Agape Latte Introduces Weekly Student Group

Agape Latte is a faith group well-known at Boston College for its monthly gatherings, where caffeinated beverages flow like water and various faculty speakers probe core faith questions. Now, the spirit of Agape Latte will be available to students every Tuesday at the Heffernan House (110 College Road) at 7 pm. Students will watch a clip from a previous Agape Latte talk and then engage in small-group discussions about their faith journeys, where they find God in their lives, and more. Of course, pizza and other treats will be provided as well.

“We wanted to bring in something to create even more of an Agape Latte community,” says Eileen Corkery, MCAS ‘17, the current Resident Minister of the Newton Campus and organizer of the weekly meetings (and former writer for The Torch). She hopes that the smaller group aspect of the Tuesday sessions will spur curious, open conversations about faith. 

According to Corkery, The Church in the 21st Century Center (C21) started Agape Latte over a decade ago to “show how to enact faith in 21st-century life.” C21 hopes to provide students of all backgrounds with a place to meet fellow students interested in discussing questions of faith and spirituality. 

The monthly Agape Latte format has been an excellent success for C21, sparking conversations about deep topics between students. Agape Latte has also been a success for many other schools, spreading to over 50 college and high school campuses nationwide. 

The openness of the Agape Latte community is one of its defining features. The main goal of Agape Latte is to cultivate conversations about the questions each student has in their individual spiritual lives. There are no expectations of belief to participate in the weekly discussions, and people of all viewpoints should feel welcome to be a part of the community.

“[Agape Latte] is about questioning deep faith questions, and the power of storytelling in finding God in our everyday lives,” Eileen Corkery said.

This new weekly format will supplement the existing monthly Agape Latte talks. The first monthly Agape Latte talk was held during Espresso Your Faith Week on Tuesday, September 27, at 7 pm at Hillside Cafe. Julia Devoy, the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students and Programs at the Lynch School, gave the talk. In addition to plentiful desserts, coffee, and musical guests, there were also giveaway prizes.

The excitement among students who enjoy the Agape Latte monthly talks is building for the new weekly programming. One of these students is CC Fleming, MCAS ‘25, who said she is looking forward to a community focused on “noticing how God has worked in our lives throughout the week.” 

With a standard BC schedule of classes, clubs, and study sessions, many students find it challenging to find time to take a moment to ponder some of the questions central to their spiritual journeys. However, if they show up at the Heffernan House at 7 pm on Tuesdays, they will have a perfect opportunity to do just that.

Featured image courtesy of the Agape Latte Twitter