February 5, 2007VOL. 45, NO. 3Oakland, CA

New pastor joins Holy Spirit/Newman Hall Parish

By Carrie McClish
Staff writer

Father Bernard Campbell

Even while on sabbatical in Ireland last summer, Paulist Father Bernard Campbell was excited by the notion of being assigned as the new pastor at Holy Spirit/Newman Hall Parish in Berkeley. That’s because he has campus ministry in his blood.

“I love the work,” said Father Campbell, who arrived at the Berkeley campus following a cross-country train trip on Dec. 29. “I love the work. I love the students. I love the faculty. I love the environment. I thought this would be a wonderful match.”

In addition to his excitement and boxes of many of his favorite books, Father Campbell brought with him a range of experiences in campus ministry and pastoral leadership that should prove invaluable in his new assignment at one of the diocese’s most unique parishes.

The New York native, who turns 65 later this month, attended Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA and joined the Paulist Fathers, formally known as the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, at the age of 19.

After studying in Washington, D.C., he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. He subsequently worked in various assignments that took him across the country, from Portland, Ore., where he served as an assistant priest to Horseshoe Bay, Texas, where
he was pastor.

He also worked in Paulist Formation Ministry, the Institute for Religious Research in Washington, D.C., and at Paulist Press, where he did some editing and writing while serving in New York City.

However, campus ministry has been a major force in Father Campbell’s life for almost 20 years. He served for five years as diocesan director of campus ministry at the University of California San Diego and about nine years in campus ministry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In his most recent assignment, he embraced both pastoral and campus ministry in his role as pastor of three churches in a 1,000-square mile parish in Clemson, SC. One of those church communities included ministry to students at the University of Clemson.

Trying to minister to a large and diverse population was very complicated, said Father Campbell of his last assignment. The parish offered nine Masses on the weekends, recalled the priest. However he had help and didn’t have to preside at all of them, he added with a laugh.

Being able to collaborate with others in ministry was a wonderful revelation for the priest. Sometime ago someone said of him that “’He does everything,’” Father Campbell recalled. These days the priest has a different approach to being a pastor.

“What I do more and more in life is orchestrate, invite others, lay men and women and their great talents and gifts to participate in ministry,” he said. “I think that is one of the most important skills for ministers these days.”

Father Campbell said he has found a wealth of talents in the various congregations he has served. For example, lay people have helped him build buildings and as a result he knows a lot more about the construction process. Finding people with skills and talents helped make his job “so much easier in every regard,” he said.

That notion will be important at the Berkeley parish where he anticipates a regular turnover in the student population. Students may be very available one semester but cannot be available the next because of the addition of certain courses or the need to study for tests.

“With the student population you are constantly beginning,” Father Campbell said. “You are always calling forth – to call forth leadership and to call forth talent and to call forth faith. That is the key.”

Holy Spirit/Newman Hall Parish is a unique faith community because it serves both as a geographical parish for those who reside in the area as well as a campus ministry at UC Berkeley. Administered by the Paulist Fathers for 100 years, the parish also attracts students, faculty, religious professionals, and administrators from the nearby theological schools that make up the Graduate Theological Union (GTU).

It is a widely diverse group that Father Campbell jokingly referred to as a “high speed crowd.” About 2000 people attend weekend Masses.. While students can attend any Mass they choose, they are most predominant at the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Sunday liturgies. “The 5 p.m. Mass is pretty full and the 10 p.m. Mass is packed,” Father Campbell said.

Since he arrived at the parish Father Campbell has been making the rounds, meeting with parishioners and parish groups. As a result, he has become the unofficial collector of the community’s suggestions and hopes.

This is in response to the question he has posed to parishioners in meetings, chance encounters and, recently, in the parish bulletin: “What do you want this place to look like in five years?”

The priest is greatly encouraged by what he has learned already. The Berkeley community has a “wonderful sense of welcome” along with a “genuine concern and care for people.” He particularly has noticed the care given those with physical challenges and with children. How societies, communities and organizations care for its weakest members is a sign of its strength, he told The Voice. “I’m proud to be part of this.”

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