One hour each week is spent in reflection learning about God and learning about yourself in Christian Life Communities.
CLC is an international organization and a ministry of the Jesuits. All are based in Ignatian spirituality, according to Laura Quigley, University Ministry associate chaplain. She said the three pillars are spirituality, mission and community.
Each group meets weekly for a year, but Quigley said some groups may meet for 20 years or more.
Students can be facilitators of a group, typically once they have been a member of a CLC group for one year. There is a written application process, interview and training seminar over the summer, Quigley said.
English writing junior Nolan Storey is enjoying his first year in a CLC. “It gives me a community of peers in which to grow my faith,” he said.
Quigley said these communities consist of six to 10 students and facilitators who meet to talk about the big questions in life.
“Who am I, who is God and how does this affect my life?” Quigley said.
Biology pre-med senior John Magallanez said, “I joined because my sophomore year I began to realize I was living a hollowed-out faith. God became my fire insurance. The only thing I could not deny was the divine spirit I see in other people.”
According to Quigley, CLCs are one of the best ways to live those Ignatius words we throw out there all the time. “A way of living is the core of CLC,” she said.
“I enjoy CLC because it gives students a chance to form small communities that share values, problems and life,” said Gracie Palombo, marketing junior. “It gives me a chance to escape reality and reflect on the moment.”
Quigley said members in CLC’s become family. Intimate details of their lives are shared with each other and all information stays confidential.
Members begin each meeting discussing how they have seen God in their daily lives throughout the week.
“It totally lets down all the barriers we put up, and we can be the people we were created to be,” Quigley said.
Magallanez said, “CLC was a way to help me revive my faith by sharing it with others at different places in their spiritual life.”
Some students are not informed about the program and are unsure of what it has to offer.
Music education freshman Alton Savage said, “I take God seriously and it would depend on the people in the group. I would want everyone to take it seriously.”
However, he said he would be open to joining a CLC if he knew more about it because his faith is important to him.
Julia Russler can be reached at
