Student Ministry
Whether you as a student are looking for a place to explore Christianity or for a spiritual home in which you can be intellectually challenged and deepen your devotional life, in MCC you'll find a diverse community of all ages, many who will be on similar paths to your own. Students at MCC are not just younger people who look undernourished and over-tired! They participate fully in the life and leadership of the community, serving in all aspects of our church from worship to mission, from teaching to youth work. Every year students come from all over Ireland and indeed all over the world to study at Maynooth. Here is a sampling of what some of them have had to say about their experience worshipping at MCC:
"I moved to Ireland without knowing a soul who lived there. - Jeff Benedict, Law student at Vanderbilt University.
- Adam Guy, PhD student in biology at NUI Maynooth
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Maynooth is a town that is deeply enriched by the presence of the large student population studying at the beautiful NUIM and St. Patrick's campuses. MCC seeks to be a community that is open and welcoming to the students in the town. A member of our staff, Kevin Hargaden is the official chaplain to Presbyterian students on campus but is available to meet with or pastorally care for students from any and all backgrounds.
However, within four hours of stepping foot in the country, I was miraculously enjoying the hospitality of an MCC family at their home, drinking tea and making friends. These friends would become like family during the course of the rest of my year living in Ireland. The love for God is vibrant at MCC--as well as His love for them. This reflects upon the people they love as a result--the poor, the outcasts, the widows, and in my case, the lowly immigrant. I finished my Masters' program at NUI Maynooth and returned back to my home country afterward to study law, but these last three years have proved that MCC is still family, even at this geographical distance. I look forward to the day when He closes that distance for good, and to His Glory. I thank God for this church."
"I was introduced to MCC by student friends, and quickly became immersed within a congregation full of warmth, faith, support, goodness and hope. The church is a wonderful community of fellowship, worship, prayer and preaching, where everyone knows, mixes with, and cares for one another, regardless of age, country of origin and spiritual background. And since everyone is welcome to become involved in the running of the church, where you can identify and use your individual gifts, you really can see how you can help make a difference for people to enjoy God's presence together even more." 