God's Quad: Small Faith Communities on Campus and Beyond ed. by Kevin Ahern and Christopher Derige Malano

Abstract

Reviewed by: God's Quad: Small Faith Communities on Campus and Beyond ed. by Kevin Ahern and Christopher Derige Malano Alexander Garoutte God's Quad: Small Faith Communities on Campus and Beyond. Edited by Kevin Ahern and Christopher Derige Malano. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2018. 256 pp. $20.00. The 2019 Apostolic Exhortation from Pope Francis, Christus Vivit, reflects on the lives of young people from around the world and notes that the church must be open to change and adaptation if it is to continue caring for young people in today's climate. God's Quad is an incredibly helpful response to Francis and it successfully details the many ways that small faith communities, especially ones comprised of faith-sharing groups, can help foster the healthy spiritual lives of young adults around the world. Overall, God's Quad aims to illustrate modern currents in student faith formation communities and offer some tools that leaders can use to help build and strengthen their communities. Part 1 offers some theoretical undergirdings for developing strong faith communities; these ideas will be concretely depicted through the examples in later chapters. [End Page 104] Part 2 examines some of the student-focused programming outside of the United States. It begins with the Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana (FUCI) that cares for college students in Italy and focuses its work on uniting faith, research, and the whole person through their groups. From Peru, we hear about the Unión Nacional de Estudiantes Católicos, whose roots in liberation theology guide students toward commitment to God and the poor. The All India Catholic University Federation (AICUF) focuses on an "exposure program" created to help their students move out of their comfort zone by seeing realities different than their own. At the University of Bamako in Mali the MIEC serves as a space of mentorship and community working toward change rooted in love. The Youth Small Christian Communities (YSCC) in Eastern Africa are developing programs more heavily connected with parishes in order to develop their community members through a more holistic approach. Part 3 focuses on programs currently operating through Campus Ministries and Newman Centers in the United States. We hear about Christian Life Community, which focuses on Ignatian Spirituality and has helped students struggling with anxiety and depression. We also hear about the Catholic Relief Services Ambassadors program guiding students toward Catholic Social Teaching through advocacy work and faith sharing. At Duke University and Purdue University, bringing in the "Evangelical Catholic" team has helped train students in the work of evangelization and leadership in order to harness their passion. At Yale University and University of Hawa'i-Mānoa, empowering students to care for one another and to be church for each other has succeeded in light of limited budgets and staffing. At California State University, Sacramento, the Newman Center's affinity groups help students find an expression of faith that is truly their own. At Manhattan College, the Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience centers on immersion-style trips that form students through pre- and post-trip small group meetings and reflections. In each of these contexts we hear about the challenges of connecting with incredibly busy students who are each [End Page 105] struggling to find where they truly belong, yet we also see the ways that Christ's presence remains through each of these communities. In the appendices, authors have pulled together a few practical resources and guides for ministers looking to deepen their ministry to college students through small groups, reflections around the Sunday Gospel readings, or based on the "See-Judge-Act" (or "Review of Life") model. As a campus minister, the book did leave me thinking about one of the biggest questions in my own work: How do we best create programming that is enticing and inviting to the growing population of students who are more likely to consider themselves entirely non-religious and have very little sense of what it means to engage in questions of faith? God's Quad does a great job of detailing ways to engage students who are already looking for a faith-based community, but does little to consider how to foster the spiritual lives of students...