conversatio WINTER 2010
Miguel Diaz, Ph.D. Professor of Theology Ambassador to the Vatican
ON THE COVER
On this issue’s cover, we are pleased to feature, Miguel Humberto Díaz, a professor of theology in the School of Theology*Seminary and now the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. Dr. Diaz was born in Havana, Cuba and moved to the United States with his family as a child. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Saint Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida where he grew up. He later completed both his master’s and doctorate in systematic theology at the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife Marion have four children who are enlivening the U.S. Embassy in Rome. Before joining the faculty at Saint John’s and the College of Saint Benedict in 2004, Dr. Diaz taught at the University of Dayton, Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in
Boynton Beach, Florida (where he also served as academic dean), and Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida. His publications include On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian Perspectives (Orbis Books, 2002), for which he received the Hispanic Theological Initiative’s 2002 Book of the Year award and From the Heart of Our People: Latino/a Explorations in Catholic Systematic Theology” (Orbis Books, 1999). Miguel has served as president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS) and was a board member of the Catholic Theology Society of America (CTSA). He is currently on leave from his faculty appointment. We wish him well.
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Contents 4-8 How Theological Schools Serve the Church A Sacred Stewardship To Believe Deeply, To Search Constantly Healthy Pastoral Identity The Evolution of Catholic Schools of Theology 10
Youth Ministry: A Ten-Year Perspective
12
Becoming A Minister
13
It Is A Difficult Journey From Emmaus To Jerusalem
14
Managing Change
15
Faculty and Staff Updates
17
What Does A Faculty Member Do On Sabbatical?
18
2009 Graduates
19 Milestones 21
Summer School and Summer Events
22
From the Director of Development
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How Theological Schools Serve the Church Daniel Aleshire’s Earthen Vessels: Hopeful Reflections on the Work and Future of Theological Schools (Eerdmans, 2008) sets the theme for this issue. In six carefully crafted essays, Aleshire, executive director of the Association of Theological Schools, explores why a theological school matters. He neither defends the status quo nor finds tradition sufficient for maintaining a school. On the contrary, he asserts that schools succeed in difficult times because they have vision. For Aleshire that vision includes the need for “religious leaders who are deeply formed in an understanding of faith, who can guide congregations in a culture that is less convinced that religion is a cultural asset, who can lead in a context of significant change in congregational practice, and who both know the tradition and can teach it to an increasing percentage of people who do not know the tradition or understand it...” (p. 145). Conversatio brings together four commentaries on the role of the theological school for the church. Each provides a different angle of vision, but all share a deep sense that what we do is never in isolation from the larger needs of church and society.
A Sacred Stewardship
William Cahoy, Ph. D. Dean of the School of Theology*Seminary
I recently read two insightful books on theological education: Earthen Vessels: Hopeful Reflections on the Work and Future of Theological Schools by Daniel Aleshire and The Purpose of the Church and Its Ministry: Reflections on the Aims of Theological Education by H. Richard Niebuhr, a landmark study of theological education conducted in the 1950’s.
The church entrusts theological schools with responsibility for cultivating the knowledge, skills, and spiritual formation of its future leaders. The church has been given a story to tell about God’s work in the world, and it is important to get it right. The question for us as a school is not just what do our students need to know and be able to do. It is what the church as the community of faith needs to be and what preparation our students need to help achieve that outcome. This means that the theological school and the church must work together out of a common understanding of the mission of the church and what it demands of all pastoral leaders and teachers.
Reading them together reminded me just how different we are as society and church than we were in the 1950’s. The place of the church and its leaders in society, their presumed role as the moral voice of American society, and the theological assumptions of the Christian voices we now hear in the public square have all changed. Our assumptions about the role of women and people of color in leadership are different. Students are largely non-traditional in terms of their backgrounds, their career options, and the sorts of educational delivery systems we need to offer.
