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Notre Dame Campus Ministry organizes 10 faith sharing groups for students on campus including Asian, Black, Latino and International Student bible studies, and a group for first year and transfer students. While Notre Dame is a Catholic Institution, it welcomes students of all religions and provides these students to practice and share their faith.

 

Abide

Abide is a prominent Catholic group on campus that provides a space for Catholic students to worship together, engage in a faith based talk with a speaker and participate in discussions with small groups. The club is open to anyone looking for a Catholic community, or anyone interested in exploring or questioning Catholicism. Senior Sammi Dunlap states that it aims to “build community and support through a common love for the Lord.” Meetings are held every Wednesday from 8 - 9:15 p.m. in the first floor lounge of the Coleman-Morse Center. The group has hosted speakers including Meg Hunter-Kilmer, a Catholic speaker and writer, Rev. Peter McCormick, C.S.C. and students across all years. Speakers draw from their discernment journeys in an attempt to create an atmosphere where students can be vulnerable and share their own experiences with faith.

Dunlap has been attending Abide since last spring and is now a part of the “core team” that organizes the club. She shares that she joined the club because she “was looking for a relaxed and approachable way to dive deeper into [her] faith. [She] was at a spot in [her] faith journey where [she] did not know how to grow closer to God on [her] own and Abide was a great, guided way to do that in a community with low commitment.” She also shared that attending each week and “listening to [her] peers' discernment journey is very helpful in knowing that [she is] not alone in a lot of ways. The worship helps [her] feel connected to God and others who share a love for the Lord. The small groups help [her] to talk through struggles [she] is facing in [her] own life with a Catholic perspective which [she] finds very helpful and freeing.”

The meetings typically begin with an icebreaker where students can get to know each other and is then followed by songs of worship. The worship is a way for students to connect with God and Dunlap further shared that she “[feels] the presence of God during worship which pushes [her] to dive deeper in [her] faith journey.” After the worship, the speaker will present to students, and then students will group up and engage in small group discussions. These discussions are prompted by questions relevant to the speaker’s topic.

Senior Karleigh Osborn spoke on putting one’s identity in Christ. She shares that after speaking, “​​several people reached out to [her] about putting our identities in Christ and expressed how much they could relate to [her] story, which was extremely rewarding to hear. It was a good reminder that we all share a common goal on Earth — to someday get to Heaven.” Osborn believes that “it is important to surround ourselves with people who call us higher and [that] there are a lot of quality people who can be found in Abide’s community.”

 

The Jewish Club of Notre Dame

The Jewish Club of Notre Dame is an undergraduate club for Jewish life on campus, currently led by Seniors Sabrina Takagishi and Atara Greenbaum. The club celebrates Jewish holidays, puts on cultural events, advocates for antisemitism awareness and provides a community for Jewish students to express their Jewish identity. Takagishi reflects that she joined the club in order to “be part of a community where students with shared experiences could connect and celebrate their identity together.” Over the years, Takagishi remarked that the club “provided a space to actively practice Judaism on campus,” while simultaneously helping her connect with other Jewish students on a Catholic campus.

The club meets on Friday nights every two weeks to celebrate Shabbat. During these times of convergence and reflection, Challah is provided along with food from local restaurants. The High Holy Days are celebrated by the club including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. At the end of the fall semester the Jewish Club hosts a Hanukkah Party with Jewish faculty and students. Another large event of the year is the celebration of Passover Seder. The club welcomes all to share the story of the Exodus and provides a Kosher seder for guests. Lastly, the club facilitates opportunities for Jewish students to attend and worship at off-campus local synagogues.

 

Iron Sharpens Iron

Iron Sharpens Iron, or ISI, is an interdenominational club for students of different faith traditions who recognize that God is the center of everything. In alignment with this notion, the club is named after Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (New International Version). The club aims to cultivate an inclusive environment for students of different backgrounds and establish a shared connection through their love for the Lord.

Senior Mya McClure shares that the club is “just a place to worship where we’re focused less on religion, rules and the differences we have, and [instead somewhere to focus] on the things we have in common — our love for God, love for the Bible and wanting to grow in faith.” McClure reflects that the club has enriched her faith through discussions with her peers that “continually point [her] back to God and the Bible.”

The club gathers each Thursday night from 10 - 11 p.m. in the Coleman-Morse Lounge. Aside from their weekly meetings, they also host a campus-wide night of worship on Library Lawn in the spring. During this event they give away Bibles, Christian books and Christian merch, have a worship band come in from a local church in the community, as well as bring people together as they share their love for the Lord. Overall, the club aims to grow a community that holds each other accountable and directs each other back to God.