On Sept. 20, UD Chaplain Fr. Jerónimo sent out an email to all students with the subject line “Give up one coffee. Give a taste of Heaven,” calling for donations and introducing the new fundraising campaign for Campus Ministry.
A later Campus Ministry email said: “We invite you to consider a generous gift, whether a recurring monthly donation or a one-time offering, so that, on this campus, Heaven may keep breaking through for the next generation.”
According to Fr. Jerónimo Espinosa, “There are three groups that we are asking [for funding]: We are asking the students, we are asking the faculty and the staff, and we are asking the community that gathers on Sunday.”
The Church of the Incarnation and Campus Ministry are not funded by student tuition, and instead mostly run on donations. The flocknote email says “For its part, the University generously cares for the church building itself: its upkeep, utilities, and maintenance, roughly 47% of what it takes to sustain us. But no part of student tuition is directed to Campus Ministry or the church.”
Espinosa said: “Campus Ministry is maybe 60% of what we do,” and “knowing that we have been always facing economic challenges, we are launching ‘As in Heaven,’ with the theology behind it: we want to make our campus as in Heaven when we meet Jesus, when we give them talks, and when we minister to our students.”
The campaign is inspired by the passage in the “Our Father” prayer in which we ask God that His will be done “on earth as it is in Heaven.” Campus Ministry offers the sacraments in church, and they are hoping to secure funding not only to continue this, but to bring Heaven to the rest of campus as well.
Espinosa said: “We are helping our brothers and sisters to encounter God, and [your donation] pays for all the ministries. So OCIA, League of Her Own, Fight Club, Women of the Word, Knights of Columbus, etc. and helping the leadership in charge of those clubs.”
The ministry is not asking much of students. Small donations contribute to a large sum, especially from a large number of students.
Espinosa said: “We are 1,500 students. Can you imagine 1,500 students giving ten dollars? That would give us a lot of money so we can keep doing things! It’s not that I’m asking each one of you to give a hundred thousand dollars. But if everyone gives a small amount of things, we all are part of this big idea, and that’s how we build the Church: when every member of the Church does what they are called to do. You may say ‘ten dollars a month? That’s nothing,’ but when you unite the whole body of Christ that worships and walks in the University of Dallas, that would be a lot.”
The flocknote email puts this in terms of coffee by saying: “We are asking students to consider a monthly pledge of at least $10, the cost of a single coffee. It is small, but together it becomes the very thing that keeps Heaven breaking through on this campus. Give yourself a taste of Heaven; it is better than coffee.”
The “As in Heaven” campaign asks not only current students, but also parents, alumni, faculty and staff to donate to help steward the next generation.
Espinosa said: “If you’re a senior and you’re going to graduate, we ask that you keep donating those ten dollars, and you don’t stop that. Because the next generation is those freshmen who are maybe in that year, when you are a senior, or in the following year when you graduate, so they can receive what hopefully you have received here at the University of Dallas, here in campus ministry. That’s the way we are stewards.”
The church is accepting donations during collections in Mass, as well as online via a link in the Campus Ministry emails and on a QR code found on flyers in the church. Your donation, however small, will fund groups, services and retreats that bring a bit of Heaven to the current and future generations of UD students.