Theology Day 2021-22

Theology Day 2021-22

BENEDICTINE ROOTS IN AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD Greetings!

We are so pleased you will be able to join us for the upcoming Theology Day webinar.

Please find enclosed a few documents introducing you to Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary and describing how you can become involved with our mission. There is a link below if you wish to support the school and our Theology Day program. Please consider supporting us today!

Until then, we trust you will enjoy the webinar and look forward to being with you soon.

Grace Ellens Development Director

Webinar questions? Contact us at 320-363-3560 or theologyday@csbsju.edu

PRINT THESE INSTRUCTIONS How to JOIN the webinar: 

Downloading the Zoom Cloud Meetings app or the Zoom client to your viewing device is required to join. We recommend doing this ahead of time. Go to https://zoom.us/download

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Click the link to the Zoom webinar provided in the email from theologyday@csbsju.edu.

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If Zoom asks to access the camera or audio, click “OK”

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When prompted, enter your Name and Email Address—click Join Webinar— you will then be connected to the webinar.

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“Waiting for the host to start the webinar” means you have joined ahead of us and we will be starting the webinar shortly.

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First time? Join the webinar several minutes before start time and become familiar with the tips

To ask a question: 1. Type your question into the Q&A box.

Click Send.

Note: Check Send Anonymously if you do not want your name attached to your question in the Q&A.

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2. If the host replies via the Q&A, you will see a reply in the Q&A window.

3. The host can also answer your question live (out loud). You will see a notification in the Q&A window if the host plans to do

As an attendee you can also like or comment on other attendee’s questions. This helps the host or participant identify popular questions, especially in a webinar with many attendees.

4. Click the thumbs up icon to like a comment.

Tip: The number beside the icon is the total number of likes the question has received so far.

The more upvotes, the higher up the question will move to be addressed.

5. Click Comment to write a reply to an existing question.

6. Type your comment and click Send.

Your comment will appear beneath the question.

Tips: Make sure your volume is on and turned all the way up at first (ear buds are recommended if there will be noise around you or you don’t want to disturb others). 

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All participants are MUTED during the webinar.

You can leave the webinar at any time – click the red “Leave” button – you can rejoin if the webinar is still in progress by clicking the webinar link provided in the email again.

Question & Answer: Open the Q&A window, allowing you to ask questions to the host and panelists.

They can either reply back to you via text in the Q&A window or answer your question live.

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Click on the Q&A icon at the bottom of the webinar screen to submit a question.

Questions?

320-363-3560

or theologyday@csbsju.edu

Theology Day

BENEDICTINE ROOTS IN AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD

Panentheism: A Way of Seeing God’s Presence in the World - Noreen Herzfeld, Ph.D. Sep. 10 Oct. 22 Nov. 11

-9 a.m.

-9 a.m.

-6:30 p.m.

-Emmaus Hall, SJU (Synchronous) -Emmaus Hall, SJU (Synchronous) -St. Joseph the Worker, Maple Grove

Exploring the Journey of Becoming: A Look at the Relationship of Faith and Imagination - Lawrence Fraher, Ph.D. Sep. 17 Feb. 10

-10:00 a.m.

-6:30 p.m.

-Webinar (Live) -Webinar (Live)

Truth-telling, Testimony, and Prophecy: Hearing and Bearing Witness to God’s Active Presence in Our Lives in a Secular Age - Fr. Dale Launderville, OSB Sep. 23 Nov. 5 Dec. 10

-6:30 p.m.

-9 a.m.

-9 a.m.

-Church of Saint Mary, Alexandria -Emmaus Hall, SJU (Synchronous) -Emmaus Hall, SJU (Synchronous)

Theologies of Disability and Aging: Becoming a Vulnerable Communion - Audrey Seah, Ph.D. Oct. 30 Apr. 30

-9:00 a.m.

-9:00 a.m.

-Webinar (Live) -Webinar (Live)

The Garden of Eden and the Human Condition: Nostalgia or Anticipation?

- Fr. Michael Patella, OSB Jan. 14 Feb. 24 Mar. 4

-9 a.m.

-6:30 p.m.

-9 a.m.

