Still the One Gala
For married couples who met and/or got married at the ASU Newman Center
Date: Saturday, April 29
Time: 4 p.m. Mass / 5:30-8 p.m. Celebration
Location: 230 E. University Dr., Tempe
Click here to RSVP or for more information, or call (480) 967-7823.
For decades, the All Saints Newman Center’s campus ministry at Arizona State University has reached into the throngs of college students and held out the Gospel message, the sacraments and a good dose of social interaction.
Many students come for Mass and wind up finding the love of their lives.
That’s what happened to Nan and Paul Hillebrand who met there in the early 1980s. The Hillebrands’ daughter, Mary Claire, carried on the tradition and married at the Tempe church this month. In April, Paul will direct the music at “Still the One,” a marriage gala that invites couples whose lives were in some way touched by the Newman Center over the years.
Sharon Phelan, who met her husband Mike at the Newman Center, is the parish’s marriage preparation coordinator. She’s a busy lady, and not just because she and Mike have six children. Last year Fr. Rob Clements, Newman Center pastor, witnessed the wedding vows of 62 couples, she said.
“The Newman Center is such a hub of vibrancy and youth,” Sharon said. “In a culture that isn’t so supportive of marriage these days, the gala will be a great opportunity to get together to celebrate.” It will also offer younger couples the opportunity to witness the long-lasting love of couples celebrating marriage milestones.
Like Geoff Zwemke. He was working in campus ministry at ASU in the late 1980s when he met his wife, Marie, a nursing student who also worked at the Newman Center’s front desk. The couple married in 1994 in the center’s gothic-style “Old Church” that was built in 1903. Geoff, who will be the master of ceremonies at the Still the One marriage event, said he and his family returned to worshipping at the Newman Center recently. “Our roots are there and our friends go there,” Geoff said.
“Because of the bonds young adult Catholics form while at ASU, tons of them look to get married here,” Fr. Clements noted. “I thought that it would be so great to have a spring event and invite couples who met or got married here at Newman — just to celebrate heritage and to allow our Newman alumni to re-connect with a special place to them.”
The April 29 gala will bring together couples from across the decades as well as some of the priests who served there in the past, such as Dominican Father Albert Felice-Pace and Fr. Tom DeMann. The evening begins with 4 p.m. Mass followed by a blessing of marriages and a 5:30-8 p.m. Jazz Reception.
Couples are encouraged to submit a wedding photo as well as a current photo of themselves or their family to be used for a slideshow that evening.
