Show GalleryGREENSBORO — Students, clergy, diocesan representatives and friends gathered to celebrate the opening of the new Thea House Sept. 21. Thea House serves as the home for the Catholic Campus Ministry program at N.C. A&T State University and Bennett College.
“We are blessed,” said Father Marcel Amadi, who serves as campus minister.
The Sept. 21 celebration began with warm greetings and testimonies from Mary Wright, diocesan director of Campus and Young Adult Ministry.
“We are so blessed to have this house, and to have people who have supported Thea House gather with us today. We look forward to continuing these relationships, and look to create new ones in the future,” Wright said.
Father Amadi thanked many who helped the Campus Ministry group during its transition to the new location. Then he, Father William Allegretto, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Greensboro, and Franciscan Father David Hyman walked through and blessed each room in the new Thea House.
Thea House was opened in 1992 by the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province. Father Hyman, the first campus minister for Thea House, noted, “Small is beautiful,” referring to the roots of Thea House.
Thea House strives to provide spiritual and intellectual assistance to students of both Greensboro area colleges.
It was named in memory of Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration nationally known for her efforts to encourage African American Catholics to be proud of their heritage and their faith. A convert to the faith, Bowman was the granddaughter of slaves and the only African-American member of her order, transcending racism to leave a lasting mark on Catholic life in the United States in the late 20th century. She died in 1990 and her cause for canonization was recently endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In 1994, Thea House became part of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Catholic Campus Ministry program.
Alberta Hairston, lovingly known as “Mama H.”, became campus minister for Thea House in 1994, serving there until her retirement in 2013.
At the Sept. 21 dedication, students and supporters spoke of their love for Thea House and what its presence has meant to them.
“What I found there was a true treasure,” said graduate Nadra Taylor. “For me, Thea House was Mama H. and Thea House was a place of refuge. In the South, there are not a lot of black Catholics and at Thea House you found people who were like you.”
“Thea House anchored me in my Catholic faith,” Taylor said.
It “was just a godsend when my daughter came here,” said Nathan Wagner, alumni parent and strong supporter of Thea House.
Calling it “a home away from home,” he said Thea House “kept my daughter close to the Catholic faith.”
“When Mama H. retired, I prayed and prayed for God to send us someone special,” said longtime supporter Erma Griffin.
Father Amadi was the answered prayer, Griffin said. “He stepped in with a smile.”
In January of this year, Thea House had to quickly vacate its original location on Bluford Street, and the ministry was soon displaced – with nowhere to go.
“The best way I can summarize it is to say every disappointment is a blessing,” said Father Amadi. “Sometimes we cry when things don’t go the way we want them to go. But when we just turn around and look, God could be showing us something better.”
Friend of Thea House and “grandmommy” to many, Griffin offered up her own home as a temporary Thea House until a permanent home could be found.
“A child is precious. And when they come from afar, you want them to continue to feel precious,” Griffin said.
Whether it’s a home-cooked meal, a Bible study or just a listening ear, Griffin provided not just her home, but her heart. Though Griffin insists, “It was the students and Father Marcel who kept the Spirit alive. It was like the early Church. We thought about when the disciples went house to house preaching the Good News of Christ. The Spirit – you could just feel it.”
The new permanent location on North Dudley Street will enable the Campus Ministry program at N.C. A&T and Bennett to continue to flourish.
The celebration continued with expressions of gratitude for the many blessings of Thea House. Father Amadi thanked Wright, whose team assisted in locating, renovating and furnishing the new facility. He thanked St. Mary’s and St. Pius X parishes in Greensboro for donations and spiritual support over the years. And in honor of “Mama H.” Hairston, a new monstrance was blessed.
Thea House’s student president, Paula Wambui, hopes to increase the growth of Thea House by 50 percent through a mentoring program for younger students this year.
Student vice president Osinor Kakhu inspired guests, reminding them that at Thea House, everyone is called to follow in the footsteps of Sister Thea Bowman.
“It is her example that has contributed to my spiritual development as a lifelong member of the Catholic Church,” Kakhu said.
“Just as Sister Thea Bowman was an established leader who moved the hearts and minds of many, it is my responsibility to do likewise while also remembering that even outside of this house’s grounds, I must continue to represent this campus ministry as one who not only makes verbal references to the Gospel, but incorporates action along with my words.”
— Georgianna Penn, correspondent
Support their work
At catholiconcampus.com: Learn more about the Diocese of Charlotte’s Campus Ministry program and how you can support its work. Financial support for the Campus Ministry at Thea House can also be made by sending a check payable to “Thea House” to 131 N. Dudley St., Greensboro, NC 27401.