-Emmaus Hall, SJU (Synchronous) -Church of Saint Mary, Alexandria -Emmaus Hall, SJU (Synchronous)

Apples and Oranges?: An Interreligious Approach to Loving God and Neighbor - Christopher Conway, Ph.D. Jan. 20 Feb. 18 Mar. 10 Apr. 22

-6:30 p.m.

-9 a.m.

-6:30 p.m.

-9 a.m.

-Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis -Emmaus Hall, SJU (Synchronous) -St. Joseph the Worker, Maple Grove -Emmaus Hall, SJU (Synchronous)

Registration is required: www.collegevilleMN.com/theologyday or call 320-363-3560 There is no cost for attending Theology Day. Start time indicates when presentations begin; in-person check-in is 30 minutes prior, webinar and synchronous access opens about 15 minutes prior.

Watch our website for current dates and locations, including out-of-state (NE, FL, AZ) locations.

Transforming Lives | Changing the World

Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary

Ancient Sacramental Tradition in the 21st Century Theology has changed, generations have changed, society has changed, and we have to build upon and reflect upon a new sacramental sensitivity on an ancient sacramental tradition. Students training here today will be training future generations that will take us into the next century. Think about this for a minute! ... We need to provide the type of community that can carry over to the sacramental life of the church for many years, years beyond our lifetime.

A building designed for this purpose will form a student experience with a training ground for knowing the challenges and best practices for building community life, the source for a thriving church. Faculty and student imaginations will soar with bigger and better ways to live in this world and tie it to God. Every great undertaking in the Church begins with the imagination. This renovation is no different. This new space will keep the imagination alive to see the ways God is dealing with this world.

“We form our spaces, and our spaces form us. When we have a chapel that reflects who we are as Benedictine, Catholic, ecumenical in the 21st century. I believe it will form all of us for our mission. It will focus all of the studies we do in the classroom, and it will energize us for all the work we do as Christians and disciples after and outside the liturgy.”

- Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB ‘93 Associate Professor

www.collegevilleMN.com

Emmaus Hall - Transformed

Giving Opportunities $75,000 Opening of the Eyes Fund portions of a space where renovations will spark imagination and build Christian community for years to come.

$30,000 - $100,000* Opening of the Mind Fund a classroom, group study room, or study carrel to provide space for theological reflection, discussion, and more.

$250,000 + Opening of the Heart Fund community spaces supporting the liturgy, study, and community life central to student formation.

The School of Theology and Seminary offers the excellent education and formation our students and communities need. *naming opportunities start at $50,000

The need for Transformation We believe students take this formational walk at a place that integrates academic studies with the Catholic Benedictine daily rhythms of prayer and work. Scripture, spirituality, and liturgy have an integral role in shaping each person. As the lakes and woods around Saint John’s are ever-changing through God’s beautiful creation, we hear God’s calling to create a more nurturing and welcoming building in Emmaus Hall.

One of the most respected graduate programs in North America, the Graduate School of Theology and Seminary at Saint John’s is committed to the sacredness of each person. It prepares students professionally and intellectually for the important work they will do in the world, but it also emphasizes who each is called to be - a disciple, an ordained or lay minister, a teacher, or a scholar. At this graduate school, teachers and students seek truth and wisdom with hope and mindful compassion.

Renew and transform spaces for worship, for learning, for living, and for building Christian community. We invite you to walk with us along the road to Emmaus as we more closely mirror our vision for vibrant faith communities everywhere.

TRANSFORMING LIVES

CHANGING THE WORLD

A Graduate School of Theology and Seminary initiative for financial assistance

Transforming Lives | Changing the World

Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary

Saint John’s is “the principal agent for the renewal and the reform of liturgy, of liturgical art, and of sacred music, with consequences that are evident, since the Second Vatican Council, in every Roman Catholic parish in the world.”

- Jaroslav Pelikan

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING WORLD-CLASS FACULTY “With the world-class scholars at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, the monks continue to fulfill their mission. To ensure a strong faculty, Saint John’s stands with all great universities in its reliance on endowed professorships. These professorships at the School of Theology and Seminary will guarantee that the sacred gift of our theological tradition passes onto succeeding generations.”

