OVIEDO | On May 17, University of Central Florida Catholic Campus Ministry alumni gathered for their second retreat to reconnect and refuel their faith.

Catholic Campus Minister (CCM) Kimmy Zeiler is a product of the ministry’s early years, a group that is still going strong. “My experience of being a student here was that I met a community for life and met a spiritual family who have continued to journey with me through the highs and the lows of my life,” Zeiler shared. “We wanted to provide an opportunity for alumni to see each other again, but also to plug into the many generations of students and alumni who’ve come through CCM because they can learn from those just getting married or these parents who are just starting their families.”

Alumni as recent as the December 2024 graduating class joined others who graduated in 2009, finding a common love of Christ and desire to continue their spiritual growth. Zeiler said the retreat, “provides a space for them to come home, be reunited in their faith, and also bridge that gap between the generations.”

Students involved in UCF’s CCM “develop life skills that coincide with an active prayer life and community prayer life,” Zeiler said. “When they enter the working world or move, it’s not always easy to find other people who want the same thing they do… Our goal is to empower them to go back where they are and build community there – whether that’s through reminding them, inspiring them anew, or reigniting – we hope we can be a space where we bridge that gap.”

Tyler Beach is a 2024 graduate. A software engineer living in Altamonte Springs, Beach works remotely and acknowledges it can be isolating. Recently feeling disconnected and struggling, he reached out to local fellow CCM alumni and was surprised they were experiencing the same. They decided to form a small men’s group modeled after their men’s group at CCM. They meet bi-weekly. He credits CCM with “teaching a mindset” that a small group can be created anywhere.

Although Beach went to a Jesuit High School where he learned a lot about the faith and why he should be Catholic, he said CCM taught him “how to have community around you and make it a lifestyle, not just an hour on Sunday.”  The retreats help him touch base and keep going.

Clare Lawrence and Tripp Abshire met at UCF’s CCM and will be married over Memorial Day weekend. Both graduated in 2023. Lawrence was glad to have the retreat just before the wedding. The theme, Be Still, helped remind her of God’s presence in the midst of changes to come.

Newly engaged at last year’s retreat, couples helped them anticipate what was ahead and offered guidance for how to stay grounded in faith. “Things are not as still as they used to be in college and to learn to be still with Jesus in every moment is very important for me right now,” she said.

Reflecting on Lawrence’s observation that, “Everybody’s faith at CCM is so loud, so passionate,” Abshire noted, “It reflects back at you.” “It creates an environment where you feel invigorated because you see everyone else living their faith actively.”

Looking at the many photos of alumni covering the walls at Northview, CCM’s home base, Abshire added, “You can take so much life experience from other people and get to share. And it helps to come back to the community, see all the pictures, know there’s another retreat year on the wall.”

Kelle Thompson agreed. Thompson graduated in 2009 with Zeiler and is part of a 20-person strong alumni group chat. Sixteen years later, they keep in touch weekly, support one another, pray for one another, and accompany each other on life’s journey. For her and those on the chat, the retreats are a dream come true.

“These aren’t people that are here for a moment. They’re in your lives because you’re rooted in Christ,” she said trying to describe the unity. “Last year was nostalgic. This year there are definitely a lot of younger, new faces, newer alumni,” she said grateful for the chance to be fed by the spark alive in them.

Her husband, Scott, is a graduate of Purdue University and was part of the Catholic Campus Ministry there. Because of UCF’s location and the dynamic surrounding its campus ministry, he finds UCF CCM to be “something special.” “For a public university, this is something you don’t see too often,” he said. “It’s a gift.”

The Thompsons now live in St. Petersburg and are still friends with facilitators Christina and Dan Angel who live in the same town. The Angels were approached two years ago to help launch the alumni retreats. They were a part of CCM when Father Joshua Swallows, vocations director and pastor of Most Precious Blood Parish, was campus minister and in college himself. They too felt the need to help alumni reconnect.

“The idea was of coming back to the beginnings of where most of us really took our faith into action – reigniting that fire, that passion, the friendships then taking them back to our respective homes and living that out – sort of like an ‘Acts of the Apostles’ time once a year,” said Christina.

She explained how the theme, Be Still, was a spin-off from the CCM fall retreat, Calm in the Storm. After praying with the image from that retreat, the team felt focused on Jesus in the boat with His arm wrapped around a child who slept peacefully.

“That image is so serene while the rest of the painting is chaos,” she observed. “That is how our world can be, our lives can be. But the Lord is really calling us to be still, to be tucked under His arm in the midst of this chaos,” Christina said.

Her husband, Dan, is grateful to serve the community who gave him so much. “It meant so much to us in our own lives, in our formation, coming to CCM and being formed into the people we are today,” he said. “It’s given so much and continues to give through the friendships that were formed.

By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic staff, May 22, 2025