By Keturah Tobias
Features Editor
When Bethany Moffett became Catholic, she realized that living out her faith on campus meant actively creating the community she was searching for.
Moffett, a junior, and her friend, Joey Greenstreet, a sophomore and Trevecca baseball player, met through a missionary at University Catholic after Greenstreet asked if Moffet wanted to attend weekly mass with others from Trevecca.
For the first time in university history, Trevecca now has an official catholic discipleship group on campus. It’s a group that strives to build and connect with students on campus that are part of or interested in the Catholic fatih. In the fall of 2025 around 130 students at Trevecca identified as Catholic, according to the 2025 TNU factbook.
University Catholic, or UCat, is an official Roman Catholic campus ministry for the Diocese of Nashville. It currently serves students at Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, and Lipscomb University. Trevecca students can participate in diosean-wide events with other Catholic students at neighboring universities.
“I feel that it is a beautiful thing, and it’s great that there’s a Catholic presence on campus, and I think it can be very beneficial for a campus with a ton of Christians,” said Greenstreet.
About 10 students are attending the weekly Monday night meetings. The meetings consist of covering brief introductions, icebreakers, testimonies and brainstorming event ideas people would want to be part of. Other discussions at the meeting included common beliefs between Nazarene and Catholicism, a moment of prayer with students, and answering questions about the Catholic faith.
“It’s so great to have someone like Joey lead our group,” said Moffett.
Moffett hasn’t always been Catholic. She came from an Anglican background, and her boyfriend introduced her to Catholicism for the first time. She decided to convert to Catholicism after attending many masses.
Moffet and Greenstreet attended UCat meetings weekly in Nashville. Greenstreet then presented the idea of starting a small study group for Catholic students on campus. The main goal of the discipleship is to grow and welcome students that are also interested in Catholicism. The two then approached Erik Gernand, university chaplain, about starting a Catholic discipleship program on campus.
Moffet and Greenstreet are both co-leaders for University Catholic at Trevecca.
“Discipleship groups are sort of Christian formation groups that are hosted in cooperation with the Office of the Chaplain, Spiritual Life Office,” said Gernand. “And those change every semester, depending on what student leaders want to do.
Gernand recalls many Catholic and Orthodox priests who have led chapel services and offered a different perspective, while encouraging Christian unity wherever possible.
“We have had several years of work with the University Catholic. They have always been super gracious and wonderful partners. They have come to our church fair every year,” said Gernand.
Moffat, Gernand, and Greenstreet want to encourage students with questions about Catholicism to attend a meeting.
“We would love to come alongside you, resource you, support you, and help encourage the intentional Christian community on campus,” said Gernand.
The group has an Instagram account @tnucatholic.
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