This points to a second way in which theological schools serve the church: as intellectual centers of the church’s life, as places where, in Niebuhr’s words, “insight into the meaning and relations of all the Church’s activities is sought and communicated” (p. 116). From the time of Clement, Origen and founding of the
Dramatic changes like these make all the more striking the two books noted above. Both convey a conviction that theological schools exist to serve the church and argue that our distinctive mission is to contribute 4
(Photo by Dean Riggott)
to the vitality of the church and its ability to bear witness to Christ in a way that speaks compellingly to the world.
Catechetical School of Alexandria in the second century, theological schools have been about more than preparing church functionaries. They have also been about “faith seeking understanding.” It is part of the work of the church to help people understand the revelation received, the continuing work of God in the world, and the life all are called to live in response to it. While theological schools are not the only places where such thinking occurs, it is their distinctive mission—their vocation.
increases and the educational level of church members rises, it is more important than ever that we have welleducated, critical thinking pastoral leaders, ordained or lay. We need leaders who are equipped to engage in informed, hospitable theological reflection with the people of the church and the larger world. We need leaders who can, like theological schools, be resources to the community of faith as it seeks to understand more deeply what it believes.
We share the fruits of our vocation directly with the church through scholarship, specialized and popular publications, presentations, conferences, journals (such as Worship), and conversations we convene among academics, church leaders, and people in ministry on matters of importance to the church. The theological scholarship of the school also shapes how we educate and form students for service in the church and churchrelated organizations. As the complexity of issues
To Believe Deeply, To Search Constantly
tion. Furthermore, the mutuality illustrates for me the true meaning of Anselm’s “faith seeking understanding:” that God exceeds all our capabilities to possess, manipulate, or control, that all of our knowledge can only be the cause of new questions, and every finding only the start of a new search. This nearly breath-taking responsibility to believe deeply and to search constantly argues for the contributions theological schools can make to the teaching mission of the Church. They are places where multiple disciplines and points of view constantly enrich and challenge the tradition.
Abbot John Klassen OSB Saint John’s Abbey
For some, the notion of the indispensability of schools of theology for the church’s teaching mission might seem pretentious. After all, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has formal teaching authority for the Church, in union with Pope Benedict XVI. Still, recall the two great USCCB pastoral letters promulgated in the 1980s: The Challenge of Peace and Economic Justice for All. Important episcopal teaching represented in such documents, drew necessarily on theological expertise. In drafting The Challenge of Peace, for instance, bishops as a national body were learning as much as possible about the technical and the serious moral dilemmas of the arms race. The world is no less complex so bishops continue to need men and women in theological schools as they bring the best theological thinking to bear on issues that demand rigorous analysis and careful pastoral appraisal.
Particular areas that for me command the mutual attention of theologians and bishops include: The Liturgy. The central role liturgy plays in the life of our Church depends on inculturation as rituals and liturgical actions attune themselves to local conditions and situations. Inculturation without sufficient historical and theological awareness risks becoming a vehicle for the dominant culture rather than a window to the holy and transcendent. We benefit immensely from the
The mutuality I am describing respects both the authority bishops bear by their office and at the same time appreciates the scholarly rigor of theologians in constantly opening new paths for thoughtful reflec5
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(Photo by Michael Crouser)
As Aleshire would argue, the church needs theological schools and educated pastoral leaders now more than ever. Saint John’s heritage is to be a place of rigorous theological reflection, a place that helps the church read the signs of the times and respond faithfully and boldly, and a place where the fruits of that theological thinking infuse the next generations of ministers and scholars. In all of this we have been entrusted with nothing less than a sacred stewardship of the future of the church.
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skilled, ongoing probing of what liturgy means for the Church historically, pastorally, and theologically so that all the elements of liturgical practice work together. This happens naturally in a school of theology.
The arts. The sacramental world view of Catholicism has provided theological impetus for creating magnificent art over the centuries that gives believers and unbelievers a glimpse into the mystery of God. As a Church, we have classically maintained that God is good, God is truth, and God is beautiful. The latter quality has been unevenly explored over the centuries, even though beauty is essential to the human discovery of meaning and purpose, indeed to the search for God.
