University Ministry hosts second Coffee House ever

USD community gathered to share in coffee, faith stories and community

Feature Editor / Lauren Ceballos / The USD Vista

On April 26, USD’s University Ministry hosted their second ever “Coffee House.” Students, faculty and friends gathered to hear speakers share their life’s journey between “comfort and chaos,” which was the theme for the night. 

The first Coffee House   invited students who were not yet involved with University Ministry to  a welcoming and open environment,  accomplishing the goal of Director of University Ministry Christian Santa Maria.

The evening’s hosts were USD sophomores Adam Bretsch and Taylor Polcyn, joined by USD senior Megan Monroe and sophomores David Campos and Izzie Ramirez, who were the musical hosts for the evening. Speakers included USD sophomore Carly O’Rear, USD graduate Soledad Parra and USD senior Mitchell Valine. 

In the Ministry Center, coffee, sweets, the comforting environment of warm colored lights, musical ambiance and cozy couches provided students with a place where they were “able to listen and talk about their experience with real life and lived faith,” according to @usdministry on Instagram.

Bretsch and Polcyn opened the night by introducing the theme of “Comfort and Chaos,” setting the tone for the event. Monroe and Campos were then welcomed, singing a compilation of songs addressing different feelings, stages and experiences in college.

Monroe shared her favorite song of the night.

“The song ‘Changes’ by Joy Oladokun. I sang it with Izzie. You know when you hear a song, and it just feels like exactly what you need to hear in that moment, ever since then that song has been so important to me, and I was so happy to sing it tonight,” Monroe said. 

Bretsch shared his favorite part of the night.

“It’s got to be the music for me. The music tells a story in a way that words just can’t, which is so beautiful so everyone that just helped out with that… they’re all just incredible, amazing people and to hear them sing and really represent what Coffee House is all about is just beautiful.”

O’Rear was the first speaker, sharing her experience from a few weeks ago while  singing a Celtic song with the Founder’s Chapel Choir.  She described feeling “swirly,”  the possible feeling that God was showing himself through song. 

“Is it the chemicals in my brain or everything that I wanted it to be?” she questioned.

O’Rear then sang a song that she wrote, as a form of storytelling, that reflected on the power and presence of God. Her lyrics pondered her question.

“I really don’t know clouds at all… I really don’t know love at all… Friends say I’ve changed, something’s lost, well something’s changed, I really don’t know life at all,” she sang.

Sol Parra was the second storyteller, sharing her experience of how COVID-19 changed her plans. Parra had a trip planned, but then her mom got COVID-19, and she had to stay home and take care of her. Parra shared her realizations from the experience.

“It was definitely God speaking to me in a way that I had never been spoken to…God was definitely showing me the places in my heart that were very, very wounded… An opportunity to just let something else happen, versus controlling it.”

Valine was the final speaker, sharing an anecdote about his life experiences. Valine explained how one day, his car door windows would not roll up, and when he parked his car, “Sunny,”  he put all of his faith in a sticky notes that read “Windows broken, please don’t break in to my car, *smiley face.*”

Valine compared himself to Sunny. 

“I’m kinda like Sunny, however my metaphorical sticky note wasn’t gonna stay sticky forever,” Valine said. 

He later realized, “I had tried to hide all the parts of myself that I didn’t want to look at, but really those parts make me whole along with the good parts too…I was grounded to love fullness and life.”

One of the hosts, Polcyn,   shared her opinion on the  speakers.

“I loved hearing all the storytellers, I think they had a lot of really good stuff to share. I adore all of them, I think they’re wonderful, really vulnerable, which I think not a lot of people can get up in front of an audience and do,” Polcyn said. 

Alec Hartman, Associate University Minister, shared his reaction to the evening.

“After tonight just with the music and the story sharing and with the MCs I’m just feeling really grateful for the creative ways that people were willing to share their stories and just the willingness to break open their stories for the benefit of everyone, and I think everyone can really take a lot from this tonight,” Hartman said.

USD senior Katherine Seto discussed Coffee House from the planning committee standpoint.

“We try to make this the least formal UM event, something way more casual where people feel that they can really be a part of something, even if they are not like a regular mass-goer or anything like that, a comfortable space. And our focus is on the intersection of real life and lived faith,” Seto said.

At the very end of the night, University Ministry presented all attendees with a question: “What remains with you?”

Seto pondered the question, before producing an answer.

“The idea of leaning into whatever it is I’m experiencing, and there is always a plan for me, whether I can see it or not, and even in the hard times, that it is important to remember that there’s something in the works that’s better than I could ever imagine,” Seto said.

Polcyn was inspired by the shared experience of being together with others.

“Definitely just the overwhelming feeling of community, there are a lot of people in this room that I don’t know but the smiles and the way that they greet each other and just the warmth that I feel in here remains with me anytime I leave anything with University Ministry people, but especially Coffee House,” Polcyn said.

Monroe was in agreement.

“The strength of the community that I have built here. To be able to look out at all these faces that like have become so integral in my time here, and especially through University Ministry, these people are so deeply intertwined in my life and Coffee House is just like a tangible way to recognize that, and see all these people who I love so much, and the community that I have built,” Monroe said.

Bretsch explained what remained with him.

“So much peace, so much love, so much togetherness… It’s truly beautiful to be able to share that vulnerability with everybody and have everyone listen and be truly intent and feel the love,” Bretsch said.

Coffee House provided an environment that cultivated community amongst students. Speakers shared their journeys about a lived faith. The storytellers and musical storytellers worked together to create a comfortable space for all students to sit back, relax, and embrace the community of University Ministry.