In his book, Jesus Through the Centuries, Jaroslav Pelikan, Sterling Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University explains that for over 1,500 years the mission of Benedictine monasticism is “not to value anything more highly than the love of Christ.”

He concludes that Saint John’s has carried out this mission as “the principal agent for the renewal and the reform of the liturgy, of liturgical art, and of sacred music, with consequences that are evident, since the Second Vatican Council, in every Roman Catholic parish in the world” (p. 121).

From its founding over 165 years ago, education on behalf of the Church has been a primary ministry of Saint John’s. Its dedication to scholarship at that moment has today placed Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary (SOT/Sem) at the forefront of the renewal both leading to and stemming from Vatican II. Primary among its scholars were Benedictines Virgil Michel and Godfrey Diekmann, who set the standard for the practical application of theological scholarship across all church denominations in the latter half of the twentieth century. They renewed Church Tradition with a vibrancy that has always been part of Saint John’s vision, and we are dedicated to continuing their legacy.

A peritus or expert at the Second Vatican Council, Father Godfrey Diekmann was a member of the pontifical commission tasked with writing the Church’s liturgical constitution, Sacrosanctum Concilium. His expertise and expansive vision marked the research he produced and molded the students and seminarians he instructed.

He once said, “Christianity, by the power of the Spirit within her, has both the power, and the obligation, of repeated rejuvenation”. Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary intends to continue petitioning the Spirit’s power so that we can help the Church fulfill her obligation to bring about such rejuvenation. Professorships are essential to carrying out this great task.

Giving Opportunities $30,000 Faculty Research Fund Empower faculty to share their research through classroom instruction, Theology Days, books, and professional development.

$50,000 Seed an Endowed Professorship Fund

Professorships

Inspire others to join in support of professors and attract world renowned teachers to educate our students.

Through endowed professorships, the great universities of the world have established their superior standing by ensuring that the interest, energy, and dynamism, which have produced distinguished records of teaching, research, and publication of previous generations of scholars carries over to the next. For Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary to maintain a superb faculty, it needs the ability to honor and retain its most esteemed professors while recruiting into its ranks others with exceptional records of achievement. We seek to secure for the remainder of the twenty-first century and beyond both our mission and vision of service to the Church, a service marked by excellence in scholarship and ministry. The Virgil Michel Ecumenical Chair has upheld this record for over forty years. We now look to establish one or more professorships to support the Collegeville Core* and further our commitment to excellence.

Research opportunities and professorships are ways colleges and universities recruit and retain key faculty, improve teaching, and raise the stature and visibility of the institution in the academic marketplace. Please help us provide the expertise and vision generated by the Spirit’s power so the Church may foster the rejuvenation mandated by the Second Vatican Council. Help inspire lives through your financial support of education in the Catholic Benedictine tradition of Saint John’s. *The Collegeville Core describes the distinct learning dynamic our Master Degree programs grounded in the study of Scripture, Doctrine, Liturgy, History of Christian History, Monastic Studies, Spirituality. The process of integrating mind and heart requires listening carefully to the voices of those teachers and witnesses who have shaped the mission and vision of the Church through the centuries. The education of the whole person forms and emboldens students to become leaders in their Christian community.

TRANSFORMING LIVES

CHANGING THE WORLD

A Graduate School of Theology and Seminary initiative for financial aid

$100,000 Endowed Faculty Research Fund Establish a named research fund with a minimum gift of $100,000 paid over five years or through a planned gift.

$750,000 Partial Endowed Professorship Fund Name an endowed fund that will sustain covering a professor’s salary or sabbatical for one semester.

$1,500,000 Fully Endowed Professorship Fund Secure highly skilled faculty who regularly publish scholarship that advances theological knowledge and spiritual understanding. Such faculty give public presentations at conferences and events. They mentor students with attention to holistic growth and compassionate service toward the needy. This endowed professorship will fund for a faculty member on an annual basis in perpetuity. It is a powerful means for recruiting and sustaining a world class faculty.

1,000+ Learners Faculty engage students and members of the greater community in theological education annually.

