Published: 16 August 2019

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School is nearing the halfway mark of its “Expanding the Vision, Honoring the Tradition” capital campaign. The public phase of this capital campaign launched last April to build a new Fine Arts Center at the high school for all students in the Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools system to use.

“As we begin a new school year, we are thrilled to report that we have raised nearly $4 million of our $8 million goal,” said Principal Kurt Telford. “Our extended CCHS family is truly rolling up its sleeves and coming together to expand our school and provide the Fine Arts Center we’ve dreamed of since we moved to this campus in 1994.”

“It has been exciting and humbling to meet with so many people who want to be a part of this exciting time for Charlotte Catholic and our Catholic schools,” said Sally McArdle, the high school’s advancement director. The CCHS community is raising $8 million toward the $23 million project, with the other $15 million committed through the existing capital fees paid by all families in the MACS system.

The CCHS expansion will include a new, state-of-the-art building for the visual and performing arts program and a renovation of existing spaces to create updated athletic facilities and classrooms for teachers who currently do not have them. Construction is planned to start in fall of 2020.

“The new MACS Fine Arts Center will serve not only as a place for learning and growth for our high school students, but also as a place for educational programs and performances for all MACS students,” Telford said. “We are excited about this next chapter in our history, and are so grateful to the families and alumni who have already made their contributions and pledges. Our hope is that the entire community will join us in completing our fundraising effort and celebrate the groundbreaking with us very soon.”

— Carolyn Tillman

Learn more

To learn more about the MACS Fine Arts Center and the “Expanding the Vision, Honoring the Tradition” capital campaign, go to the campaign website at www.playingyourpart.org.

Published: 14 August 2019

‘The future of our Church is now’

GREENSBORO — For one St. Paul the Apostle Parish family, Catholic Campus Ministry has been a vital part of their faith life for nearly a decade. Bill and Mary Wells and two of their three adult children, Matthew and Sarah, have seen the value of campus ministry at both Appalachian State University in Boone and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Their son Matthew attended Appalachian State University from 2010 to 2015, and their daughter Sarah attended UNC-Greensboro from 2015 to 2019.

“While visiting colleges when I was in high school, one of the most important places for me to visit was each campus’s Newman or Campus Ministry center. I felt a connection while touring Appalachian State and it became one of the first things I got involved with after I moved to Boone,” said Wells, 27, who now works as a city planner in Archdale.

He became a member of the leadership team in 2011 and continued until he graduated in 2015, serving as campus ministry president in his final year.

Wells worked to prepare and clean up Wednesday night dinners and reflections, helped to organize retreats, and participated in various social events across campus during his time of service. He was also part of a group of three young men who started a weekly men’s group.

“In today’s day and age, our faith is constantly being challenged, especially on college campuses,” he says. “For the first time in many people’s lives, it’s the first time they are independent of their parents and they have the choice to keep God in their lives or to turn away from the Church.”

For him, he explains, “It was a valuable way to get involved with a community and to keep my faith alive. It’s definitely not an easy decision, but it’s important. The people that I met through campus ministry are lifelong friends, even if we don’t always get the chance to see each other. Being part of a small group gave me a feeling of ‘home’ and friends that I could always rely on.”

His experiences with campus ministry have had a definite impact on his faith.

“Today, I am back in Greensboro involved with my own church, the Knights of Columbus and the Greensboro Catholic Young Adult Ministry (Way of Christ). The experiences and challenges I faced in college made me stronger in my faith and encouraged to always get involved,” he explains.

“The future of our Church is now!” he says. “We need to get more young people involved and campus ministry is a place to continue (or start, if you were not involved before) your faith journey. Make a difference, get involved on our campuses and bring our faith back to life.”

Sarah, 22, has also been greatly affected by her involvement with campus ministry at UNC-Greensboro over the past four years.

“I was involved in many different things in the campus ministry,” she recalls. “I assumed the position of student leader during my second year and soon became the student president during my third and fourth year.

“Being part of the leadership team helped me to come out of my shell and be able to connect with other people – students and non-students. I had the opportunity to lead a weekly Bible study, assist with our on-campus Mass, participate in once-a-month service projects, and spend time with other students doing various activities inside and outside campus ministry.”

She also participated in retreats and service trips provided as part of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Campus Ministry program.

Campus ministry is valuable for young adults, she says, “because it’s a chance to build strong, life-long friendships with people who become your second family. It’s an atmosphere of positivity and community that makes it worth being a part of.”

“There are many opportunities in the ministry to learn how to be a faithful servant to the community, and that’s why I believe it is a valuable ministry for young adults,” she says.

“Without the campus ministry, I wouldn’t be as dedicated to my faith as I am today. I have found myself determined to understand it and appreciate it more as I live my life faithfully each day.

“I am grateful for what the campus ministry has provided for me – to make my faith stronger and to share it with others.”

Bill and Mary Wells have seen their children grow in their faith over the past nine years since Matthew first went away to college.

“They have both learned a lot about leadership and how to work with others, helping them to develop friendships that will last them a lifetime,” Mary says. “We have seen so much joy in the both of them in regards to their faith and the desires they have to want to learn more and share it with others.”

“College is a very difficult time for many students, especially those that aren’t the most outgoing, and the CCM programs were a place for both of them to meet others with similar values and desires,” she says.

“Both the programs at App State and UNC-G provided environments of study, service and social as well as spiritual growth for them and the other kids that were there with them, and that has continued even after both have graduated,” Bill adds.

Bill and Mary now financially support the Catholic Campus Ministry programs at both Appalachian State and UNC-Greensboro, because they have personally seen “the wonderful and truly positive impact” the programs have in the lives of young adults.
Catholic campus ministry helps “to keep the Catholic college student passionate about their faith and wanting to share that passion with others,” she says.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter

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