Religious departments in higher education

Faith based services provide access to activities, events and counselling that allow students to pursue spiritual growth and development. Many campuses offer multi-faith spaces, ministering to those who identify with a specific religious group or those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious.

Canadian campus faith and spirituality

Many Canadian universities offer multi-faith chaplaincy services. Chaplains may offer faith-specific support and counselling for students, staff, and faculty dealing with stress, grief or loneliness, or they can be present for non-religious students with questions about faith and for those wrestling with spiritual meaning in their lives. Overall, chaplains are committed to supporting the spiritual well-being of the university community using a holistic approach. Chaplains can run worship services, social events, or meal programs. Universities may offer multi-faith rooms for prayer or reflection.

Christian groups

The need for pastoral services in secular universities can be traced back to the writings of

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

advocating for societies of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

students to be established at secular universities in England. The rising popularity of public universities in many parts of the world over

sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

private universities Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

also necessitated a need for Christian ministerial services for students. At the same time Christian churches in the vicinity of colleges and universities may provide worship and ministerial services to local students.

Roman Catholic

In the United States there are about 250 Catholic

Newman Centers Newman Centers, Newman Houses, Newman Clubs, or Newman Communities are Catholic campus ministry centers at secular universities. The movement was inspired by the writings of Cardinal John Henry Newman encouraging societies for Catholic stude ...

that minister to Catholic students at public universities. They trace their origin to the Newman movement and are ministered by laypeople, local

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, or

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...

s. More recently, lay apostolates such as the

Fellowship of Catholic University Students The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) is a Catholic outreach program for American college students founded in 1997 by Curtis Martin and Dr. Edward Sri at Benedictine College. Origin and purpose FOCUS exists to evangelize. The mi ...

(FOCUS), established in 1997, are ministering to and re-evangelizing Catholic university students and young adults.

Latter-Day Saint

LDS Student Association LDS Student Association (also known as the Latter-day Saint Student Association or the LDSSA) is an organization established under the direction of the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS C ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Protestant

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Christian and

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

groups following their establishment also created ministries especially focused on evangelizing students. One most recognizable group is Cru, originally known as Campus Crusade for Christ, an

interdenominational Interdenominationalism is an evangelical Protestant movement of cooperation among various Christian denominations. History The movement has its origins in the founding of the London Missionary Society, a missionary society, in 1795 by variou ...

Christian ministry established in 1951 on the campus of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

which has ministries in over a thousand universities. Various other evangelical groups have worldwide networks of campus ministries including the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students,

World Student Christian Federation The World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) is a federation of autonomous national Student Christian Movements (SCM) forming the youth and student arm of the global ecumenical movement. The Federation includes Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, Pe ...

, and The Navigators. Often Protestant denominations will also have a related para-church student fellowship ministry or college group directly or indirectly affiliated with their denomination, sometimes named by it. Additionally, independent churches will often have college ministries which may extend onto constituent college campuses in the form of a student organization. List of multi-campus

protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

college ministries: *

Adventist Christian Fellowship The North American Division (NAD) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Church's work in the United States, Canada, French possessions of St. Pierre and Miquelon, the Bri ...

of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

American Baptist Campus Ministry American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

of the American Baptist Convention *

Baptist Student Union The Baptist Collegiate Network (BCN) is a college-level organization that can be found on many college campuses in the United States and Canada. Organizations These ministries are groups of students, faculty members and staff who are seeking t ...

of the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

Chi Alpha Chi Alpha , (sometimes XA, χα, xa, or SfC - Students for Christ, officially known as Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship), is an international and interdenominational coeducational Christian fellowship, social club, student society, and servic ...

(multi-denominational but nationally affiliated with:

Chi Alpha Campus Ministries Chi Alpha , (sometimes XA, χα, xa, or SfC - Students for Christ, officially known as Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship), is an international and interdenominational coeducational Christian fellowship, social club, student society, and servic ...

of the

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

) *

Coalition for Christian Outreach Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO) is a nonprofit campus ministry headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. CCO was officially incorporated on March 23, 1971. As of September 2012, the CCO employs 225 staff members on 104 campuses and universi ...

(CCO) * Cru, originally Campus Crusade for Christ * International Fellowship of Evangelical Students *

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is an inter-denominational, evangelical Christian campus ministry founded in 1941, working with students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses. InterVarsity is a charter member of the Internat ...

Lutheran Student Movement Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...

*Missionary Baptist Student Fellowship of the American Baptist Association * The Navigators *

Reformed University Fellowship Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) is the campus ministry organization of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). RUF has experienced rapid growth in the 1990s; its income in 1995 was $200,000 and grew $24 million by 2012. Currently, RUF has ...

of the Presbyterian Church in America * UKirk of the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

* Wesley Foundation of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

Young Life Young Life is an evangelical Christian organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado which focuses on young people in middle school, high school, and college. Week-long Summer camps are a major focus, and these have a definite evangelizing asp ...

College

Orthodox

India

* Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Student Movement (MGOCSM) of the

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. The church serve ...

* Mor Gregorios Jacobite Student Movement of the

Jacobite Syrian Church Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...

Jewish groups

* Chabad on Campus Foundation * Hillel Society *

World Union of Jewish Students The World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS ) (Hebrew: ההתאחדות העולמית של הסטודנטים היהודים; French: L’Union Mondiale des Etudiants Juifs; Spanish: Unión Mundial de Estudiantes Judíos; Russian: Всемирный ...

and regional affiliates

References

{{reflist Lists of organizations