Blackburn College is a private, coeducational, four-year liberal arts college located in Carlinville, IL which offers over 30 undergraduate degree programs and enrolls approximately 600 students each year.  Established in 1837, and named after Rev. Gideon Blackburn, a Presbyterian minister to Native Americans and founder of congregations and colleges in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois, it is one of seven colleges in the United States with a student work program, which is intended to keep the cost of education affordable for all students, while providing opportunities to build personal and professional skills.

   At the college, a collaborative chaplaincy is in place with pastors from the Carlinville area.  The Catholic chaplaincy is organized as a Newman Club, under the patronage of John Henry Cardinal Newman, whose 'canonization' as a saint is widely anticipated.

   Blackburn Newman Club members attend Sunday Mass at Ss. Mary and Joseph Church.  They meet at 9 pm on Thursday evenings on the Blackburn campus.  For more information, please contact Blackburn@ssmjc.org.