Every other Thursday morning, students at Fairfield College Preparatory School, my alma mater, wake up early to volunteer at Blessed Sacrament Church in Bridgeport, Conn., delivering bags of food to families in need. More than 1,800 miles to the west, students from Arrupe Jesuit High School in Denver, Colo., regularly serve meals at a local homeless shelter, bringing joy to a community in need, according to their theology teacher. 

On paper, these two schools look very different; however, they are united by their Jesuit spirituality and commitment to service—something that recently has become strengthened through the AMDG program, run through Boston College’s Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies and a grant from Lilly Endowment.

Matthew Schweitzer, associate vice president for mission and ministry at Boston College, explained the inception of the program: “We saw that there was a huge need, a huge desire among young people for service.” 

I spoke to a few members of Fairfield Prep’s AMDG cohort; their enthusiasm for the program was palpable and their devotion to service and faith apparent. But what was more apparent was their devotion to each other. When one student wasn’t speaking as much, the others paused to make sure their friend had a moment to speak. A small interaction, yes, but one that showcases the type of growth AMDG is hoping to foster.

AMDG derives its name from the Jesuit motto “Ad majorem Dei gloriam,” meaning “for the greater glory of God.” On the choice of name, Mr. Schweitzer said: “St. Ignatius and everything he did was just all about helping souls…. I think at any given point he was asking himself, ‘What will help the greatest number of souls in the deepest way possible?”’ AMDG seeks to inspire that same drive in its participants. 

The program’s goals and purpose were described by Casey Beaumier, S.J., the Haub vice president for university mission and ministry at Boston College: “When we designed AMDG, our hope was to magnify Jesuit spirituality so that it might more readily come to the assistance of the service of faith. By inundating AMDG participants with beautiful Catholic practices, our hope is that our Catholic faith might become more and more the source from which we draw as we spend our lives in service of others.”

The program brings together 600 participants, aged 16 to 29, from 25 high schools, colleges and parishes in a yearlong faith exploration and service journey. It sponsors each student in full for three major milestones: Boston College’s already established Ever to Excel program, a summer program for current high school students; an in-person Ignatian retreat; and a 10-day excursion on the Camino Ignaciano in Spain during the summer. 

In between these larger events, each group meets weekly to continue their spiritual growth and commitment to service. AMDG staff members work directly with an adult “ambassador” chosen from each institution to provide resources and support to the groups. These meetings allow each institution’s experience to be different and tailored to the group’s specific needs and environment. Institutions are also assigned a “beadle,” a current Boston College student who mentors and supports the groups as they go on their individualized faith journeys.

Tom Tulp, a theology teacher at Fairfield Prep, discussed his school’s involvement: “AMDG has done a really good job of showing the beauty of the Catholic faith in a variety of ways, in ways that [the students] just experience it without a ton of strings attached.” (Full disclosure: My father also works as dean of mission at Fairfield Prep and is involved in the AMDG program.)

Mr. Tulp serves as his institution’s ambassador. He and his group of AMDG students from Fairfield Prep have committed themselves to service work at Blessed Sacrament every other week. Mr. Tulp also spoke about the program’s mission of bringing faith and service together: “We are walking this journey, this journey of life and this journey of faith together, and you can’t help but help those that are on the side of the road and in need on that pilgrimage.”

Sam Schelble is a theology teacher and ambassador from Arrupe Jesuit, the only Cristo Rey school in the program. Mr. Schelble explained the graces he had seen in his group at Arrupe Jesuit: “This yearlong opportunity…gives students a chance to go places they would not otherwise have a chance to go, to engage in spirituality and service over a course of a full year, and also to meet other students from this [Jesuit] network.” 

Will Healy and Evan Mansour, the program and assistant program directors for the AMDG program, described the graces and challenges of bringing such diverse groups together: “We’ve actually found there’s much to be gained by including different populations, because they’re learning from each other. They’re being inspired by one another, energized by one another.” 

Mr. Schelble echoed this sentiment, speaking about his group’s experience first arriving at Ever to Excel: “The program placed our students in a new environment—one that stretched them beyond their initial comfort zones spiritually and socially. Ultimately, this proved to be a grace, as many of them came away from Ever to Excel with deep and unexpected connections. On the last day, I remember many of our students having a hard time saying goodbye to their new friends as we prepared to return to our respective cities. That transformation was beautiful to witness.”

Mr. Schelble and Mr. Tulp both spoke about the positive impact they had seen in their students from the program. Both described the passion they continue to see in their students to get involved in more service and faith-based activities—and also expressed excitement for what is to come.

Preparations for walking part of the Camino Ignaciano (a pilgrimage route that traces the path St. Ignatius took from Loyola to Manresa in Spain after his conversion experience) this summer have already started. Students from groups have been tasked with preparing the rest of their cohorts for the Camino and for the physical and spiritual challenges the experience will undoubtedly include.

AMDG is in its pilot stage, and has been approved for two years thus far. Next year, the same ambassadors will put together a group of 15 students (five more than this first cohort). The AMDG staff along with the ambassadors will be working together to fine-tune the program for a more streamlined experience going forward, with hopes of continuing it beyond these first two years. 

AMDG highlights the strong desire in young people to find ways of connecting their faith to making a positive impact in their communities, a mission that is increasingly necessary in a divided world.

This article appears in February 2026.

William Gualtiere is an O'Hare Fellow at America.