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June 30, 2021Fr. Dustin Larson ’10 ’11 began his first assignment as a priest at his alma mater. The Michigan Tech computer science and mathematics graduate served as the associate pastor at St. Al’s from 2018-2020.
“Having first been a student at Tech and then going to seminary, then coming back, it was definitely a blessing to be able to jump right in because there were many elements of Tech's culture that I was already familiar with.”
From celebrating baptisms and confirmations to serving and praying with the students, Fr. Dustin says he was blessed to walk with so many on their faith journey and see the possibilities in a vibrant campus ministry.
In July 2020, he began his new assignment at Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM) at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.
“At St. Al’s, I had a good opportunity simply to figure out what it meant to be a priest,” he says. “It also gave me a solid vision of what is possible in a campus ministry. Having seen so much, it helped me discern and cast a wide-reaching vision at CCM, a vision much broader than I would have imagined otherwise.”
While Fr. Dustin had been praying for a FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) missionary team to eventually join CCM, he was surprised in December 2020 when he learned a team would be coming to work with the students, just three short weeks after having received the news. Having learned about the FOCUS model and worked with missionaries at St. Al’s, he says he had a good foundation to prepare for the team coming to CCM.
He and the FOCUS team went to work by inviting students to attend FOCUS’ SEEK21 conference in a virtual format. More than 20 came and were eager to learn more about what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
“I have seen what is possible at St. Al’s and what happens when people are invited to take deeper steps in their relationship with Jesus Christ and become more Christ-centered. I knew the students at NMU were ready for what FOCUS had to offer.”
He is also excited about more space at NMU including a Chapel and rooms to gather for meetings, Bible studies, fellowship, and more.
“Serving at St. Al’s and seeing a thriving campus ministry in action gave me new eyes to see how we can transform and evangelize at Northern in a way that hasn’t been done before. I’m looking forward to everything that God has in store!”