Transforming Lives | Changing the World

Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary

A Lifetime of Learning

Recent Theology Day Topics: • The Journey of Loss and Grief • What Mass Means: How Sacrifice and Real Presence Are Life-Changing • Immigration: Moving from Political Rhetoric to the Moral Discourse of Pope Francis.

• Being Church in a Secular Age • Love and Tenderness in Action: The Vision of Pope Francis • Global Warming: A Prophetic View of Collective Responsibility

I Support Theology Day because ...

• “Thank you for presenting new facts and new ideas that I was not aware of.”

• “I now have a better understanding of the overall [immigration] reform needed and am encouraged [the ideas presented] remain true to the gospel teachings.”

• “You are very knowledgeable and have simulated my desire to learn more.”

The Graduate School of Theology and Seminary cultivates in its graduates a yearning for the wisdom of the Christian tradition that they may assist others to encounter Christ in meaningful ways. Theology Days offer the experience of this work outside the classroom. Professors share their research and experiences with members of the larger community in a safe environment where everyone is welcome to come learn, discuss, and discern the truth of their own theological views on long debated and hot topics.

To love Wisdom and Truth is to strive for communion with God. This daily pursuit is made clearer and brighter by the dialogue attained through Theology Days as we carry out our mission to provide soul-nurturing experiences integrated with Benedictine values inspiring a contemplative environment for personal growth.

These events are just a taste of how our alumni aid communities in pursuing truth and wisdom to live their daily lives and are made free through our annual fund.

The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

James 3:17

Giving Opportunities

Theology Day

Pursuing Truth and Wisdom Together

$2,500 Theology For A Day Provide great theological engagement for a community for a single presentation.

$5,000 Theology Day Elsewhere Spread the gospel by covering travel and advertising expenses for a year.

$300,000 Theology Day Endowed Establish an endowed fund that ensures these presentations continue as a legacy for your family, friends, and community.

The need for Annual Fund We believe communities benefit from our professor’s research, our diverse student body and ecumenical dialogue with each other.

RIGOROUS. REVERED. RESPECTED. Graduate students at Saint John’s University Graduate School of Theology and Seminary study under some of the academia’s foremost theologians, earning advanced degrees that are highly regarded worldwide. Indeed, scholars from across the globe visit Collegeville to conduct research in the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library and study in Alcuin Library, home to the second largest collection of theological books in the United States. Within the Benedictine understanding, we become who we are in relationship with others. Here we encounter authenticity, unconditional love, mercy and forgiveness. Students and community members come to learn together in this rich and inspired context and go on to become better professors, priests, lay minsters, chaplains, deacons, spiritual directors, mentors, parents, and servants of Christ’s mission in many other ways.

For more information about how you can help support the annual fund at the Graduate School of Theology and Seminary and find out when the next Theology Day is near you, please go to www.collegevilleMN.com or contact:

TRANSFORMING LIVES

CHANGING THE WORLD

A Graduate School of Theology and Seminary initiative for financial aid

Any Amount Annual Giving Gifts to the Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary Annual Fund are used for financial aid, scholarships, programing and the important work of general operations in order to offer the excellent education and formation our students and communities need.

20-25 Number of Theology Days a year

1500 Average annual attendance of Theology Days

Theology Days are the result of faculty research.

Research opportunities and professorships are ways colleges and universities recruit and retain key faculty, improve teaching, and raise the stature and visibility of the institution in the academic marketplace. Help inspire them through your financial support of Catholic Benedictine teaching.

Transforming Lives | Changing the World

Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary

“Our students are preparing to be leaders in communities of faith, to help people live lives of faithful discipleship in the modern world. At the heart of that work is good theology. I strive to help students learn from wise women and men, past and present, who have sought to make Christian faith meaningful in their lives and their worlds so our graduates might do the same today.”

- William J. Cahoy, Dean Emeritus Professor of Theology

“Because of the diverse student body, we are able to experience the global church right in our classroom. . . It’s a gift to be able to take what I am learning in my classes and take these valuable teachings around. . . with energy and passion. This wouldn’t be possible without help from generous donors.”

