Texas A&M University - St Mary’s Catholic Center
St Mary’s is known throughout the state and the country as a dynamic, spirit-filled ministry
St. Mary’s Catholic Center
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
“How do I get involved at St. Mary’s?” Fr. David Konderla, Director and Pastor, relays the common question asked by new students to Texas A&M University.
The answer?
By joining any of the more than 80 different organizations and programs that allow students to learn about their faith, minister to the parish community, attend retreats, serve others through charitable work, hone leadership skills, prepare for sacraments, socialize and much more. And that’s in addition to the many opportunities for worshiping in community or praying in silence!
Catholic campus ministry at Texas A&M is known throughout the state and the country as a dynamic, spirit-filled ministry with hoards of active Aggie Catholics.
But building strong ministry took tremendous teamwork, a commitment to the future, a willingness to ask for support – and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
St. Mary’s has a long history of serving students at Texas A&M, complete with dedicated pastoral leadership and excited staff and volunteers. In the fall of 1992, however, the ministry was poised for growth and development. Bishop John E. McCarthy, Bishop of Austin (retired), assigned two young priests to St. Mary Catholic Center. Father Mike Sis and Father Dean Wilhelm arrived to elevate ministry to the next level, still focused on St. Mary’s mission to “live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through worship, education, service, fellowship, and stewardship, as a parish community of students, faculty, staff and others who choose to share in this mission.”
Faced with the need for new facilities and a desire for increased programming, St. Mary’s began a capital campaign in 1994 that spurred St. Mary’s development program and helped radically transform the ministry at Texas A&M.
With Petrus Development serving as counsel, St. Mary’s recently completed its second capital campaign, raising more than $7 million to fund the acquisition of property, building parking, creating a permanent endowment, and funding ministry operations for a number of years.
The transformative effect of moving from an annual ministry budget of approximately $250,000 in 1994 to $1.4 million in 2008 has been profound. In addition to new facilities, St. Mary’s ministry today boasts numerous popular programs in catechesis, social justice, vocations, liturgy & music, and many more. In the past 10 years alone, nearly 100 Aggie Catholics have gone to the seminary or novitiate after studying at Texas A&M.
The development program has allowed St. Mary’s to grow its campus ministry staff to more than 15 full and part time professionals engaging thousands of students every semester. More than 4,500 students regularly attend Mass at the Catholic Center!
St. Mary’s development program provides more than 50% of the annual ministry budget and efforts are oriented toward face-to-face relationship building with alumni, parents, and friends. This one-on-one development process is supplemented by traditional methods of direct mail, marketing and communications, special events, and more.
At the heart of all this growth remains the same vibrant Spirit in Aggieland that has captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Catholic students on campus for many years. With a continued commitment to pastoral leadership, supported by development, there is no doubt the ministry will continue to flourish for many more.
