The Mercy Center and Campus Ministry

Saint Joseph's offers many challenging, fun, and meaningful opportunities for students to integrate religious and moral principles into their studies and non-academic activities. Campus Ministry invites you to explore and fuse faith with daily life by taking advantage of all the Mercy Center has to offer.

The Mercy Center

The Mercy Center is a gathering place for prayer, learning, and service, providing inter-departmental connections to create co-curricular models of the intellectual, spiritual, and socially responsible life that the College nurtures. The Center is a place of intellectual and spiritual inquiry and nourishment. It links faculty and students with community partners in mutually supportive relationships that enhance the distinctive Mercy character of a Saint Joseph’s education. The Mercy Center is located on the second floor of the Heffernan Center, and the Healy Chapel is located on the first floor. You are always welcome to visit!

The Mercy Center provides students with many opportunities to give back and volunteer in local and international communities.

Explore Ways to Give Back

Saint Joseph's College was established by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and founded on the Mercy principles of faith, excellence, integrity, community, respect, compassion, and justice. To learn more about the College's rich history, mission statement, and traditions, visit our page Mission, Vision, and Values.

Exploring Catholicism

Healy Chapel

Inquiry is for any student interested in exploring the Catholic faith. Sessions provide an opportunity to reflect on Scripture and tradition. Students are encouraged to ask questions and are supported while they discern what God is moving in their hearts. If you have ever wondered what being Catholic is all about, or if you simply are exploring the invitation to a deeper relationship with Christ, these sessions may be for you.

Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, or RCIA, is a journey of faith and discernment. The Catechumenate is a process grounded in a desire for, and experience of, a deep conversion to Jesus Christ and His values. Students are formed in faith by reflecting on Scripture and the Catholic community's history, liturgy, beliefs, and apostolic works. The RCIA is a formation process which culminates in full membership in the Catholic Church, through the three Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist.

RCIA is for students who have been through a period of inquiry and discernment and have decided to pursue full membership within the Catholic Church. The program is primarily designed for those seeking baptism; that is, those not baptized previously. Since baptized Christians from other denominations may also be seeking membership within the Catholic Church, the RCIA program can be adapted to their needs, as well.

Small Group

Peer group faith sharing designed to promote growth in discipleship.

Multi-Faith Room

Available for daily prayer and meditation.

Please contact Campus Ministry for more information or with questions regarding these programs.

For Catholic college students who have celebrated the sacraments of baptism and eucharist and are participating in Mass, Campus Ministry offers the opportunity to prepare for and celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation by partaking in the College's confirmation program. Sessions will begin during Advent and the confirmation will take place during the Easter Season.

The sessions will provide a review of important elements of the Catholic faith as rooted in baptism. Appropriate adult catechesis is combined with personal spiritual growth. The sessions provide an environment of community, discussion, and discernment.

Thinking about getting engaged? Or has the big question already been popped? The staff at Campus Ministry is here to help you prepare for the vocation of marriage.

Engaged couples are invited to contact the office at least six to ten months prior to their wedding date to find out more about marriage in the Catholic Church. The College's chaplain will help you gather the necessary paperwork and work with you on marriage preparation.

If you are interested in being married in the College chapel, please contact the office to see what dates are available. Our staff is here to offer you support and conversation as you discern this important step in your life. To begin the discussion, call 893-7794.

Spiritual Growth

Students at the Romero CenterSaint Joseph's College nurtures intellectual, spiritual, and social growth. While Campus Ministry focuses on spiritual growth, we recognize that this can be difficult to achieve when isolated from other aspects of our being - or from each other! Students of all faiths are encouraged to tend to their own faith life and to join in community with others as part of a common quest for meaning. A variety of opportunities are offered throughout the year, including:

  • New England Catholic College Retreat: Held every year, in fall and spring.
  • Maine Colleges Retreat: Offered twice a year, students from the College's Mercy Center and from the Newman Centers of public and secular private colleges in Maine get together for an overnight or weekend to get away. The event involves group activities, lectures from notable speakers, and reflection, all while sharing in fellowship and having fun.
  • Service Leadership Retreat: Held annually on campus, this retreat seeks to help seasoned student leaders grow in self-awareness, reflect on and develop leadership skills, and learn how to support the spiritual growth of others through reflection on service experiences. By invitation only, participants must have demonstrated leadership within the campus community.
  • First-Year Retreat
  • Mercy Farm Justice Ecological Retreat

To request this year's dates or learn more information on any of the retreats listed above, please contact Campus Ministry at kcody@sjcme.edu.

Contact The Mercy Center

Kathryn Cody Russell
Director of Mercy Center
207-893-7794
kcody@sjcme.edu