SE Catholic Campus Ministry to build new facility after exceeding campaign goal

Southeast Missouri State University's Catholic Campus Ministry has outgrown its current chapel and plans for a new, larger facility are beginning to take shape — requiring the demolition of the chapel and its two on-campus houses.

Deacon and director of the Newman Center Tom Schumer said construction for the new 7,000-square-foot Newman Center with a tentative completion date of spring 2021.

An artist rendering of the future St. John Henry Newman Center.Submitted

Demolition of the three buildings at 512 N. Pacific Street will begin by March 2020, he said, making way for the new facility that will more than double the chapel's current seating capacity.

The current Newman Center is named after John Henry Newman, a Catholic Cardinal in the 19th century scheduled to be canonized a saint in the Catholic Church on Oct. 13, he said.

"We will be known as the St. John Henry Newman Center when we open our doors," Schumer said. "All that came to light after we had already begun our process of campaigning to build a new center."

The initial fundraising goal was set at $4.5 million, but as of Monday, Schumer said funds reached $4.9 million in pledges. The additional funds may be used to extend the current building plans, he said.

"I expect an even more popular mass, and people won't have to be standing," Schumer said.

On Sundays, he said the current location is the only chapel within Southeast Missouri that offers a Sunday evening mass. "The 6 p.m. mass is almost always standing room only at our current chapel."

He said the Newman Center houses an "over utilized, undersized and underequipped kitchen" — and is also bundled with a "very small" dining area and administrative offices.

With the new 7,000-square-foot design, he said, all activities will take place under one roof, allowing student activities to "more than double" within a 2,400-square-foot conference room.

"We don't have anything like that now. It's just going to be vast improvements on all fronts," he said.

Schumer said the on-campus ministry provides students an opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ through daily mass, access to confessional, over 20 small group Bible studies and yearly retreats.

In any typical week, Schumer said nearly 300 students are reached through the ministry.

"It's a small worship space that we've made the most of, but it's outlived its time," he said of the current 1,500-square-foot chapel. "The worship space in the new facility which is going to be all things for worship and ministry ..."

He described the growth as considerable and "more suitable for divine worship."

During demolition of the three buildings and construction of the new facility, Schumer said the church will most likely be moved off campus.