Service & Immersions

Johnnies – interested in doing a little service around campus? Put the Benedictine value ora et labora (prayer and work) into action this year! SJUfaith and Saint John’s Abbey are partnering to host the Prayer & Work Service Series. On select Saturday afternoons from 11:30 am – 3:30pm., you will work alongside monks doing projects that beautify and enliven campus, and the lifestyle of Saint John’s Abbey.  Projects include working outdoors in the Arboretum, gardening, cleaning the woodshop.  Mass begins at 11:30am with the monastic community. Lunch is provided!

Spring 2024 Prayer and Work Dates are happening now!

Grab your buddies and register today!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @SJUfaith!

For more information, contact SJU Campus Ministry or 320-363-2790.

SJUfaith partners with different groups to provide students multiple Service Immersion opportunities over Spring Break. The 2025 dates for Spring Break are March 15th-23rd.

2025 Locations Announced Soon!

Follow @SJUfaith on Instagram to make sure you don’t miss the announcement

Winter Break: Saturday Jan. 11th – Friday Jan. 17th

Saint John’s University Campus Ministry invites Johnnie students to be part of a meaningful and exciting service opportunity like never before. Campus Ministry is hosting their annual Service Immersion trip this upcoming Spring Break of 2024. This time, to our Bahamian community in Nassau, Bahamas! Participants of this trip will have the opportunity to engage and assist a variety of local organizations, including Catholic organizations, school communities, small businesses, and park services. 

The focus of this Service Immersion trips is twofold for students. The focus of this trip is:

1.  To offer an opportunity for St. John’s students to be situated in direct contact with local and international community through service.

2. To engage principles of the Catholic Social Teaching and Benedictine Values to deepen their understanding of a spirituality of social justice. 

Click here to apply to participate!

Some of the fees of this program are funded by a generous donor who is committed to providing meaningful opportunities for undergraduate students at CSB/SJU to engage in service and justice programming. Participants will still be asked to provide additional funding upon acceptance of this Service Immersion trip. Scholarship opportunities are available for students upon request.

STUDENT LEADERS

The Service and Immersion program is looking for two STUDENT LEADERS to guide the experience. Stop by the Campus Ministry Office in Mary 100 or Email [email protected] to learn more.

“If I had clean clothes people would treat me like a human being.” – T-Bone (Eric), Laundry Love Co-Founder

Laundry Love is an organization that allows people that can’t afford to do their laundry to do their laundry. This is something that many of us take for granted, but it’s something that reinforces the dignity people have and deserve.

Laundry love will happen throughout the academic year at the St. Joe Laundromat. Student volunteers are present to folks who are there to do their laundry, the deeper aim is to provide a kind and compassionate presence for people as we offer them an opportunity to take care of a very practical,  but very needed part of their lives.

Here are instructions for what one does volunteering with Laundry Love:

1. Thanks for your willingness to volunteer with Laundry Love!  
   
2. Even though the laundry is what we are providing, a deeper aim is to provide a kind and compassionate presence for people as we offer them an opportunity to take care of a very practical,  but very needed part of their lives.  Some people will be more open to visiting than others. Some will have children with them and of course they can always use some diversion! And some will be quite chatty. Use your best judgment in terms of being on your  phone and computer while tending to the people who come. 
   
3. Arrive at the laundromat about 4:50 pm to get things set up. Sometimes people may only have a short window of time to be away from home and their kids or perhaps they’re fitting it in between work schedules.
   
4.  A bin will be provided by SJUfaith.   You’ll find several dollars worth of quarters to start. There are laundry dryer sheets in a box and then there are laundry SOAP sheets that look like dryer sheets! They are an eco-friendly laundry detergent that we have been using that work well.
   
5. Please wear a name tag with your first name on it and “Laundry Love Host”.  SJUfaith will provide these for volunteers.  There’s a fine line between asking everyone if they want free laundry as some people might take it as an insult.  There will be people who arrive who you can just kind of tell are looking for it. And then at times I have,  made an announcement just sharing that if anybody is in need of some laundry help it’s available.
   
