SEEK26, held Jan. 1-5 in Columbus, presented a unique opportunity for Buckeye Catholic ministry at Ohio State University.
The university, home to missionaries who serve as part of the FOCUS organization, which hosts SEEK annually in cities across the country, served as the host campus for the conference this year.
“We were given a spot … to have a booth and be able to be a presence for both our own students to come and have a home base during the conference but also spread the word about what God is doing at Buckeye Catholic to the broader Columbus community that’s here,” said Dana Dosen, assistant director of advancement at the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center, home of Buckeye Catholic campus ministry.
“Really, the students are here to encounter Jesus, and Buckeye Catholic is here that we would be transformed as a community, but also to serve in a unique way because of us being the host.”
Several SEEK attendees visited the booth to learn more about the college campus ministry.
The Newman Center’s students and staff welcomed more than 16,000 individuals to Columbus for the conference, assisting with registration and helping reset rooms after various talks and impact sessions. Additional conference locations included Denver and Fort Worth, Texas.
SEEK includes daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation, keynote addresses, workshops and entertainment. It attracts thousands of college students, adults, parish leaders, clergy and missionaries annually.
In addition to aiding the SEEK26 and FOCUS team this year, Buckeye Catholic students and staff “had the honor of getting to be emcees for the men’s and women’s concurrent sessions, and then also, directing people after Mass,” Dosen said.
This year’s SEEK26 conference location – a few minutes’ drive from Ohio State’s campus – allowed a greater number of students to attend compared with previous years.
More than 350 students from Ohio State University and regional college campuses in the Columbus metropolitan area served by Buckeye Catholic participated in the conference. “That was a big help in encouraging students to show up,” Dosen said.
FOCUS announced on Friday, Jan. 2 that next year’s conference, SEEK27, will be held again in Ohio’s capital city and in San Antonio, Texas. “Next year, I’m excited to see what participation will look like, and really, participation that, hopefully, spills over into transformation as well into renewal of our campus,” Dosen noted.
Ohio State students Ben Andrews and Michael Meyer, who are involved with Buckeye Catholic, attended the SEEK26 conference. They participated in SEEK previously and shared their excitement at having the conference in their home city.
The two Columbus natives, who are in their senior year of college, hail from Dublin.
“In high school, I always wanted to get out of Columbus because I thought there was always something greater, but the greatness is here,” Meyer said.
“I couldn’t have been more joyous … because I think the Lord wants me here for at least the foreseeable future, and I couldn’t be happier because of how much is blossoming here.”
“My class, it’s very secular, but then, you come to a place like this, and it’s like, boom, the Church is alive among young people,” Andrews added. “That’s exciting – it’s exciting that something’s happening.”
Andrews reflected on the continued growth at Buckeye Catholic. An increasing number of students are entering the Church at the Newman Center.
He appreciated Adoration, various talks and an opportunity to encounter Christ at SEEK26.
“Having that deeper personal encounter, how much fun it is, it’s getting me excited to go back,” Andrews said, “and be able to pour into the dudes I serve that weren’t able to make it.”
