HALEDON It seems providential that the Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM) at William Paterson University, Wayne, experienced two major milestones in its ongoing “resurrection” story in late April, during the Easter season. Last month, the university’s Student Government Association presented CCM with two prestigious awards — Outstanding Club and Outstanding Club President — around the time that campus ministry completed extensive renovations to the lower level of its Bishop Frank J. Rodimer Catholic Campus Ministry Center here.
On April 27, CCM won Outstanding Club and Dana McStowe, its president, won Outstanding Club President, during the Student Government Association’s awards ceremony at the Brownstone, Paterson. These two honors mark some of the latest accomplishments in the remarkable story of the rebirth of CCM that has grown quickly to become a welcoming home away from home for 100 students. It offers a wide variety of opportunities for worship, faith-formation, social justice and socialization.
“The awards that Catholic Campus Ministry received were an absolute joy. I was shocked but not shocked. They are rewards for our four years of hard work to rebuild the ministry and the ministry center,” said Father Philip-Michael Tangorra, who jump started efforts to “resurrect” CCM, immediately after Bishop Serratelli appointed him a CCM’s chaplain in the summer of 2013. “About four years ago, William Paterson had placed CCM on academic probation, because it didn’t have enough members or an active constitution. Now, the university has presented CCM with awards because we are the largest and most successful club with phenomenal leadership; we are the most widely-known on campus; and we have the greatest number of events, including the most community-service programs,” he said.
This month, Father Tangorra bid a heartfelt “goodbye” to the healthy CCM that he leaves behind as he prepares to move to Washington, D.C., to start studies in canon law this fall at the Catholic University of America. On May 7, he celebrated the final Mass of this academic year — and of his assignment at CCM — where he blessed the club’s new officers. A transitional team for CCM has been appointed, the priest said.
Months before CCM received the awards, the lower level of the ministry center — which is located down the hill from the William Paterson Campus — started to undergo a period of renewal. Extensive top-to-bottom renovations transformed the large space from a former TV studio into a fully functioning ministry area. It houses a study room with table and chairs, kitchenette, bathroom, archive room, laundry room and an oratory with an altar, images of Mary and chairs, dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. It was built with the special intention to honor the 100th anniversary of Our Lady at Fatima this year.
“It [the lower level] is a place for people to study, pray or have meetings away from some of the activity on the upper level. Students love the oratory. It’s more intimate than the chapel upstairs. It’s a place to pray and say the rosary. Many of the students in ministry didn’t know about the rosary before. Now, their Marian devotion and praying the rosary have increased,” said Father Tangorra, who noted that 25 students performed the work of the renovations — often 10 to 12 hours per day — which took place from November to April, under the guidance of professional tradespeople. “Students can come downstairs and say, ‘I put up this wall’ or ‘I painted this wall.’ That gives them greater ownership of the center. It’s their place,” he said.
The refurbished lower level also provides that extra space needed for overnight retreats for high school and college students, Father Tangorra said.
The awards and renovations continue CCM’s story of rebirth that began in the summer of 2013, when Father Tangorra arrived at William Paterson and discovered that the Catholic Campus Ministry Club had disbanded and that CCM was “almost non-existent,” except for Masses on Sundays. He recognized that the priests who served there before him at William Paterson were too busy with their other assignments to tend to the ongoing needs of CCM — efforts that are “still very much appreciated, because they kept the ministry going,” he said.
Within a year, CCM grew. Sunday Mass attendance jumped from four people to about 50 people. The ministry added a music minister to lead the singing for Masses that consists of students from William Paterson’s music program, an altar server and a lector. Then CCM also re-established the Catholic Campus Ministry Club as an official organization recognized by William Paterson. The group elected a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, public relations coordinator and outreach officer.
In December 2013, Bishop Serratelli visited CCM to celebrate Mass with the college community in the center’s 150-seat Jesus Christ Prince of Peace Chapel and to give his blessing that night to the rejuvenated CCM and the Catholic Campus Ministry Club. After Mass, he blessed the refurbished John Paul II Community Room and the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI classroom.
“The ministry center is a refuge for students — a place for them to hang out, study, pray and eat lunch,” Father Tangorra said.
CCM holds Adoration with Mass on Mondays, conducts “Faith on Fire” faith formation, schedules social activities, and offers the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It also conducts social justice activities that benefit Father English Community Center, part of Catholic Family & Community Services in Paterson, and the Little Sisters of the Poor in Totowa, Father Tangorra said.
Coordinator of the lower-level renovation was Brandon Gessner, a soon-to-be graduating William Paterson senior in computer science. He first visited CCM last spring at the invitation of his girlfriend, Lexie Metzler, former club public relations coordinator, who was graduated from WPU last year. Before joining CCM, Gessner would attend Mass when he returned home to Hillsborough, but did not make the effort on campus.
“I felt welcome [at CCM]. From the moment I walked through the doors, it was an inviting club. Father Phil’s humor and enthusiasm makes the faith exciting for youths and makes it relevant to young people our own age,” said Gessner, who served as CCM’s treasurer. “Today, I feel more connected to my faith. My faith has never been stronger,” he said.