The phrase “Faith is alive!” is often used to describe the atmosphere of Encounter Bible studies, held every Wednesday morning at Cardinal Gibbons.

Behind the doors of the Spiritual Life Center, a hum of voices and laughter fill the room, as students and educators prepare to begin reading the upcoming Sunday gospel at the weekly Bible study. 

 This gathering is called Encounter, led by student leader and creator Bryce Fitzsimmons and Chaplain of Cardinal Gibbons, Fr. Luke Rawicki. It is a time when students and educators come together to encounter Christ through reading and conversing about scripture.

Fluctuating Freshman

In the fall of 2022, a new cycle of freshman students began at Gibbons. With these 400  new students also came a self-proclaimed “freshman” (Rawicki) who entered the world of Gibbons as the full-time chaplain.

With this new chaplain came ambitious goals of deepening the faith of the students around him. This led to the idea of holding a Bible study every Wednesday morning before school. 

“Very few students got involved, and I wasn’t sure why because it seemed so awesome,” said Rawicki, explaining the outcome of what he thought would be a groundbreaking experience for the school.

As Rawicki discussed with loyal Bible study attendee Bryce Fitzsimmons, he knew he needed to make a change.

“We always talked about creating a greater Bible study at Gibbons, but we never really knew. We were like, it’d be so cool, and Fr. Luke was finally like OK! How about this thing called Encounter?” said Fitzsimmons, recalling the first time he was introduced to Encounter and the lasting impact it had on him.

“Now you don’t have to say ‘Bible study’ – sounds boring –  you can say ‘Encounter.’ And then it’s like, ‘Oh, what’s Encounter?’” 

Rawicki said after the rebrand, not knowing these simple changes of title and structure would have such a positive effect on the Gibbons community.

Strategizing Sophomore

After a year of noticeable change, Fitzsimmons and Rawicki were dedicated to creating a welcoming and successful atmosphere where students could encounter Christ through scripture, but with a little twist.

“It’s a little different than a typical Bible study because you have a story at the end that relates to the gospel,” said Fitzsimmons.

With the idea up in the air, Fitzsimmons still didn’t know if this plan would follow through. 

“Fr. Luke asked me how I would feel if we started this every Wednesday morning, and I was, ‘Why not?’ and I didn’t actually know if it was gonna go through. Then a week later, he asked me if I was ready for Wednesday morning,” said Fitzsimmons.

The first week included a total of six people showing up and participating in the study, and this remained consistent throughout the continuation of the school year, with no one complaining. 

This group became a close-knit community, regardless of its size; the two creators were excited to get this show up and running.

Junior Jump

After a successful first year of the consistent Wednesday morning studies, Rawicki and Fitzsimmons were excited to get back into the rhythm of preparing, leading, and helping other students and educators to encounter Christ. 

Except this year, something was different. 

On the first Wednesday of the 2024-25 school year, students begin to flow into the spiritual life center. At 7:45 a.m., the room is packed, every chair filled with eager students ready to dive into the Word. 

“I am definitely surprised, but also not necessarily,” Rawicki said. “I’m inspired, but not a surprise because I know scripture is that awesome.”  

As the school year came to a close, the Encounter was far from over. Continuing into the summer, Encounters led by Mrs. Kathleen Kozak continued to welcome passionate students.

Souring Senior

With Fitzsimmons being in the home stretch at Gibbons, he still has the question of why aren’t more people coming to Encounter? 

“I’d say over half the school is Catholic, and I’m guessing three quarters Christian, and we still only have 100 people, why can’t we have 400, why can’t we have 800, at these Bible studies?” said Fitzsimmons.

Reminiscing on the growth Encounter has created, Fitzsimmons was asked how it made him feel to know that he has impacted the lives of so many students and educators simply by the act of invitation. 

“I think I haven’t done anything. I think it’s all God. He put me in this situation and has blessed me here at Gibbons,” Fitzsimmons said. 

As the two men who started it all humbly give all thanks to God for this amazing opportunity of reading scripture, one question still lingers as Fitzsimmons is set to graduate this spring: What does the future hold for Encounter?

Forging into the Future

“How can we reach more people who just don’t necessarily have a really strong relationship with God yet?” Rawicki said. 

With the ratio of 100 students to two leaders, an idea often discussed by Fitzsimmons and Rawicki is   the notion that multiple leaders would be able to reach more people. 

“We’ve talked about multiple leaders, younger ones and older ones, just so we can continue on that family,” said Fitzsimmons 

Reflecting on the past four years, Encounter has been active. 

The goals achieved are huge, with overflowing into the lobby on Wednesday mornings, to keeping the routine of Encounters all through the summer. Encounter and its leaders have truly changed more lives than they can think of, and many more to come in the future.

“Hopefully, we reach more people, and hopefully, we’ll see names on the list that sign up that we’ve never seen before; that’s the goal of Encounter,” said Rawicki.