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The Prospector (Helena, Mont.), 07 April 2004, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/TheProspector/2004-04-07/ed-1/seq-9/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
FOCUS vs. Campus Ministry: continued from page 1 Catholic influence. Jones highlighted the ideology of FOCUS and expressed feelings of alienation by the “assumptions of these changes,” seeing as how the professed Catholic student body is currently at 44 percent. MacCammon voiced concerns regarding CUF (Catholics Unified to the Faith) an organization that founded FOCUS in 1997. She stated that this was “an attempt to institutionalize FOCUS by fund ing it.” Zimmer spoke of the difficul ties that the student ambassadors face when addressing campus ministry questions. “All visitors are exposed to the culture of Carroll, this may effect student recruitment and retention,” said Zimmer. The emphasis of Turner’s state ments reduced the problem to a budget issue. “Due to economic and budget restraints campus ministry didn’t have funds to help both the assis tant director and FOCUS,” said Turner. Powell, who is in his second year as director of FOCUS, gave an overview of what the organiza tion is and who they are. He stressed these three functions of FOCUS at Carroll: 1) Small group Bible study 2) Large group outreach pro grams (such as “Tuesday Night Live”) 3) One-on-one mentorship Previously funded by the Diocese of Helena, Bishop Robert C. Morlino introduced FOCUS in 2001. Morlino sup plied Carroll with the money to sponsor the organization for two years. It is now the third year and Morlino has been replaced. President of Carroll, Dr. Thomas Trebon has left the deci sion-making up to Turner. In a student poll taken for informational purposes, two ques tions were asked. The first ques tion consisted of an opinion regarding the reduction of Kirchen ministers, of which 75 stu dents replied in favor and 156 were opposed. The second ques tion was in refer ence to the elimina tion of the assistant director position. Of the students polled 53 were in favor and 181 were opposed. Upon speaking with Christine Perrier, second year as assistant director of cam pus ministry and sixth year at Carroll, concerns were revealed. Perrier’s apprehensions could be boiled down to four points. First, the proposed changes are not merely the results of a budget issue. “Even if money is found for the position, it is not going to solve the deeper structural prob lems that need to be looked at,” said Perrier. Second, Turner’s identified rea sons for the restructuring are not “based in reality.” Perrier said that Kirchen ministers did not per ceive time and commitment to the program to be an issue. She went on to say that campus min istry has “been very effective for the past six years.” Culminating in the termination of her position, Perrier feels that the campus ministry program has undergone a “systematic disman tling.” Third, Perrier said the proposed changes will not meet the needs of all students. Perrier expressed that one person will not be enough to adequately run the program and has “witnessed the frustration of stu dents who have had Turner as direct supervisor.” Fourth, Perrier has reservations regarding the for mation and practices of FOCUS. In particular, not enough is known about the training, how they present materials, and how the one-on-one discipleship is conducted. “As well-meaning as the FOCUS program is, I am not sure that it is healthy,” said Perrier. Feedback from students, panel members, and faculty expressed various perceptions of the out come of the forum. “The forum was conducted in a respectful and charitable man ner for both sides...Carroll is looking for something and I hope it gets revealed to us,” said Matt Smeby, a senior business adminis tration major. “I really enjoyed the forum...the decision shouldn’t be left up to just Father Turner. I feel he is limited in his understanding in young adult ministry and what students on this campus need,” said Clint Atterbery, a junior his tory and political science major. “I felt that we were heard and listened to but I am still concerned that priorities involving campus ministry haven’t changed,” said Kim Rybicki, a senior chemistry major. For everyone, though the forum was emotionally draining, it was a necessary step in opening the dia log between the opposing parties. Panel members were especially affected. “In the end I was exhausted and feeling overwhelmed but I was happy because a lot of rumors came to an objective fact,” said FOCUS director Scott Powell. “I thought the forum showed that it is possible for staff, faculty, and students to discuss issues,” said Turner. “It went really well...the changes affect everyone who steps on campus,” said Kylee Zimmer, student ambassador coordinator. “I am not completely sure it provided the best opportunity to understand the complexity of the issues,” said Perrier. “It was a good start to the discussion... unfortunately it had to happen, but it should have happened before a proposal was decided upon.” More discussion but is anyone really listening? By Eamon Hansen Intern Reporter In the last week or two the topic of Focus and campus ministry has been a controversial sore for the whole campus. If you went to the open forum you may have gotten the same sensation, that no one was listening to one another. No one would actually absorb what was said. Instead everyone would just simply react to what was being said. My understanding of a forum is a place where people can discuss something and come to a definitive conclusion on that something. But it seemed to me that Father Turner and the Focus missionaries were not there with open minds. The general attitude they expressed was one of, “that this will appease some people, but we’ll still do what we want to.” In my mind, no one reached any level of appease ment. This whole forum segregated the masses even more. Like Moses parted the seas, this forum has the campus split into two factions. There are still many questions that remain unanswered. Where does this $40,000 that Focus needs go? The answer provided nance than just saying I don’t know. All I know is that the school is 19 some odd million dollars in debt, some poor woman lost her job, and the rest of us (non-Catholics) have no ' where to turn to for spiri- OPINION tual guidance. Maybe Carroll should assess their financial situation a little more and realize that host ing bible studies doesn’t cost $40,000. That is one nice thing about religion, it’s free. Carroll isn’t paying for bible study, they’re paying for Focus to be affiliated with Carroll’s bible studies. at the forum was of less suste In conclusion, maybe it’s time to open your ears and actually lis ten to what people are saying. Don’t just say you are listening and then go ahead with the plans you’ve already made. This is a topic that could be discussed for hours on end, but there is no rea son wasting everyone’s time dis cussing it if the opposing party will not listen to your arguments. Maybe if there was a clear defini tion of what this money was needed for there would be a clear solution. I hope that Carroll administrators will interject and make sure that this is good for our campus, and if it’s not, stop the wheels of this bus that’s breeding hate. Daily on-campus mass locations and times W eekday M a sses Tim e L o c a tion W eelem d M a sses Tim e L o c a tion Mon. - Fri. 8:15 and 11:10 a.m. St. Charles Chapel Sun. 6 p.m. Guadalupe Pastoral Mon.. Wed., Fri. 12:10 p.m. Borromeo Chapel Center Wed. 10 p.m. St. Charles Chapel 10 p.m. St. Charles Chapel WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2004 VOLUME 87, NO. 6
