Ascend is a group of around 150 men at the University of Notre Dame whose mission is to free men from the sins of lust–primarily pornography and masturbation–through prayer, accountability, and brotherhood. This group is relatively new, but over 200 students have been involved over just two semesters. Ascend is built on a model of small group accountability–with four members to a group with one leader. Each group member has an accountability partner within the group, with whom they check in daily, and the leaders have accountability partners amongst themselves. Each of the 25 (as of now) small groups in Ascend meets once per week. The small groups discuss progress and setbacks in living out chastity each week, in addition to reviewing weekly readings from Jason Evert’s book Forged. This book has been the model on which we have furthered our ministry.
Ascend is partnering with Campus Ministries at Notre Dame to further our mission and support with the university, and we have a board of 6 undergraduate students dedicated to our mission who meet weekly. We are in the midst of planning monthly events for next year to build brotherhood and excitement behind the movement. One of our goals is to expand to Holy Cross College, which is across the street from Notre Dame. We rely heavily on Jason Evert’s materials (Forged books primarily, among other resources) but right now we don’t have the resources to keep up with demand. We would appreciate any assistance for these materials to further our mission. Thank you!