Economic justice. A long, deep Catholic tradition articulates fundamental concerns and principles about the relationship of labor to management. The prophetic wisdom of Catholic moral theology around issues of work and money became apparent in the past year as we saw how wrong and twisted an economy becomes when it is disengaged from moral commitments. As a Church we bear a proud heritage of calling attention to how economies affect the poor and those on the margins of society.
These areas of theological research have personal importance to me. Like many others, they depend on trust-filled collaboration between bishops and theologians who share a passion for the truth, a conviction that faith always seeks understanding, and a belief that the rigors of intellectual inquiry are not opposed to Magisterial teaching. Schools do not replace the teaching office of the bishops nor do they simply reiterate what the Church says. Tension will arise from time to time as bishops do what they are ordained to do as teachers of the Tradition and as theologians do what the Church has always asked them to do: pursue the questions, probe the sources, seek to understand. What I believe holds bishops and theologians together is the “faith” to which Anselm referred – a faith that exceeds our grasp even as it orients us to the mystery of God.
The idea of the human soul. As soon as one takes seriously the evolution of the universe over 13.5 billion years and the evolution of species through natural selection, the question of when a human being becomes a human being is immediately present. What do we mean when we call a creature human? What do we mean when we call God the creator? While the Catechism waxes eloquently about evolutionary theory, it goes right back sto the Garden when addressing Original Sin. The Church needs greater development of a theology of original sin that is grounded in our best account of the evolution of human beings.
Healthy Pastoral Identity – The Gift of Great Theological Education
Development of pastoral identity is a key contribution that theological seminaries can make to the life of the church. Both ordained and lay ecclesial ministers need to maintain a well-grounded and well-rounded sense of their roles in the church. Without such pastoral identity, it is all too easy to become anxious and fearful of the pressing demands to know everything, do everything, fix everyone, and, just generally, save the world.
Virginia Stillwell, Pastoral Associate for Liturgy Saint John Neumann Parish in Eagan, Minnesota
In completing both Master of Arts and Master of Divinity degrees and through involvement in various communal learning opportunities at Saint John’s over the years, graces have flowed from a range of sources – faculty and students; community life and formational activities; practical and academic learning; immersion in scripture, theology and church history; shared meals and shared prayer; endless challenges and well-timed affirmations. Perhaps the single greatest gift I have received, however, is the development of a healthy pastoral identity that grounds my ministry in the church.
Theological seminaries can assist lay and ordained ecclesial ministers in claiming their identity as “pastors,” those who guide the work of the faithful in living out 6
their baptismal calling to participate in the ministry true identities can emerge into full bloom without fear and mission of Jesus Christ. Theological schools do this of encountering a killing frost or defoliating downpour. through strong academic programs that give students a The church finds itself in a time when the chasm sense of the history and breadth of church practice as between progressives and traditionalists seems unbridgewell as the roots, meaning, and development of church able. Both groups think of themselves as the conservateaching. Such academic tors of the true Catholic excellence needs to be tradition, and both find Theological seminaries nurture coupled with a fearless it difficult to respect the engagement of students pastoral identity when they create other. How can theologiin conversations around experiences of Christian community. cal seminaries sustain the the signs of the times. church in this current state A community that recognizes its How does our tradition of the communion? Thanks come to life here and calling to speak the truth in love can in part to my experiences at now? How does it interuphold lay and ordained ecclesial Saint John’s over the years, sect with or challenge current thinking in other ministers as they discover and cultivate I am learning to rely on the Holy Spirit residing in the disciplines? What good the gifts they have been given to share. Christian community. I am news is in it for people learning that I need not living in today’s world have the right answer to and asking today’s questions? These sorts of