Campus Ministry
Campus Ministry’s core mission is to support the faith development of all students of the Fordham Prep community. Fordham Prep offers our students spiritual programming inspired by God’s Spirit and enlightened by the wisdom of our Ignatian, Catholic tradition.
Liturgical Life
As a Catholic community, Fordham Prep finds the source of union and strength in its relationship with Christ. There are a number of special Masses and liturgies celebrated throughout the year. Each morning our community begins its day with a prayer.
Morning Prayer Program
Each morning, students, faculty or staff lead a prayer over the loudspeaker. These prayers - some original, some traditional - set the tone for the day and are an integral part of the spiritual life of the school. On Fridays the entire school prays the Examen, an Ignatian prayer.
Liturgical Celebrations
This year we will continue to celebrate our school-wide community Masses throughout the year; each planned by a Liturgy Committee made up of faculty and students. While in-person participation will be limited due to social distancing constraints for now, the entire community will be invited to participate virtually and we will still need students to participate in a variety of ways.
Daily Prayer/Virtual Prayer Group and Intentions
As we began in the spring, we will continue to offer student-led morning prayer, opportunities to submit prayer intentions virtually, and all will once again be invited to be a part of the virtual prayer team to pray for intentions submitted by members of the Prep community.
Reconciliation Services
Reconciliation Services are planned for each grade during Advent and Lent.
First Friday Adoration
Each first Friday of the month, students, faculty, and staff are invited to reflect and pray for their specific intentions.
Leadership Opportunities
Several programs provide the opportunity for students to develop leadership skills that enable them to serve the Prep community through liturgical and retreat ministry. Students also serve as leaders in educating the community about social justice issues and Catholic Social Teaching.
Ministry Leadership Team
The Ministry Leadership Team is an opportunity for students to deepen their own faith, spirituality and commitment to Social Justice, while learning valuable leadership skills that will enable them to help other Prep students do the same as they take on leadership roles at the Prep. Participants dedicate themselves to a program of daily prayer and weekly meetings where they have the opportunity to reflect on their prayer experiences, learn about social justice issues, and develop the skills necessary to be effective leaders in the Prep community. Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors are selected for this program in the spring through an application process along with recommendations from Prep faculty.
JUST SERVE
Just Serve, a subgroup of the Ministry Leadership Team, is a voluntary group open to all students. The goal of the group is to learn about justice issues and how Catholic Social Teaching impacts our understanding of these issues. Armed with this knowledge the group plans service projects related to these justice issues.
SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE
The Social Justice Committee is a voluntary group open to all students interested in justice issues. The committee comprised of faculty and students serves as the leader in educating the Prep community on specific justice issues. They meet regularly to plan assemblies, special events, and lobbying and letter writing efforts related to current legislation. This year the group focus was on Environmental Sustainability.
LITURGICAL LEADERSHIP TEAM & LITURGY COMMITTEE
The liturgical life of the Prep offers opportunities for students to take leadership roles as Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Altar Servers and as members of the Liturgical Choir and/or Liturgy Committee
Retreat Programs
The Prep puts a special emphasis on student retreats with a sequence of events including a freshman overnight retreat, sophomore three-day Discovery Retreats, junior three-day Emmaus Retreats, and senior retreats based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.
FRESHMAN YEAR RETREAT
The Freshman Retreat, required for all ninth graders, focuses on building community among the class and the Ignatian theme of "finding God in all things." It is a three-day retreat with one overnight, and is held in the school building with upperclassmen serving as leaders and grounds crew.
SOPHOMORE YEAR DISCOVERY RETREATS
These three-day retreats are designed to afford sophomores the time to take a step back from their daily lives to reflect on significant aspects of their lives and to spend time deepening their relationships with their classmates. The retreats offer a wide range of activities from reflection and prayer to sports and hiking. The retreats are led by a team of juniors, seniors, and faculty.
JUNIOR YEAR EMMAUS RETREATS
Each month, groups of about 20 juniors spend three days away in a community experience exploring the encounter of the disciples on the road to Emmaus with Jesus after His resurrection and their recognizing Him "in the breaking of the bread".
The Emmaus retreat provides an opportunity for a student to become more aware of himself along with his human and Christian potential. It offers a setting to explore the meaning of his life, his relationships with family, friends, and the Lord, and his responsibilities within the Christian community for mature choices and personal growth. By doing all this in a community setting, the retreat offers a model of generous sharing and giving of self to others which is at the heart of all community experiences. The retreat is led by a team of faculty and seniors and ends with a liturgy at Fordham where the retreatants are welcomed home by family and friends.
SENIOR YEAR AD AMOREM
This 3-day retreat for seniors is a guided religious experience led by a group of Jesuits, lay teachers, and alumni. A senior gathers together his experiences of God and of life in preparing for the choices of a college and a profession in his future. The retreat offers him the opportunity to invite the Lord into these choices, asking God to reveal what He wishes, so that he may continue to follow the Lord in his life.
Social Justice Programs
Campus Ministry in cooperation with the Christian Service Department offers a number of programs each year to help our students respond to our Christian call to be committed to working for a more just world.
Social Justice Committee
The Social Justice Committee is a voluntary group open to all students and faculty/staff interested in justice issues. The committee serves as the leader in educating the Prep community on specific justice issues. They will continue to meet virtually to plan assemblies, special events, and lobbying and letter writing efforts related to current legislation. In the past they have focused on issues such as Environmental Sustainability, Immigration, Poverty, and Human Trafficking. This year environmental sustainability and racial justice will be a focus.
Just Serve
The Just Serve Club, a subgroup of the Campus Ministry Board, is a voluntary group open to all students. The goal of the group is to learn about justice issues and how Catholic Social Teaching impacts our understanding of these issues. Armed with this knowledge the group plans service and advocacy projects related to these justice issues. The group will meet virtually for the first semester and will assess as the year progresses.
The Ignatian Family Teach-in
The Ignatian Family Teach-In, held in Washington DC., brings together students and faculty from Jesuit schools throughout the country. This event, sponsored by the Ignatian Solidarity Network, invites participants to reflect on various justice issues and learn skills to do effective advocacy work.
Great Ignatian Challenge
The Great Ignatian Challenge takes place in November, which is the Prep’s annual Hunger Awareness Month. Sponsored by the senior Ministry Leadership Team, it is an opportunity for all in the Prep community to learn more about the issue of hunger in our world and in our own community, and how our Catholic faith challenges us to respond to these needs. Our faith reminds us that the right to life for all persons, based on their identity as precious children of God, means that all people have basic rights to those things that are necessary for them to live and thrive, including the right to food.
Each year the Prep collects non-perishable food items during the Month of November in support of three local Agencies:
- Part of the Solution (POTS), a local soup kitchen and community service organization on Webster Ave.
- Concourse House, a Home for Women and their Children that works to eliminate homelessness by providing families with safe, stable, transitional housing.
- Mercy Center, a community center for women and their families located in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx, offering programs and services that empower women to reach their full potential and become agents of change in their families and communities.
To learn more about the Great Ignatian Challenge click here.
Faith doing justice summit
The Faith Doing Justice Summit, a collaborative effort of the Office of Mission, Campus Ministry, Christian Service and the Diversity, Global Education, and Social Justice Committees, aims to help form our community as people committed to a faith that does justice. The summit encourages our community to assess critically issues of justice through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching and Ignatian spirituality. Through unified efforts of all our Ignatian Ministries, the Summit will bring a specific justice issue to the consciousness of our community in order to foster dialogue and appropriate action.
Learn more about the Faith Doing Justice Summit here.
Web resources to follow and engage in Jesuit social ministry