From the Office of Service and Ministry to the Office of Faith & Action, NCC is redirecting its mission in service and faith.
The mission statement for the new office is: “The Office of Faith & Action equips students to grow spiritually, serve intentionally and engage wholeheartedly on our campus and around the world.”
According to Brian Rainville, the Director of Faith & Action, the greatest reasoning toward changing the name was due to the new partnership with the Center for Social Impact. The Center for Social Impact’s job is to centralize all of the service opportunities to make it easier for interested students.
The original name was the Office of Ministry and Service, which for 13 years was the hub for faith or non-faith-related community service as well as opportunities for spiritual growth.
The decision to change to Faith & Action mostly allowed the two offices to separate and conquer the tasks and activities on campus regarding faith.
According to Jeremy Gudauskas, the Assistant Vice President and Co-Director of the Center for Social Impact, the main reason was to reconsider the word “service” because of the new Center for Social Impact, which is responsible for the service responsibilities at NCC.
This separation has led to an even greater campus-wide link between services and offices at NCC.
“It’s nice that we are connected to other student services and we aren’t just on an island,” Rainville said. “We aren’t just doing campus ministry here, there’s so much more.”
So, with the service and social impact activities being taken to a different department, what can be expected from the new Office of Faith & Action?
At its core, the beliefs and mission at the Office of Faith & Action are not as susceptible to change. The Office is devoted to connecting with students and allowing people to explore their faith.
According to Rainville, the Office of Faith & Action is always there to talk. For students exploring faith on their own terms now that they’re in college, this is a space for further understanding.
“We need each other. We can’t do it alone,” Rainville said. “All those awesome opportunities for community whether it’s the 12:5 event, or Focus, or Young Life, or even just stopping by to talk is important. It’s important to be there for each other.”
Faith & Action is the connection between student faith, communication and opportunities to build community.
“Faith & Action still remains the important connection between an inward spiritual commitment and an outward social commitment,” Gudauskas said.
Students have shown an interest in NCC service opportunities before, such as the Feed My Starving Children event that attracts nearly 5,000 volunteers. Service is still the core of what Faith & Action believes in.
Another opportunity that the Office of Faith & Action came out with was the 12:5 program. It is a chapel-like worship that is just 20 minutes long. It is open to faculty, staff and students and happens every other week.
“We definitely still have a lot of service things going on, that’s why the word ‘action’ is in the title,” Rainville said.
The Office of Faith & Action is available for students seeking to ask questions, find answers and get involved with a different aspect of NCC student life. NCC makes it an initiative to make interfaith a priority as well.
“Even though most of our students self-identify as some form of a Christian or Catholic background, if they identify as anything at all, we’re still here to serve our students from a Muslim, or Jewish background, or the Buddhist students here on campus,” Rainville said.
“The Office of Faith & Action will still very much engage students in the work of service and social justice, and deepen the manner in which it draws theological connections to that work,” Gudauskas said.
