parishes, the parishioners also get to witness the vibrant faith, prayer lives, and friendships of our college students. It is a very good mixing of ages and social groups.”
“The graces I have seen are in the college students who attend not only the Sunday liturgy, but who will also show up during the week for confession, personal prayer time or daily Mass,” Father Rutten said. “Knowing that they are finding the parish to be a place of encounter for them and that their faith would continue to grow is all grace.”
On their feast day, St. Patrick’s Day, they will celebrate with the annual Golden Clover Gala, an event that is highly anticipated each year. The students will dress up for an elegant night of dinner, toasts, prizes and fun.
The “Teaching Mass” held in the spring, has quickly become one of the students’ favorite events. During the Mass, the celebrant explains each part of the Mass while it is prayed through. The first one was attended by mostly students, but they desire to expand it in the future.
“We want to open it up to all three parishes in the pastorate, and all who have questions about the Mass, with a time of community afterward to ask more questions,” Traci said, acknowledging that all, no matter their age, can learn more about the Mass.
The St. Patrick Newman Club does not end its ministry when summer begins, it merely changes a bit with the individuals who attend. The summer brings a blend of students who are living in Sioux Falls for summer jobs or internships and students who attend other Newman clubs or centers around the country during the school year. The club continues to meet on Wednesday nights, and often for sand volleyball games.
“This is a broader group encouraging community through the summer months,” Traci explained. “It is somewhat the same, but sometimes a lot richer, giving opportunities for deeper conversation.”
Student Aiden Beckstrom is grateful for his time at St. Patrick Newman Club throughout the year. “I have many great memories of the Newman, like getting to meet lots of different people at the Sunday evening dinners, playing volleyball in the summer, and growing in my faith through the amazing discussions on Wednesday evenings at The Voyage,” he said. “My relationship with God has grown much deeper since joining the Newman.”
Newman Chaplain Father Jacob Doty appreciates these conversations as well. “Working with Newman students always opens me up to the deeper questions in my life. College for me was a special time diving deeper into the meaning of my life and those deepest questions in my heart. I think in the everyday life of work, and even being a priest, I can forget those questions that first brought me to choose this path of life. The Newman students always reawaken that desire and thirst for a life well lived through their questions,” he said.
And, he wants students to remember what is most important as they grow beyond college age.
“What I think is important in my role in the lives of all our students is to remind our students that life is not about success, money or getting a good career, but it’s our love and connections that make life meaningful,” Father Doty explained. “Sometimes you have to be there to celebrate the wins. However, many times my presence is simply to remind our students that they are always loved by the Father, and it is that love which defines them.”
Aiden’s life has been greatly impacted by the Newman community, especially in giving him the courage to witness to his non-Catholic or non-Christian friends. “Having a strong sense of belonging in the Newman helps me be confident in sharing the truth with those who don’t know it yet,” he shared.
A hopeful future
What’s next for the St. Patrick Newman Club?
“The plan is to keep asking God to bless this ministry and to help it grow, in whatever way he wants,” Traci said. “Overall, the goal is to continue to ground this Newman Club in Christ’s love and his Church, and to invite students into that, always keeping our eyes on our mission.”
Father Doty added, “God is always raising another student up to be a leader or to seek him. It’s almost as if as soon as a student leaves, there is another seeking God just as earnestly, and it gives me a real hope in our future that our students and our generation are not content with life as it has always been. We seek something deeper, and for me, that has been a real grace to see time and again.”
“Whether college students have lived in Sioux Falls their whole life or moved across the country to be here, we want them to have a Catholic home at St. Patrick Newman,” Traci concluded. “More than that, though, we want them to fall in love with Jesus and his Church and answer his call to be missionary disciples. We continually share that our mission is to create a generation of saints. Very few saints ever made it to heaven without a community.”
Writer callout; Laura Melius is a freelance writer and parishioner at All Saints Parish in Mellette. She has a degree in English and a certificate in Catholic catechesis.
