Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
By Jon Nyatawa
There was a summer day back in 2000 when Vivian Amu, then a Creighton student, spotted Institute for Priestly Formation seminarians heading toward St. John’s Church. She curiously followed them inside, observed their Mass and retreated quietly into a moment of prayer.
The next thing she knew, the church had emptied, and she was still sitting there.
“I remember feeling, ‘This is where I’m supposed to be,’” Amu said. “You walk into St. John’s, and you immediately feel prayer. You feel safe. Like being in God's arms.”
That was 20 years ago. She still feels the same way today.
It’s why Amu, BA’02, MS’19, has devoted the last two decades to serving students and alumni at St. John’s Church. Amu’s official job title is head sacristan, though her roles vary by the day.
She’s a caretaker, a godmother, an ambassador, a counselor, a friend, a funny church lady…
“I've felt solidarity with everybody else who comes in,” Amu said. “Most of the time, people are here because something is weighing them down. I don’t know their name, I don’t know their story. But I understand them. I think, yes, this is another person who’s like me.”
Over time, as she prayed and served inside St. John’s, a sense of purpose crystalized for Amu. She often presumes that a similar spiritual experience could be awaiting others. And Amu is always looking for ways to help.
No, you cannot move the altar
As one of the church’s four wedding coordinators, Amu gladly chaperones countless brides- and grooms-to-be through their last-minute (sometimes stressful) planning efforts.
Every wedding is different. One couple’s friend was a professional vocalist, so she sang from the balcony. A former Creighton basketball player had 600 people at his wedding. Bicycling down the aisle has happened. Feathers instead of floral bouquets, too.
“It’s just such a privilege to be part of one of the most important days of people’s lives,” Amu said. Then she laughed. “But every now and then, you do have to remind them that this is a church. They’ll say something like, ‘Well, can we just move that big table over there? It's getting in the way of the pictures.’ I'm like, ‘You mean the altar? No, we cannot move that.’”
Merging mind, heart and soul
Amu assists with baptisms as well, and she’s more than willing to sit with anxious first-time parents to answer questions or help firm up details.
She’ll patiently assist students serving in Liturgical roles to ensure they’re properly and meticulously arranging the vessels and vestments for Mass.
She’s a self-taught videographer now. Because someone had to figure out how to troubleshoot with a camera and Zoom to make online broadcasts available for Mass.
She’s also offered a listening ear to discouraged students who’ve plopped down on a pew looking for answers and direction. Maybe it was a bad break-up or a challenging exam. Sometimes she’ll share stories, and tears. One student told Amu about daunting financial troubles, so they brainstormed together, browsed the internet and eventually found a potential scholarship option.
“I like any situation that merges mind, heart, and soul. That's what being in this space does. Everything is working in unison,” Amu said. “And when you interact with other people, and you can help them reflect and reorient, you find direction and answers for yourself as a result.”
‘That’s Vivian, she’s always here’
Not so long ago, Amu was a quiet student from Nigeria, struggling to find her place on Creighton’s campus as she made cultural and social adjustments. St. John’s always centered her, grounded her.
When graduation approached, she got nervous about her next move. So, she started out just helping set up for Mass. Her role soon evolved. Now she’s essential to the daily operations at St. John’s. She’s worked with five different priests and helped steward five generations of students.
Amu’s also enrolled in Creighton’s Doctoral Program in Interdisciplinary Leadership (EdD). She was inducted in 2022 into Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society of Jesuit universities. Later this year, she hopes to defend her dissertation. Not surprisingly, she’s done her best work as a researcher and writer while inside St. John’s.
That’s usually where you’ll find her. At all hours of the day.
There was one night that sticks out. It was late, probably a little past midnight. Two Creighton public safety officers were patrolling the quiet campus and as they walked around St. John’s Church, they noticed light emanating from a basement window.
Who would still be working at this hour? One of the officers knew right away.
“Oh, that’s Vivian, she’s always here.”
Amu, sitting at her desk right then, peaked out the office window as she overheard. She couldn’t help but smile. It’s one of the best compliments Amu’s received.
“This church, with over a hundred years of prayer, Mass, funerals and weddings and baptisms and everything else that has happened here, when you walk into that space, you can immediately feel it,” Amu said. “This is not just a building. It’s alive in some way. And it’s always drawing me back.”
***
Are you interested in learning more about strengthening your relationship with God and with your spouse? Join Father Larry Gillick, SJ, and Father Greg Carlson, SJ, for the "Marriage as Prayer" couples retreat April 12-14 at the St. Benedict Center in Schuyler, Neb. Find out more information.
