Membership in the Parish

The Newman Parish in Eau Claire was founded as a parish of the Diocese of La Crosse in 1969. At that time Bishop Freking established the parish to provide a stable community with the mission of providing campus ministry for UWEC and CVTC. At nearly the same time we entered into an ecumenical partnership with University Lutheran Church (National Lutheran Campus Ministry, ELCA) and established the Ecumenical Religious Center.

The physical facility of the Ecumenical Religious Center is the shared home for two congregations, The Newman Parish and University Lutheran Church.

As a parish we provide religious instruction for our children and many of the normal activities you would expect to find in a parish. We also support the Catholic School system in Eau Claire. Households who register with us as stationary members pledge their support for campus ministry and become active in parish life.

"Student members are those individuals who identify themselves as Roman Catholic and attend the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire or Chippewa Valley Technical College. While in Eau Claire they retain their membership in their home parishes...Stationary/Sustaining members choose to be members of Newman, not because of geographic boundaries, but because of their affiliation with the academic community in Eau Claire and/or because of their firm commitment to campus ministry."

Applying for Membership
in the Newman Parish of Eau Claire

Households who want to become members of the Newman Parish go through an application process which is reviewed by the Pastoral Council. Our size is limited to approximately 300 households at any one time.

Because we are a mission based parish this is not an “alternative parish” in Eau Claire but a community of committed believers who have a particular role to play within the wider Church of the Diocese of La Crosse.

Membership is open first of all to members of the higher education community of UWEC and CVTC, to the daughters and sons of existing stationary members and finally members of the wider community who want to actively support our campus ministry based mission.