6. Single folks get 2 loads and drying. Families get 4 loads and drying. 
   
7.  Please use the notebook in the bin to keep track of how many people show up and how many loads you do.  
   
8.  Bring bin back to St. John’s.  Let SJUfaith know how much money is left after your time.
   
9. Volunteering wraps up at 8:00 pm.  Thanks for your time!

To volunteer or if you have any questions, please get in touch with our office

Email: [email protected] 

Tel:  320-363-2790

“… I was in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:36b) 

Prison Ministry is an SJUfaith volunteer outreach program.  Prison ministry, is interested in respecting the dignity of all life, including folks who are incarcerated.  Prison Ministers visit the residents of the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud on Monday evenings during the academic year.  Join a team of committed volunteers to help with hospitality, music for mass, and a community committed to loving service to residents of the St. Cloud prison. 

COMMITMENT

• You must have complete the Prison Ministry Training. This is hosted on the SJU campus on an as needed basis.
• GO: Visit once a month (approximately four times a semester)
• REFLECT: attend 2 reflections per semester (hosted by SJUfaith)
• ACT: Pray Regularly for the inmates with whom you come in contact. Pray for their families. Pray for systemic and racial justice. Pray for an end to the death penalty.

To sign up click on this link.

If you have any questions, please contact SJUfaith

Email: [email protected]

Tel:  320-363-2790

Three awards will be given this year to three outstanding Johnnies. Each recipient will receive an award of $2,000 for their demonstrated commitment to service.  A student may only receive this award once during their time at SJU.

Early in the spring semester, a call for nominations is issued to CSB/SJU students, staff, faculty, and the monastic community. In determining the recipients of this award, the Extraordinary Service Award Selection Committee considers the above characteristics. 

After being nominated, the students will be required to write one  300 – 700 word essay collectively answering the following questions:

• What are the service activities that have been most important to you and/or the Saint John’s Community?  (relating to self-initiated service, academic service, campus/student life service, and work related service)
• Why is this work important to you?
• How does your service work connect with the Benedictine Values and/or Catholic Social Teaching?

Nominees must also submit a copy of their résumé listing their service experience in the following three categories:  Self-Initiated, Academic, and Work.

Nominations will be accepted Tuesday, February 6, 2024, through 8:00 AM, Monday, February 19, 2024.

The nomination form can be found HERE

The timeline for the award is as follows:

• Nominations Open: 7:00 AM, 2/6/2024
• Nominations Close EXTENDED: 5:00 PM, 2/22/2024
• Nominated Student Application Due: 8:00 AM, 2/28/2024
• Application Committee Review: 2/29/2024-3/14/2024
• Recipients Announced: 3/21/2024, Anniversary of the Passing of Saint Benedict
• Recipient Banquet: 4/22/2024

2023 Recipients: Press Release

Ben Epper
Ethan Huber
Durran Thompson

2022 Recipients: Press Release

Joseph Penny
Isaac Kubalak
Emmett Adam

2021 Recipients

Logan Edwards
Tyler Koll
Kriston Clarke

2020 Recipients

Quinlen Marshall
Alexander Modeas
Andrew Smith

2019 Recipients

Will Gillach
Michael Kelly
Muqkadeen Poole
Simean Farquharson

2018 Recipients

Ryan Graham
Austin Hingtgen
Nathan Williams
Matthew Burgstahler

2017 Recipients
Owyn Ferguson
Gary Harala
Donovan Inniss
Cody Kohut

2016 Recipients
Peter Johnson
Abdirizak Jama
Ramond Mitchell
Frantz Soiro

2015 Recipients
Lukas Steffensmeier
Matthew Fink
Jake Barrientos
Austin Barkley

2014 Recipients
Kevin Curwick
Jake Collins
Jesse Wild
Brian Vander Heiden

2013 Recipients
Edwin Torres
Justin Markon
Connor Klausing
Stephen Gross

2012 Recipients
Chris Heitzig
Andy Hovel
Carlos Dabu
Will Newkirk