conversaevery question or the right reaction to every situation. tions provide the context for the knowledge and reI am learning to gather diverse members of the Body sources that students amass and nurture the fragile seeds of Christ, reflect on scripture and theology together, of pastoral identity. And those seeds must be planted in ask important questions, and “do” ministry together. I fertile soil. am learning that my vocation as an ecclesial minister is That soil is Christian community itself. Theological important only to the extent that I help others discover seminaries nurture pastoral identity when they create and live out their vocations faithfully in the community experiences of Christian community. A community that of the baptized. recognizes its calling to speak the truth in love can uphold lay and ordained ecclesial ministers as they discover Virginia Stillwell has been at St. John Neumann for seven years. She completed her MA in Theology in 1999 and and cultivate the gifts they have been given to share. her Master of Divinity Degree in 2001. She is married, When theological seminaries instill a commitment to a mother and grandmother, frequent presenter and author community life, ecclesial ministers will continue to of several publications, most recently an article for Church gather with other ministers for encouragement and enMagazine on a retreat process for nurturing pastoral gage one another in collaboration. They will seek ways identity. The latter is available on line at http://www. to gather parishioners across interest areas to share their churchmagazine.org/issue/0806/par_lay.php. experiences and engage in communal encouragement, rejoicing, and mission. They will treasure the nutrients in the soil of community that feed all of us as we grow in faith, hope, and love, so that together we may bear abundant fruit. Then there is the need for pruning – sometimes careful and sometimes drastic – of our gangly “I must be all things to all people” identities. Ongoing formation opportunities that immerse ecclesial ministers in prayer and soul searching and present them with practical challenges can be as painful as they are grace-filled. Not to be underestimated is the gift of sabbatical that theological seminaries can provide. In a hospitable climate, our 7
The Evolution of the Catholic Theological School
persons will be called on to provide leadership in Catholic schools, parish and diocesan offices, and Catholic institutions of health and social welfare. They need sound theological training and formation if they are to be as effective as they must be in their roles. Although I believe that the presence of these lay persons in the school is profoundly positive, it may effect subtle shifts in how a class may be structured and what materials will be emphasized as it serves the needs of ordination candidates and of those preparing for lay ecclesial ministry. The challenge for a theological school to harmonize the training of priests and religious along with lay persons is profoundly worthwhile because each group’s learning experiences can enrich the insight and formation of the others.
John Erhart, Chair of the Board of Overseers Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary
The question of what purpose Catholic schools of theology serve is being asked with greater frequency today .From the perspective of the average person in the pew, the answer probably seems fairly obvious: Where else will we train future priests and religious! I confess that before I joined the Board of Overseers of the Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary, I did not give much thought to this question. Like most lay persons, I had little opportunity to observe the evolutionary changes that have been taking place in schools of theology since the Second Vatican Council. Since joining the Board, I devote considerable time to this question in one form or another and am quickly learning that there are changes taking place in schools of theology as the reasons these schools exist evolve.
In the second group are lay persons who want to acquire theological expertise but do not intend to be engaged in professional ministry or to teach theology. Some may intend to work in a charitable, but not strictly religious, environment. Others may be motivated simply to learn more about a theological interpretation of life. Still others hope to infuse their values in careers of public service. What seems to be common is a genuine thirst for knowledge that will help meet a deep spiritual need. This group of individuals presents a unique opportunity for schools of theology and the church for they can become “theologians in the workplace.” One of our challenges as a school as well as of the broader church is to find ways of utilizing the talents of these individuals in non-traditional channels of education and evangelization.
