A Fan of Beards, Baseball, and Adventure: Meet Rockhurst's New Chaplain

The Rev. Chris Schroeder, S.J., joined Rockhurst University in January 2016 as campus ministry's new chaplain.

You’re a St. Louis native who admits a love of baseball and beards. What else should people meeting you for the first time know about you?

Other interests of mine include hiking, philosophy, and frivolous pop culture (think Star Wars and superheroes). One way that I would combine all of these was when I was younger, I would take long walks late at night with my friends. The rule was that you couldn’t be going anywhere in particular, and your destination had to change several times along the way (hopefully very suddenly!). And while we were on the road, we would talk about life, the universe, and everything.

You’re relatively new to ordained priesthood, ordained in 2014. What first attracted you to the path?

I look back at two experiences that initially attracted me to priesthood and life as a Jesuit. I attended a Jesuit high school, De Smet Jesuit in St. Louis, and university, St. Louis University. It gradually dawned on me when I was a young man that the Jesuits in these places were the most successful men I knew. They were joy-filled, generous men with a sense of purpose and spiritual freedom. I wanted to be like that.  I also remember how the campus ministry at SLU would have many opportunities to have Mass with student groups, often in settings that were smaller or more informal than how I remembered from growing up. It was so beautiful and moving to have an opportunity for such Eucharistic community, that I wanted to dedicate my life to making that type of community available to as many people as possible.

You previously served in pastoral ministry across the street at St. Francis Xavier. What did you learn from that experience?

I feel like it was a great introduction into a Catholic community already at work! Sometimes it is hard to appreciate the big picture, but my time at SFX showed me that people want to do good, want to meet God, and want to do so in a community. And they are already doing so much, often underappreciated or behind the scenes, to make these things happen. 

As the Campus Ministry chaplain, you’ll be working closely with students at Rockhurst University. What do you look forward to in your new position?

I look forward to making a bunch of different connections with students. My hope is every day to have an encounter where I can help make Rockhurst feel like a home where that person belongs. And I want that home to always be one that has Christ as its center, so that it is his love that motivates us to embrace others and that calls us to rest in him. 

What is one thing you could tell us about yourself that might surprise people?

I think that what might surprise some people is how quickly I adapt to new surroundings. The Jesuits have asked me to travel and live in so many different situations — as far away as Kerala, India; Cascavel, Brazil; and Punta Gorda, Belize — that I really feel like if someone would come up to me and say, “Chris, at this time tomorrow we need to you live in a farm in Central America or a school in Eastern Europe,” I think I would be willing to say, “OK, just let me pack a bag.” If you give me a moment, I’m ready for anything.

Follow Fr. Schroeder on Twitter @analogjesuit.