St. John Fisher Chapel introduces 'Grizzly Catholic,' welcomes FOCUS to Oakland U

Auburn Hills parish taking campus ministry efforts at Oakland University 'to the next level' with new name, FOCUS missionaries

AUBURN HILLS — St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish is experiencing a revival by renewing its outreach to young people and further expanding its campus ministry efforts at Oakland University.

With the establishment of the new Grizzly Catholic Campus Ministry and the introduction of four new FOCUS Missionaries on campus, the parish's outreach to college students is turning a new page, said Fr. Steve Mateja, priest in solidum serving at the parish since 2022.

St. John Fisher has been experiencing a renewal in mission and faith over the last few years, Fr. Mateja told Detroit Catholic.

“The vision that I have cast is for college students, young adults, and young family life,” Fr. Mateja explained. “That is the big net, and so in that we are incredibly young with tons of young families who are flocking for young adult life and community. We are not the largest parish in the (arch)diocese, but I always say to people, per capita, we are the youngest.”

Fr. Mateja said the parish includes dozens of families with six or more kids, and there are approximately 125 children in religious education. The group also offers a young adult group and a men’s mentorship group, which connects seasoned Catholic businessmen with college-age men.

Furthermore, the parish is unique as it has played a vital role in ministering to the college students at next-door Oakland University.

Campus ministry has long been a student-led initiative, with Fr. Mateja serving as the chaplain. However, at the beginning of Oakland's 2024 fall semester, Fr. Mateja and his team announced “Grizzly Catholic,” a nod to the university's mascot.

“There had always been some type of campus ministry presence since the 1960s,” Fr. Mateja said. “Now, we are really rebranding it, re-missioning it for the new evangelization and proclamation of the Gospel.”

The newly named Grizzly Catholic ministry is now being run by a dedicated campus minister, Drew Tonti. Fr. Mateja was able to hire him this year, along with Teresa Knauss, the new development director, thanks to a grassroots fundraising campaign begun in December 2023.

“I began to promote it internally and sent out my Christmas cards and asked my friends and family if they could support anything — I raised over $100,000 just with Christmas cards for Oakland University campus ministry,” Fr. Mateja said. “The word just spread, and I was able to meet with other donors and alumni who wanted an active, alive church and something for their children, which they wish that they had when they were at Oakland University.”

In addition to hiring dedicated staff, Fr. Mateja raised enough money to bring Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionaries to campus.

Third-year missionary Emma Hoffman from Evansville, Ind., serves as team director. She joined FOCUS following the ministry's role in her own reversion story.

Raised Catholic, Hoffman said she never developed a personal prayer life or prioritized her faith, and when she started college, she fell further away. However, during her freshman year, she joined a FOCUS Bible study.

“That was so good for me because, at a time when I wasn’t even going to Mass consistently, I was actually attending that Bible study consistently because of the relationships I was building,” Hoffman explained.

Following a deep reconversion the summer before her senior year, Hoffman returned to campus and began leading a Bible study. Shortly after, she started discipleship with a FOCUS missionary.

“Through the missionaries' witness and their joy, which I could see was so evident from the joy what they were doing brought them, it planted in me a similar desire of, 'Could I also have that joy? Could I also do what they were doing?'” Hoffman said. “I opened it up in prayer, and the Lord was pretty clear in increasing my desire and inviting me into it. One thing led to another, and I became a missionary.”

Hoffman said leading a team on a beginning FOCUS campus is exciting and new, and she and her team are dedicated to getting to know the students and drawing them into fellowship, including with the establishment of Bible studies.

“That first week of classes, we were on campus every single day trying to meet people,” Hoffman said. “Right off the bat, we had a lot of interest in Bible studies, and we have had 55 students who have attended one.”

Fr. Mateja said each FOCUS missionary leads two Bible studies — eight total.

Tonti, who started his new role as campus minister in July, said he is committed to growing the campus ministry and creating a community for college students and young adults alike where they can grow in their relationship with Jesus.

“Our world and the times that we live in are, in a lot of ways, very confusing for people,” Tonti said. “For college students it is so easy to fall into any number of distractions and to live a life that’s not with Christ. Our goal is to lead students into life-changing relationships with Jesus and into the Catholic Church.”

The ministry has hosted two events a week on average since the beginning of the semester, and Tonti, along with the FOCUS missionaries, are constantly on campus. On the first day of school, the Grizzlies engaged students by offering “back to school” photos, and on the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, they passed out roses on campus.

“I really believe that God has deeply worked in this church over the last few years and has done some really amazing things here. It is really a special parish, and we are growing and taking the ministry to the next level,” Tonti said.

While the parish's demographics are shifting, its focus has remained the same: Christ. The biggest challenge has been the ever-growing need for more space to meet, teach and experience fellowship, Fr. Mateja said.

“As Catholics in the world, we've been charged with announcing the Gospel message to go and make disciples of all nations,” Fr. Mateja said. “As Catholics, we believe that we have the fullness of the faith, and we want to be the city lit up and set on the hill. We want to be a shining example of Christian charity and witness as disciples of the love of Christ in the world. To abandon Oakland University as a Catholic witness would be detrimental to the faith of north Oakland County and also to the souls at Oakland University.”