WHAT WE DO:
College campuses are battlegrounds for the minds and souls of young people and many are leaving the Church. Only 10% of Catholic students attend Sunday Mass. Many are lonely, isolated from God and lacking authentic friendships. Students are hungry for truth, for meaning . . . for relationship.
We build missional community on campus and beyond, forming lifelong disciples
We train full-time missionaries and student leaders to build these communities - communities that reach out and invite college students and young adults into a transformative encounter with Christ, into deep relationship with him and with his people . . . into a lifelong adventure of mission.
We reach students and young adults by building relationships and community:
Relational outreach
Social events
Sports
We call students and young adults to embrace faith in Jesus Christ and his Church:
Weekly small groups
Retreats
ASCEND
We form students and young adults to maturity in the Catholic faith and life:
Households
Formation program
We send students, alumni, and young adults out on mission as leaders:
Student leaders
Missionaries
Alumni communities
OUR WAY OF LIFE
God has called us to be a transformational people who live deep relationship - with him and with one another. Our charism values (below) support our mission, characterizing the transformative way of life that God has given us and called us to share.
community on mission
We are made for communion: with God and with one another. Flowing from this conviction, community is at the heart of SPO. It is both the source and the fruit of our mission. We are a people sacrificially committed to one another and a common way of life, creating an immersive culture that transforms lives. Centered around Households and the formation community, this culture forms potent environments that awaken faith in Christ and bring it to maturity.
Brotherhood & sisterhood
Since we have been adopted in Christ as sons and daughters of God the Father, we are brothers and sisters. This constitutes the fundamental basis of how we relate to one another. We respect our complementary identity and dignity as men and women, and foster a culture in which healthy masculinity and femininity are upheld. We prioritize building strong men’s and women’s environments, and support an approach to relationships and vocation that aligns with these convictions.
relational evangelization
We share Christ’s compassion for the lost and live with a missionary impulse. The primary way in which we evangelize is relational, by getting to know others and inviting them into our lives and our community: person to person, to a people. It is in this context that those we are reaching experience the love of God and the power of the Gospel, beginning a comprehensive process of conversion, formation, and mobilization in mission.
renewal in the holy spirit
We invite people to a personal encounter with Christ, and deep conversion in the power of the Holy Spirit. We seek to be a prophetic people, to grow in the fruit and gifts of the Spirit, and to live fully the call to holiness and mission received in baptism and confirmation. In all things, we trust in God and rely on his grace. We are part of a movement of renewal in the Church, faithful to the magisterium, and committed to the unity of God’s people.
wholehearted worship
We strive to offer God all of our lives for the rest of our lives as a sacrifice of worship. We are a people of worship with a liturgical spirituality, including daily prayer and the sacraments. Our worship of God – communally and not just individually – is essential to our relationship with him, and a natural response of the will to who he is and what he has done for us in Christ. We praise and thank him wholeheartedly and expressively, as our duty and our joy, always for his glory and not our own.
formation to christian maturity
Learning and living a mature Christian way of life is essential if initial conversion is to grow and stand the test of time. We want those we serve to finish the race well and bring others with them, so we are committed to forming missionary disciples for life. Our formation is oriented towards growth in holiness - the perfection of charity - and takes place through relationships, immersion in our environments, pastoral care, and teaching. It has a depth and quality that provides a foundation that endures.
SPO (Saint Paul’s Outreach) is a canonical organization in the Catholic Church with the status of a Private Association of the Faithful, under the ecclesiastical vigilance of the Archbishop of Saint Paul & Minneapolis. It is a nonprofit corporation, tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.