The training of future priests and religious certainly remains one of the important purposes for maintaining Catholic schools of theology. What I have found most
Catholic schools of theology are evolving in response to a variety of factors. While the outcome of the process may not be readily clear, the process itself will pose great opportunities and equally demanding challenges. surprising are two newer groups of people who have found different reasons for attending a school of theology. In the first group are lay persons preparing for roles as lay ecclesial ministers, assuming tasks previously assigned to priests and religious. Growing up, I was educated by the Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth and did not know what a pastoral minister, a music minister or a youth minister was or what they did. All of the functions associated with those roles were filled by priests or religious. As the number of priests and religious declined, lay people responded to the call to take on functions which they could appropriately perform. As the decline in candidates for priesthood or the religious life continues, lay
Catholic schools of theology are evolving in response to a variety of factors. While the outcome of the process may not be readily clear, the process itself will pose great opportunities and equally demanding challenges. What I do believe as I immerse myself in a particular way in the future of one theological school is that our focus needs to be on what is happening in the wider world and church if we want to influence what will happen. John Erhart is a practicing attorney in Minneapolis and a 1974 graduate of Saint John’s University. He is a native of Pine City, Minnesota. 8
“Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary is the best place for our future leaders to get the training and formation they need. That’s why I included the School of Theology·Seminary in my estate plans. I consider it a privilege and a responsibility to offer my support.” Father Al Ludwig For information on making a planned gift, contact Grace Ellens at 320-363-2551 or gellens@csbsju.edu. Give online at www.csbsju.edu/sot. 9
Youth Ministry: A Ten Year Perspective projects presented by YTM youth over these ten years has typically been outstanding. Society and the Church too often underestimate the capabilities of young people. I have witnessed high school youth engage in college level theology courses, lead amazing service projects, and develop disciplined prayer practices. If we assume Sturm and Drang characterize young people, then we will most likely get what we expect. YTM has taught me to expect much more.
Dr. Jeff Kaster is founding director of the Youth in Theology and Ministry (YTM) program. In this interview he reflects on what we have learned about young people and faith over the past decade. Jeff is also Associate Dean For Administration
VK: YTM just received a major renewal grant from the Lilly Endowment. What will this new grant accomplish?
VK: What have we learned about youth and religion after ten years?
Jeff Kaster: Obviously, the grant helps YTM continue to serve young people and foster their excitement for theological learning and promote vocational discernment. Twenty percent of YTM youth participants, for instance, go on to major or minor in theology in college. We also will be able to continue providing tuition grants to lay ecclesial ministers serving as YTM adult mentors have graduated from the School of Theology.
Jeff Kaster: I am not convinced that our generally held assumptions about adolescents are accurate. A little more than a century ago, the idea of “adolescence” didn’t exist. There was simply childhood and adulthood. The father of adolescence, G. Stanley Hall, published his 1904 book entitled Adolescence, casting adolescence as a time of Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) where teens struggle with parental conflict, risky behaviors, and mood swings. Certainly there are biological changes happening in adolescence, but the idea of hormone-crazed teens simply does not hold true in my experience. Our culture permits very derogatory language about teenagers. Nearly any problem that young people face can be explained away with one simple word: “teenager.”
Perhaps most importantly the new grant helps the School of Theology permanently sustain the YTM program. We have a challenging, but feasible plan to make YTM selfsustaining by 2018. It includes creating a YTM Advisory Council, more effectively engaging YTM alums, their parents, and grandparents in fundraising, and expanding our vocation partnerships. We currently have annual income of about $90,000 per year. If we can continue to grow this income by $10,000 a year, then by 2018 YTM will be selfsustaining.
VK: What’s the alternative to “storm and stress?” Jeff Kaster: Expect something different. At the 2010 YTM January Retreat, high school youth reported on the progress they were making on community service projects they complete with the help of an adult mentor between the two YTM Summer Institutes. Hannah Byron, a sixteen year old from Waseca, Minnesota, reported on the “Caring and Sharing Retreat” she developed and led. Her project had three goals: 1) to use scripture and Church doctrine to show why we are all called to serve the poor and vulnerable; 2) to see and hear Christ among the poor and vulnerable; and 3) to recognize the blessings in our own lives in relation to those around us. The quality of her work was comparable to the work of many college ministry students I have taught.
