This year, Chaminade welcomed a new campus minister: Mr. Halfmann.

In order for everyone to learn more about him, I sat down with him to discuss his role at Chaminade, his interests, and his background.

To begin, campus ministry at Chaminade can take on many forms. Although its main purpose is in the name itself, to facilitate the ministry and worship on Chaminade’s campus, it can mean different things to different people. To Mr. Halfmann, his role as a campus minister is to minister to the whole student body through getting to know them. He does this by talking to students directly. For instance, you can almost always expect to see him walking around the cafeteria each day starting conversations with students. I asked Mr. Halfmann: “How do you hope to support students who might be exploring or questioning their faith?” To which he responded: “By providing them an opportunity to have a conversation. That is how I focus my ministry. Allowing students to ask me a question.”

If I had to describe Mr. Halfmann’s approach to ministry in one word, it would be “conversation.” He encourages students to come to his office and ask him questions about anything, not limited to faith.

For those who do not know, Chaminade’s campus ministry has adopted a new system where one person no longer has one specific role, such as “Retreat Coordinator.” Campus ministers now work as a team on each project, meaning that Mr. Halfmann’s duties at Chaminade are not limited to one specific topic. With that said, he leads prayer services and assists with general campus ministry tasks such as running errands, building the website, and creating retreats.

With that information out of the way, we can dive into Mr. Halfmann’s background and why he decided to come to Chaminade. To begin, Mr. Halfmann comes from a big, Catholic family. In fact, he is the second youngest of seven. After high school, he joined the seminary in order to discern if he wanted to become a priest. Through prayer and spiritual direction from others, he understood that he was called to be a man of faith. As a result of his discernment, he is now finishing his college degree at Lindenwood University.

Now, of course, Mr. Halfmann is an intern at Chaminade and a senior at Lindenwood. He took up the internship at Chaminade not only because he wanted to be a part of Chaminade’s environment, but also because he enjoys being able to minister to guys specifically.

Furthermore, Mr. Halfmann also shared some of his interests with me. For starters, he loves to be outside. Whether he’s hiking, hanging out with a group of friends, or playing sports, he tries to be outside as much as possible. Sports-wise, he plays pick-up basketball, Vetta soccer, and pickleball. He also loves to read, bake–specifically banana bread–and play the guitar. His favorite sport to watch is baseball, and his reasoning behind this rather unpopular claim resonated with me: Mr. Halfmann says that baseball is called “America’s pastime” for a reason, as you are supposed to watch it and do another activity at the same time. He believes that there is too much need for action in sports, and baseball is overlooked because of that. In his own words, “It’s a leisure sport on purpose.”

Lastly, I asked Mr. Halfmann what his favorite Bible quote was and why it was his favorite. He told me the following quote, which he heard for the first time when he was struggling to discern his vocation and God’s call. When he heard this quote, he understood that it was not up to him; instead, it was God’s decision.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11