Jessie Bazan ‘17 Jessie came to us from Marquette University, Wisconsin. Jessie's leadership in the liturgy offered to students through her work in Campus Ministry is quite profound. Most recently, she explains the use of a liturgy to help those dealing with grief on a college campus. Insight to her work can be read in the article, “A space to heal" written by Jessie for the U.S. Catholic magazine (July 2016).

To read more of Jessie Bazan's story, visit www.collegvilleMN.com

Christian Communities Need Theologically Sound Leaders Across the globe there is a great need for church leaders who can articulate a dynamic vision of the faith grounded in the ancestral tradition. Our Graduate School of Theology and Seminary cultivates in its students, faculty, and staff a yearning for the wisdom of the Christian tradition and pursuit of truth. Listening carefully to sacred texts, asking searching questions of what our ancestors in the faith understood about God, participating in the tried and true worship practices of the past two millennia, praying the psalms and reading the spiritual classics—these practices help us remain in conversation with God and position our students to be heralds of the Gospel and servant-leaders of Christian communities. Contemporary Christians are yearning for encounters with Christ and are not satisfied with mere ideas about God or information about God’s Law. Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary educates and forms students for life as professionals, ministers and Christian disciples by integrating world class academics, Benedictine practices and a spiritual community in a contemplative environment.

Giving Opportunities $50,000 Endowed Scholarship Fund Donors may established a named endowed scholarship fund with a minimum gift of $50,000 which can be paid over five years or through an estate gift.

$300,000 Full Tuition Endowed Scholarship Fund Establish an endowed fund that will cover full tuition of one student each year.

Any Amount Annual Giving

The need for Scholarships We believe our alumni do great things upon receipt of an education at our school. Graduates touch lives as a professor, a chaplain, a Senior National Associate for Roman Catholic Engagement, as the Director of Bread for the World, as a doctor, and even a producer, director, and host of Salt and Light Catholic Media. Take Gabriel Joseph Ssenkindo ‘99 (above) for example.

Gabriel has taken on many different roles for Christ the King Priory in TororoUganda. He credits the SOT/Sem for educating and forming him to minister and serve anywhere and in any situation he encounters, includng COVID-19.

Finances should not cripple those in ministry from doing the wonderful work God has called them to do. Ministering families likely have one parent working full-time simply to provide medical insurance. When the bill comes for earning a master’s degree, where will financial support come from? Remove the simple obstacle and wondrous things can happen.

For more information about how you can help support scholarships at the Graduate School of Theology and Seminary and read more of Gabriel’s story and others, please go to www.collegevilleMN.com:

TRANSFORMING LIVES

CHANGING THE WORLD

A Graduate School of Theology and Seminary initiative for financial aid

Gifts to the Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary Annual Fund are used for financial aid, scholarships, programing and the important work of general operations in order to offer the excellent education and formation our students and communities need.

$30,000 - $75,000 Annual Cost of Attendance Per Student (2 year M.A. vs. 3 year M.Div)

$11,200 Average Full-Time Student Scholarship Award

98 Lay and Ecclesial Student Population

100% Full-Time Lay Students Receiving Aid

Concern over financial aid is the number one reason top candidate students truly seeking God’s will do not attend Saint John’s or do not attend full-time.

Knowing they are entering fields where salaries do not allow for financial freedom let alone support a family, students seek schools that will support them in all aspects of following God’s will. Help call forth their gifts through your financial support of a Catholic Benedictine education.

Transforming Lives | Changing the World

Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary

The Impact of Planned Giving Contemporary Christians are yearning for encounters with Christ and are not satisfied with mere ideas about God or information about God’s Law. Across the globe there is a great need for church leaders who can articulate a dynamic vision of the faith grounded in the ancestral tradition. The Graduate School of Theology and Seminary cultivates in its graduates a yearning for the pursuit of truth the wisdom of the Christian tradition that they may assist others to encounter Christ in meaningful ways.

Plan a legacy with a lasting impact today at no cost to you during your lifetime.

Much like our graduates, living God’s call to be a good steward and expanding God’s kingdom while caring for your family, you may not have immediate finances to help others you wish to help. Fear not, there is a way through planned giving.

It’s simple!

Benefits of Planned Giving • Stewardship - It is for anyone concerned with the wise use of his or her personal resources.

