This Catholic Center in the heart of Boulder offers a port in the storm and a cup of coffee in the face of challenging university life for young people.<\/p>\n
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center (St. Tom\u2019s) and Drogo\u2019s Coffee Bar give students a warm and welcoming environment and a chance to live out their faith in a genuine way. Ministries, like this, are supported by the Archbishop\u2019s Catholic Appeal and bring Christ to others throughout northern Colorado.<\/p>\n
\u201c[There are] a lot of people who are looking for life and happiness in the things of the world, that just can\u2019t offer it. Here, what we\u2019re able to do is offer real life,\u201d said St. Tom\u2019s pastor Father Peter Mussett in a Denver Catholic article when St. Tom\u2019s opened Drogo\u2019s Coffee in 2015.<\/p>\n
Statistically, about 75% of Catholics leave their faith in college, but what St. Tom\u2019s is doing in campus ministry is at the very forefront of the new evangelization, Fr. Mussett said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It\u2019s] a place for us to engage the community,\u201d Fr. Mussett said recently. \u201cWe all know that it\u2019s so easy to get trapped in the Catholic bubble. The world\u2019s a little scary.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to offering an engaging space on Greek Row and an inexpensive cup of coffee, St. Tom\u2019s has been successfully drawing men and women into religious life either through missionary work or vocations. Since 2006, St. Tom\u2019s accounts for 21 priests out of Boulder \u2014 10 of those were specifically CU students.<\/p>\n
\u201cInviting new people, risking ourselves, being personal, creating opportunities for grace. It\u2019s just that God has asked us to do it in a place where it takes courage to do it,\u201d Fr. Mussett said.<\/p>\n
The Archbishop\u2019s Catholic Appeal is the Archdiocese of Denver\u2019s largest annual fundraiser. Donations made to the appeal at archden.org\/GiveNow help others become rooted in Christ at St. Tom\u2019s and more than 40 other ministries.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”padding-2-percent” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”left” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/3″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”7243″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”Fade In” animation_easing=”default” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”small_depth” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”][nectar_single_testimonial testimonial_style=”basic” text_color=”#00833e” quote=”Inviting new people, risking ourselves, being personal, creating opportunities for grace. It\u2019s just that God has asked us to do it in a place where it takes courage to do it.” name=”Fr. Mussett”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”center” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”default” custom_height=”30″][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”30″][image_with_animation image_url=”4705″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”15px” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”50%” max_width_mobile=”default” img_link=”https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/”][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”30″][nectar_btn size=”jumbo” button_style=”regular” button_color_2=”Accent-Color” color_override=”#dd8d13″ icon_family=”none” text=”Yes, I Want to Help!” url=”\/give\/” css_animation=”bounce”][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”60″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Appeal Helps Reach Youth in College and Throughout Northern Colorado.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","content-type":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,11,13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-religious-outreach","9":"category-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7229"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7244,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7229\/revisions\/7244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}