SEMO Catholic St. John Henry Newman Center

About the St. John Henry Newman Center

The St. John Henry Newman Center is the home of Catholic Campus Ministry at Southeast Missouri State University. Located at 512 N. Pacific Street in Cape Girardeau, the center welcomes SEMO students, faculty, staff and local Catholics for daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of Reconciliation, FOCUS-missionary-led Bible studies, retreats, mission trips and a packed calendar of social events — all under the spiritual care of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau.

History: From the 1914 Newman Club to a Brand-New Building

Catholic campus ministry at SEMO dates back to 1914, when sisters Gertrude and Frances Chester founded a Newman Club for Catholic students and faculty. For decades the ministry lived in a cluster of three connected-but-separate buildings at 512 N. Pacific: the Marquette Student Center, the main Newman Center house and the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel. By 2020 those buildings could no longer accommodate the 300+ students served each week, and the parish community launched a capital campaign that raised more than $5.2 million in pledges. On March 8, 2020, Bishop Edward M. Rice presided over the groundbreaking for a new, single 18,000-square-foot St. John Henry Newman Center, which opened in 2021.

• 1914 — Newman Club founded by sisters Gertrude and Frances Chester
• Old campus occupied three buildings for 58 years at Normal Ave. & Pacific St.
• Capital campaign raised $5.2M+ in pledges and $3M+ in cash
• Groundbreaking: March 8, 2020, with Bishop Edward M. Rice
• New 18,000-sq-ft building completed and dedicated 2021
• Named for St. John Henry Newman (canonized October 13, 2019)

Meet the Staff

The Newman Center team includes a priest-director, a sacramental priest, a director of discipleship and evangelization, an office manager, the director of the Aquinas Institute, a FOCUS team director, and four FOCUS missionaries. Long-time director Deacon Tom Schumer has retired after shepherding the center through the new building campaign, and Fr. Jesse Hiett now leads the ministry as Director.

• Fr. Jesse Hiett — Director
• Fr. Emmanuel Dibia — Sacramental Priest
• Fr. Laurent — available for confessions by appointment (573-335-3899)
• Philip Klaas — Director of Discipleship & Evangelization
• Calli Thoma — Office Manager & Human Formation
• Gideon Barr — Director of Aquinas Institute
• Genevieve Scherer — Newman Center Missionary
• Joe Liebsch — FOCUS Team Director
• Taylor Lucke, Adam & Hayley Heskett, Hailey Hellenbrand — FOCUS Missionaries
• Deacon Tom Schumer — founding long-time director, retired

FOCUS Missionaries and Bible Studies

FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) places a full team of missionaries at the Newman Center to walk with students through Bible study, discipleship and mentoring. According to a 2020 Southeast Missourian profile, more than 100 students attend the ministry's Bible studies each week across roughly 20 small groups — the largest single program on campus alongside the Sunday and daily Mass schedule.

• FOCUS Team Director: Joe Liebsch
• Missionaries: Taylor Lucke, Adam & Hayley Heskett, Hailey Hellenbrand
• ~20 small-group Bible studies weekly
• 100+ students in weekly Bible studies
• Peer-to-peer discipleship and evangelization

Aquinas Institute for Catholic Studies

Housed in two dedicated classrooms inside the new Newman Center, the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Studies is the first college-credit Catholic education program in Southeast Missouri. It grew out of Deacon Tom Schumer's vision for an intellectually rigorous formation pillar alongside the center's spiritual and community life. Its director, Gideon Barr — a 2014 SEMO convert and former Aquinas Institute student who later earned graduate credentials through Saint Louis University — also created the 'Encyclopedia of Catholic Theology' as a free educational resource for the wider region.

• First college-credit Catholic education program in Southeast Missouri
• Located in two classrooms in the new Newman Center building
• Director: Gideon Barr
• Features the 'Encyclopedia of Catholic Theology' project

Student Life and Community Events

The Newman Center is famous on the SEMO campus for the breadth of its social and community programming. The Newman Connection profile describes Dollar Dinners after Sunday night Mass, weekly Bible studies, FOCUS discipleship, off-campus retreats, winter-break conferences, spring and summer mission trips, the annual Fall Rootbeer Kegger, Fiat Women's Ministry evenings, Game Nights, and bonfires with s'mores and music.

• Dollar Dinners after Sunday 6 PM Mass
• Fiat Women's Ministry evenings
• Game Nights at the Newman Center
• Bonfire with s'mores and music
• Annual Fall Rootbeer Kegger
• Off-campus retreats
• Winter-break conferences
• Spring and summer mission trips

Facilities: The 2021 St. John Henry Newman Center

Completed in 2021, the 18,000-square-foot St. John Henry Newman Center replaced the older Marquette Student Center, the original Newman Center house and the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel. The new single-building campus was designed to bring every dimension of Catholic student life under one roof and was funded almost entirely by community pledges and donations — the ministry is not a parish and depends on the generosity of benefactors.

• 7,000-sq-ft worship space (chapel)
• Two classrooms for the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Studies
• Multipurpose room (capacity ~150)
• Student lounge
• Commercial kitchen
• Replaces three older buildings at the same address