An exciting additional initiative in this grant includes funding for a national think tank on evaluating adolescent youth ministry and catechetical curricula. Research is sorely needed in answering questions like, what’s working in youth ministry and adolescent catechesis and what curricula are effectively fostering Christian discipleship. VK: Why is this research so important? Jeff Kaster: Very little research has been published evaluating the effectiveness of youth ministry and religious education curricula in fostering Christian discipleship. Gathering national youth ministry and catechetical leaders at Saint John’s for dialogue on this topic will hopefully help us better know what is working and why.
VK: Is Hannah an exception or typical of participants in the program?
VK: In five years what can we expect from YTM?
Jeff Kaster: Anecdotal stories such as these are easily dismissed as exceptional cases. But the majority of the
Jeff Kaster: We will be recruiting another 200 youth to 10
Contributors:
I am confident that the think tank on evaluating Catholic youth ministry and adolescent catechesis will result in publication of influential articles assessing the effectiveness of curricula in forming adolescent Christian disciples. If our efforts so far continue, in five years YTM will be well on its way to financially sustainability from endowment, annual support, and fees. Above all, our efforts will continue to equip youth for discipleship and for the leadership they will offer church and society.
Topics:
participate in the summer institutes, and hopefully 25 more YTM adult mentors will complete an MA in pastoral ministry. Of the 200 youth participants I expect that 40 will be inspired to study theology in college and seriously discern a vocational call to ministry.
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John Baldovin, SJ Kim Belcher Theresa Berger David Fagerberg Rita Ferrone Mark Francis, CSV Paul Inwood Robin Jensen Max Johnson Timothy Johnston Michael Joncas Diana Macalintal Francis Mannion James Moroney Johann van Parys Keith Pecklers, SJ Anthony Ruff, OSB Ed Schaeffer Chris Scharen Cody Unterseher Susan Wood, SCL Joyce Zimmerman, CPPS
Can you tell a liturgical reformer from a reformer of liturgical reform? Can you negotiate with either?
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Becoming A Minister: Integrating Theology and Practice Kathleen Cahalan, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Practical Theology
While the relationship between the study of theology and the practice of ministry may seen obvious, the question of how integration actually takes place in the preparation of ministry students remains a perplexing process. At the invitation of the Collegeville Institute For Ecumenical and Cultural Research, I have designed and will lead a project that tackles the question and aims to foster not only a better understanding of integration but also how it is cultivated in the course of a ministry student’s studies. The project is possible because of a grant from the Lilly Endowment to the Collegeville Institute.
turn for leadership deeply formed within the tradition of Christian service.
Integration means several things. It is a way of addressing the cognitive, mental, vocational, and emotional capacities of persons as they learn a set of practices and a body of knowledge in order to respond to human needs within the larger social mission of the Gospel. It also addresses curricular design that over time develops the capacity for wise reflective practice. Integration points to a kind of integrity, maturity, and authenticity that comes from a sense of vocation and identity in relationship to practice and learning over time.
Pastoral ministers are neither objective observers standing at a distance from their contexts, nor do they spend the majority of their time exegeting texts for linguistic or historical data. Nor are ministers people who do certain religious functions. Those called to ministerial leadership must know the text and tradition in ways that bring it into dialogue with and help illuminate and guide contemporary life. This is a task that demands intellectual rigor just as it demands acute insight into and ability to analyze the wide range of contexts in which people live their lives.
At the heart of the project is convening pastoral ministers and theological educators from across denominations to examine several key practical topics: how to teach toward integration; what the goal of integration is within and beyond the curriculum; and how theological seminaries can better serve students as they equip themselves to be wise practitioners of ministry for the sake of the church.
The kind of theological study we want to engage in this project what the discipline of practical theology attempts to accomplish by discerning what is happening now in particular contexts and settings and to propose possible actions available to the faith community. This project is what the discipline is built on the conviction that the kind of theological thinking that combines both descriptive and constructive thinking, together with historical and contemporary resources, is best achieved collaboratively, in conversations between thinkers and practitioners. We want to invite participants to the seminars who can thrive in conversations marked by great interdependence of ideas, multiple vantage points, expertise from different disciplines and pastoral leadership positions, and a humble awareness of the need to work with others to move forward on challenging problems and issues.
