Life at Saint Louis University is busy. From classes to jobs to homework, students find it essential to do other things that they enjoy and that challenge them to grow in their college experience.

Greek life, Student Activity Board events, intramurals and clubs allow students to be active on campus, but this is one side of the activity spectrum.

The goal of building balanced men and women is a goal of Jesuit education, and the religious aspect is the primary focus of campus ministry.

Liturgies, prayer groups, service work and retreats that enrich the spiritual side are all offered by the campus ministry staff.

SLU Encounter is one such retreat that is offered to students of all religious backgrounds and is a weekend away from campus in which, according to campus ministry, “participants explore the foundations of their faith in God and Jesus Christ. Through a series of talks given by a team of students, faculty and staff . [they] experience that building of community through small group discussion, prayer and fellowship.”

SLU Encounter has been a SLU institution for 11 years and more than 600 students have participated in this retreat experience. The Encounter has been offered every fall and spring semester since its introduction to the campus in 1991.

The previous spring, six students and four campus ministers attended the Notre Dame Encounter in South Bend, Ind. They brought the program back with them, and SLU Encounter No. 1 was host to 28 student retreat participants.

A SLU Encounter Board was created the next spring to preserve the continuity of the program, and the retreat became a distinctive SLU experience.

Each semester draws more then 40 applicants, which is the workable size for the event, five to seven student leaders and four to six campus ministers, who include graduate students, faculty, staff and clergy.

Bob Phillips, S.J., associate director of campus ministry and coordinator of retreats, who is on the Encounter Board and is helping this semester as a campus minister, sees SLU Encounter as “more based on building community as a model for the church and faith . It’s quite a successful retreat. The small groups stay together in service, prayer and socializing.”

The student leaders make SLU Encounter possible. They plan and deliver the retreat to the students to make a true experience of peer-guided prayer and reflection.

Kevin Geffe, a senior Pre-Med, is this semester’s student coordinator. He sees the student-led aspect as being a major difference from other retreats that students may be used to. “It (Encounter) separates from different retreats because it is a group of your peers that live in the same experience of college.”

Geffe wanted to join the Encounter team to give back what he was given. “I feel I have been given much from Encounter . It is a weekend full of opportunity to know yourself, others and Christ in a nonjudgmental way.” The impartial aspect was a key component for him to really enjoy his experience. “As a Mormon, it offered a truly nonjudgmental atmosphere to share my faith and beliefs with others.”

Elizabeth Lucier, a junior social work major and president of the SLU Encounter Board, joined the Board and helped to lead Encounter because she wants to share the experience with others.

“I needed some time away and a renewal with my relationship with God and a refocusing of my life and where I wanted to go. I got out of it what I was looking for, a renewed sense of direction and a feeling of living as a loved child of God.” Lucier sees the retreat as “relating and seeing people struggle and how they deal with that. It’s about seeing how they have come through difficulty and stay in their faith.”

Kevin Powers, a junior psychology major, attended SLU Encounter because of “word of mouth, my brother and hearing that it was an experience I could not miss. There are many things you can do at SLU, and SLU Encounter is one you need to make sure you do.”

He sees the retreat as “an encounter with Christ, but more so with myself, because I had a lot of questions I wanted to answer, and SLU Encounter gave me that opportunity.”

Powers thinks the students who would benefit from the experience are not only “the people that are sound in their beliefs, but it is just as beneficial to those who have questions. Bring those thoughts in your mind; you may find out or not, but at least you are still searching.”

Donna Bess, coordinator of student activities and former Encounter campus minister, described her retreat experience as “phenomenal.” “It was life changing for me; it was my first retreat,” she said. She was also amazed by the openness and acceptance of different ideas since she was not Catholic. “Those who were Catholics were asking my opinions; I felt very included.”

The retreat is often described as similar to ones that students attended in high school. Fr. Bob explains that it models other retreats because the Cursillo (another retreat) throughout the world has spawned similar retreats like Teens Encounter Christ, Kairos and SLU Encounter.

SLU Encounter No. 21 will be held from Nov. 9 to 11. Students will be bused to the retreat location early Friday afternoon and will return by bus Sunday afternoon. Class conflicts can be resolved with a letter from campus ministry.

Geffe suggests to “put in your application by Halloween, or it will be a great opportunity missed.”

The cost is $35, but support is obtainable. Applications are available in the Campus Ministry office on the first floor in the Busch Memorial Center.