• Flexibility - You can change your mind at any time.

• Versatility - You can structure the gift to leave a specific item or amount of money, make a gift contingent on certain events, or leave a percentage of your estate as a gift.

• Tax Relief - If your estate is subject to estate tax, your gift is entitled to an estate tax charitable deduction for the gift’s full value.

Share this sample bequest language for Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary with your estate planning attorney: “I, [name], of [city, state ZIP], give, devise and bequeath to Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property] for its unrestricted use and purpose.”

All that we are, all that we have, comes from God . . .

Gifts you make after your lifetime

Will

The ability to make a significant gift in the future

provision

Life

insurance

Make a large gift at little or no cost to yourself by naming SOT/Sem as beneficiary

Retirement plan assets

. . . and will one day return to God.

Avoid the twofold taxation on retirement plan assets

Gifts you make in partnership with us

Gift Annuity

Fixed supplement income for you and loved ones while living

The need for Planned Giving Planned gifts are a great way to support something you love after a lifetime of caring for your loved ones.

Leave a legacy to educate theologically grounded and pastorally discerning leaders skilled at drawing forth the gifts of faith communities. Continue building and strengthening the church beyond your glorious departure from this earth for you loved ones and friends remaining.

remainder

Trust Lead Trust

Another source of income while investing in God’s work

Reduce estate taxes on assets passing to heirs

Have an eternal impact though financial and estate planning today.

Gifts you might make now

Stock gift Donor

TRANSFORMING LIVES

CHANGING THE WORLD

A Graduate School of Theology and Seminary initiative for financial aid

Advised fund

Avoid capital gains taxes on appreciated stock

Get a tax break and list SOT/ Sem as beneficiary for later

The longevity of institutions and achievement of long-term goals rely greatly on the success of attaining planned gifts.

Community of Hope

Fellows Society

Calling forth

the spiritual gifts of the faithful is the outcome when pursuing our Catholic mission to educate and form students for life, ministry, and service. At Saint John’s University Graduate School of Theology and Seminary (SOT/Sem) students are immersed in a Catholic Benedictine communal environment committed to ecclesial and liturgical renewal through integrated world class academics, Benedictine practices, and a spiritual community in a contemplative environment.

Christ inaugurated the church as a vehicle of hope, the voice of good news. Through centuries of change and against those in every age who would dismiss our hope as naïve, the church bears witness to the reality of hope in the presence of God. Historically the church has relied on priests and religious to bear this mission of hope, to articulate our faith, lead our liturgies, teach our children, minister to the poor and hurting. Today the church is experiencing major shifts in the shape and practice of this leadership.

Heralded by new voices of leadership, a new era is dawning in the church. The Spirit is at work among us calling the baptized to new forms of responsible, adult participation in the life and work of the church. Fittingly, we first experienced this in the liturgy. The baptized are called to participate in this holiest work of the church, not to observe it from the gallery. Now comes the call to participate in the ministry and leadership of the church. In response to this call, leaders are arising from among the laity to carry forward our mission of hope. While the absence of adequate numbers of ordained pastors and religious may have opened the door to this new era, we believe it is the work of the Spirit and a sign of the spiritual maturation of the church that many are stepping forward to walk through that door to leadership.

Likewise, we need your leadership. The Spirit calls some brothers and sisters in Christ to be ministers, others are called to be their support and encouragement. Saint John’s University Graduate School of Theology and Seminary provides the discernment, education, and formation students need that they may obey the Spirit’s call as a light in this world. To do so, a Catholic Benedictine education requires financial support. Support we receive from our Community of Hope Fellows Society. Be a leader and become a member of the SOT/Sem Fellows Society in calling forth the gifts of the faithful.

Walter Reger

Annual gifts of $1,000 - $1,499

Godfrey Diekmann Annual gifts of $1,500 - $2,499 Martin Schirber

Annual gifts of $2,500 - $4,999

Virgil Michel

Annual gifts of $5,000 - $9,999

Donald LeMay

Annual gifts of $10,000 - $24,999

Don Talafous

Annual gifts of $25,000 and more

Members of Saint John’s Graduate School of Theology and Seminary Fellow Society express their commitment by providing annual leadership gifts of $1,000 or more to the school through a 5-year pledge. These gifts are a significant investment in the education and spiritual formation of students and the church they serve. We invite you to make a real difference by becoming a member of the Community of Hope Fellows Society.

