Loading...Canterbury has had a truly amazing semester. There was something special about it. Not only did we have record numbers of participation at Canterbury (at least since I began as chaplain), but our community this semester was filled with some of the most amazing and beautiful people. Over the course of the last several months, we baptized one member and confirmed or received five others. We hosted three very successful fundraising date nights where we served dinner to our guests. We made connections with the LGBTQ community in Lubbock, partnering with Smile Big, a local LGBTQ youth support organization. Smile Big now meets in Canterbury's building twice a month. We made a trip to the Carlsbad Caverns, celebrated the Holy Week Triduum with record attendance, hosted three Taizé contemplative prayer services, celebrated engagements and graduations, learned to make one heck of a cool charcuterie board, worked hard to have a garage sale fundraiser, played putt-putt, did yoga, went to the First Friday Art Trail, prayed together, laughed together, played together, walked together, cried together, and just simply loved each other. What a beautiful semester it has been.
Our final semester of the 2022-2023 academic year concluded the first week of May. This summer, we have said goodbye to three of our members, including McKenan Bundy, Josefina Carcamo, and our Faculty Advisor Dr. Ricardo Bello-Gomez. These three members have been the backbone of Canterbury for the last three years, and we are sad to see them leave. McKenan graduated with an MA in English in May and will be pursuing a Master's in Fine Arts at George Mason University in Virginia. Josefina will graduate in August and will be pursing her Ph.D. in political science at Penn State in the fall, and Ricardo has taken a teaching position at Rutgers University where he will begin teaching in August. Our community is sad to see these friends leave, but we are so proud of their many accomplishments and we look forward to all the wonderful things God has in store for them in the future.
By the time you begin reading this article, Canterbury will be on our Summer 2023 retreat in Kerrville, Texas. We will be gone from Sunday, May 28 through Sunday, June 4. The theme of our retreat is "Finding Our True Selves in God." Please pray that our students will have a restful and meaningful retreat, and please pray for our safety as we travel.
Thank you so much supporting our community. Without your love and support, our community would not be possible. Peace, love, and blessing.