In remarkable ways, however, pastoral ministers and religious leaders have kept many institutions responsive and vital by seeking new ways to fulfill their age-old missions. Key to thriving is a kind of religious leadership whose authority is based on competence as well as vision, a clear sense of the situation as well as strategic thinking and direction, and the capacity to understand a context and bring the Christian message to bear within it. While pastoral leaders, ordained and lay, continue to need the capacities to preach and teach the gospel, to lead the community in life-giving worship, to offer pastoral care to the sick and grieving, to call the community to reach out to those in need, and to bring financial, legal and organizational expertise to their work, they need to be equally skilled at interpreting religious faith and practice within the world as it is.
This project has urgency. Pastoral ministers witness the decline of religious attendance and struggle to figure out why many contemporary religious adherents differ so dramatically from traditional religious practitioners. The profession of ministry also faces serious challenges due to a loss of prestige, respect, and influence. Many wonder to whom religious institutions such as congregations, colleges and universities, hospitals, and denominational offices will 12
From Emmaus To Jerusalem: Challenges In Transitioning Into Ministry Barbara Sutton, D.Min. Associate Dean For Formation and Outreach
Mary Clare graduated from the SOTSEM and began her first ministry position at a midsize suburban parish as director of religious education. She was anxious going in because she was filling a position held by a religious for twenty years. Everything was fine for the first three months, then “it all broke loose,” she said. “The honeymoon was over. I learned that there were different camps in the parish: those in the ‘Father knows best camp,’ those passionate about empowering lay leaders, those who didn’t trust anyone and those who wanted to return to an imagined golden past. The staff resented my ‘Pollyannaish’ view of community. Whenever I tried to raise a theological point in our infrequent staff meetings, the youth ministry would smirk and remind me we were no longer at Saint John’s. When I talked with the pastor about my frustration of working in isolation and having to be so careful about what I said to whom, he just shrugged and said, “Do the best that you can.” At the end of her first year, Mary Clare realized that work had become her life. She had lost herself--failing to find time for Sabbath, frequently living on fast foods, getting no exercise, and losing contact with her good friends. She thought to herself, “Maybe I should look for another position – or profession.” Because Emmaus Hall holds a central place for our students, it is easy to liken their journey of graduate theological education to the Road to Emmaus parable. Recall this: only seven miles into the trip, and the disciples were already depressed and disillusioned! How quickly the journey gets bogged down in every kind of distraction. For students coming to Saint John’s, there are all sorts of challenges as they integrate new learning, new understandings of themselves and the church, and a clearer sense of their vocational call. Yet, as the opening story from a graduate illustrates, there are even more challenges once a graduate begins the “real work” of ministry.
As a faculty we always hope our graduates are equipped with the necessary spiritual, theological, and practical resources as they encounter the complexities of ministry today. To explore how ministerial formation at the SOT•SEM prepared them to live out their vocations as ministers, Genevieve Mougey, Marian Diaz and I gathered a small group of SOT•SEM alums in summer 2008 who had graduated in the past five years. The purpose was to invite them to reflect on what strengthened and hindered their ministerial practice during their first position in ministry. They identified as strengths good supervisors who mentored them, adequate budgets that supported continuing education, well-defined positions, balanced workloads, and collegial support. Hindrances to their first years in ministry included excessive job expectations because of inadequate staffing, lack of compensatory time, poor supervision, unjust wages and inadequate benefits, budgetary constraints, a culture of fear and scarcity in the workplace, lack of clarity about their roles, and lack of support from staff colleagues.
