The New Evangelization of FOCUS

If you haven’t heard of FOCUS yet, now might be a good time to find out.

The Fellowship of Catholic University Students, in which recent college graduates commit to live and work on (mostly) secular college campuses for a few years, is now among the fastest-growing ministries of the New Evangelization among young people in U.S. Catholicism.

Founded in 1998 by Catholic evangelist Curtis Martin and his wife, FOCUS partners with Newman Centers and Catholic campus ministries to share the gospel with other college students through Bible studies and an annual retreat among other programs.

From these humble beginnings, the organization now includes hundreds of missionaries spread across America’s campuses, and continues to grow steadily. I’ve personally been impressed with the collegiality and generous zeal of the FOCUS missionaries I’ve met. In the United States, FOCUS has become one of the few young adult Catholic ministries that is genuinely thriving, giving Catholic graduates in their 20s a way to work on behalf of their faith while discerning God’s will for their lives.

Today I’ve got an interview up at America with Capuchin Father John Lager, the National Chaplain of FOCUS, which is based in Denver. Check it out for the good insights he offers on what the group does and how it has grown to span U.S. campuses from MIT to UC-Berkeley.