Grace Ellens, Development Director - 320-363-2551 - gellens@csbsju.edu - P.O. Box 5866, Collegeville, MN 56321

Local theology professor named to Vatican commission assisting Synod of Bishops July 20, 2021 Catholic News Service Around the Diocese, FeatureNo comments

By Junno Arocho Esteves | Catholic News Service

Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary associate professor Kristin Colberg has been named to the theological commission charged with assisting the leaders of the Synod of Bishops’ general secretariat in reviewing documents, drafting resources and developing best practices.

Colberg, who holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, Master of Divinity from Yale University Divinity School and a doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, has been teaching at St. John’s in Collegeville since 2012.

“It is a huge honor to be asked to participate in this important work,” Colberg said.

“It’s exciting to work with people from all the world 0ver who care about the Church,” she said. “Pope Francis is really trying to create a listening Church. This synod, first and foremost, is about listening and trying to discern where the Spirit is leading us at this moment in time. I’m excited to be part of something so important, so diverse and so catholic in the sense of the Universal Church.”

Colberg teaches classes in systematic theology, ecclesiology, theological anthropology and theological method which examine fundamental issues in theology. She also has worked extensively with the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, striving toward Christian unity through ecumenical dialogues, which she believes ultimately led to her appointment to the synod commission.

“Synodality means to ‘journey together.’ This is an exciting chance for the Church to journey together to listen to the Holy Spirit and to each other, and think about how the Church can be more fully herself as we move into the future,” she said.

According to the synod website, the theological commission and the methodology commission will include religious and lay experts from around the world.

The theme chosen by the pope for the next synod is: “For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission.”

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, told Vatican News in May that, although originally scheduled for 2022, the synod will take place in October 2023 to allow for broader consultation at the diocesan, national and regional levels.

In revisions to the synod process announced in May, Pope Francis has asked that it begin with consultations with laypeople on the diocesan level before the discussion and discernment moved to a national level and then the 2023 synod assembly itself.

In an editorial published in the Spanish Catholic magazine Revista Ecclesia in May, Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, undersecretary of Synod of Bishops, said four commissions will be created “to help the general secretariat: communications, methodology, spirituality and theology. They will all have an international character and integrating different cultures.”

The theological commission, led by Bishop Marín, is comprised of 25 experts in theology, philosophy and canon law from around the world, including the United States, Italy, Spain, Burkina Faso, Syria, Tanzania and Mexico.

The commission will “review texts and documents and possibly make suggestions; present theological proposals for the development of synodality; produce and share materials for theological study; and collaborate closely with other commissions.”

The methodology commission, which is comprised of nine members, will be led by Xaviere Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of synod of bishops, and is charged with developing best practices and proposing processes at the local, national, and international level.

Those processes include proposals for the drafting of the handbook, or vademecum, for bishops, gathering and analyzing summaries, the drafting of the “instrumentum laboris,” or working document, and the final document, the synod’s website stated.

“People should see the synod as something exciting,” Colberg said. “Synodality can sound institutional but it’s really about journeying together and listening to each other. All the dioceses can work together for the world by listening to each other.”

The list of members of the synod’s communications and spirituality commissions are expected to be published later.

In addition to Colberg, members of the commissions from the United States and Canada include: Congregation of Jesus Sister Gill Goulding, professor of systematic theology at Regis College in Toronto, Canada; Canadian Father Gilles Routhier, professor of theology at Laval University in Quebec, Canada; and Jesuit Father David McCallum, Executive Director for Discerning Leadership Program at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York.

Colberg said her efforts with the synod commission are already underway.

“The work is started and it is a very diverse international group of theologians,” she said. “I anticipate there will be times when we come together to listen and other times where we are sent off to do our own work in smaller groups to reflect on the ways our expertise allows each of us to contribute. It is a wonderful surprise blessing. I take it as a joy and a responsibility.”

Kristi Anderson of The Central Minnesota Catholic contributed to this article.

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