“It’s the most goated club on campus.” 

These words, spoken by Mr. Lawrence Simon ’13, refer to the club he founded: the Pizza and Prayer Club. Created in 2023 to get students to engage in more prayer, the club creates a relaxed environment for students to converse about their religion with like-minded peers. 

“The Pizza and Prayer Club isn’t meant to be everyone speaking about prayer at the deepest level and showing off religion to each other,” Mr. Simon said. “It’s not the vibe. We’re just chill people who like pizza, praying and gathering as a small community of Jesuit students in the middle of our week, and being grateful for our lives and bringing that to God.”

The club is a nice break from the hubbub of the day. It gives students a chance to relax and dedicate some time to God with others. 

“It gives a place to practice prayer,” said Owen Groves ’26. “It lets you connect with God for just 20 minutes a day, which is healthy for anyone.”

This idea resonates with Sean Broderick ’26, who uses the time to reflect on his life as a Catholic. 

“When we’re praying, it helps you reflect on yourself as a Catholic person, helps you think deeply about yourself and what you’ve done, how you can be improved on yourself,” Sean said.

Mr. Simon created the club after recognizing the value of religion for young people. He wanted to create an environment for students to explore faith in a safe place. 

“I recognize the value that religion had on me when I was [a student at] Jesuit,” Mr. Simon said. “I had a foundation faith-wise. I wondered what I could contribute to that? Maybe not much, but at the very least, I can hold a space where we have something more concrete on campus.”

The appeal of the Prayer and Pizza club is simple: the pizza is free, and the prayer only costs an openness to God.

“Free pizza and free prayer,” Owen said. “It’s a great deal.”

The club meets on Wednesdays during lunch and is open to everyone, regardless of religion or pizza preference. The code for the google classroom is “wxti7gg.”