Recent research shows that countless pastoral leaders, across all denominations, leave the ministry discouraged, disillusioned and defeated within their first five years of service. The reasons vary: • 50% said they felt unable to meet the needs of the job • 90% said they felt inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands
In the initial retreat, our team listened deeply to the ministers and to the various dynamics in their stories. We recognized that transitions were not as simple as learning what needed to be done but were impacted by graduates’ own stages in life, their sense of personal and professional competence, how the systems in specific ministerial settings functioned, and the actual readiness of graduates to become leaders. Participants engaged each other in theological reflection as they sought to identify areas of particular difficulty in ministry. For some, it was about
• 70% said their self-esteem was lower than when they started the job This is not unique to graduates of particular theological schools or due to some kind of personal failing, but a common phenomenon about what happens as people make the transition from graduate theological studies to their first ministry positions. 13
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their self-understanding and ministerial identity. For others, the key issues were staff competition, inability to read a context or a group’s dynamics, or lack of knowledge about introducing change. Conversation with this group of graduates led to our development in spring of 2009 of an on-line survey of all SOT•SEM alums from the past five years. Forty out of 167 alums responded. They were generally positive regarding their ministerial formation, noting that clinical pastoral education and theological reflection were very helpful in developing pastoral insights into the practice of ministry. We also learned that despite the challenges ministry poses, this group of alums grew in their selfconfidence and strengthened their ministerial identity through spiritual practices like regular retreats and spiritual direction as well as by following a healthy lifestyle. Many noted the importance of faithfully taking their days off and enjoying friends and family outside their ministry setting. This research and our on-going listening to students and alums strengthen our commitment to ministerial formation and provide a feedback loop for the SOT•SEM. The results have led to adaptations in the curriculum for ministerial formation. For instance, a day retreat has been developed for graduating students to explore several
topics—managing their own anxieties as they approach graduation, interviewing for a ministry position, transitioning from graduate theological education to their first ministry position, developing a supportive network outside the ministry setting, attending to their family life, and maintaining healthy spiritual, emotional and physical practices. Additionally, we have experimented with a retreat for married students and their spouses to explore the spirituality and sacramentality of their relationship as well as the dual vocations of the lay ecclesial minister— marriage and the call to ministry. A Minister in Transition retreat for alums graduating within the past five years is an annual part of our continuing education programming through Conversatio. The research also influences our orientation to pastoral ministry and conversations in the classroom. It is naive to think that one automatically knows how to minister or practice self-care because a person has the desire and has heard the call. Our curriculum for ministerial formation and pastoral leadership fosters skills to be reflective practitioners for the sake of both the lay ecclesial minister and the communities she or he serve. We have few illusions about making the road from Emmaus challenge-free. With the help of our alums, however, we are getting far better at helping graduates have a clear map of what lies ahead.
Managing Change: Parish Cultures In Transition
During the past year, staffs from four Minnesota parishes have focused on managing change. These included St. Mary’s (Alexandria MN), Holy Family (Grand Forks ND), Lumen Christi (St. Paul MN), and St. Augustine-St. Edward’s (Austin MN). While each parish represents unique circumstances, the issues of change manifest themselves in strikingly similar ways. Parishes that merge into one struggle with forming a new shared identity that honors the past without being held hostage by it. New approaches to formation in faith place new demands on adults and parents. Transition in pastoral leadership can be opportunities for renewal and new vision; it can also be a time of chaos and turmoil. Learning to live together as a community of faith in an era which places emphasis on customer satisfaction challenges both how the work of parish gets done as well as what gets done. Twenty-plus pastoral ministers - clergy and lay – from these four parishes assessed their experience and generated a list of purposeful actions that influence the manageability of change: • working from a defined mission • clarifying the rules of engagement • acknowledging that transition is always hard work • keeping in focus the importance of leadership • developing and multiplying the leadership available to the parish • exercising constantly patience, kindness, and gentleness • committing to clear, consistent, and effective communication • setting priorities so that adding new activities means letting go of some old activities
• cultivating a desire to live by Gospel values • fostering a spirit of collaboration • practicing forgiveness • appreciating the role of humor • expanding the notion of the common life • recognizing that difficulties are not unique to any one parish • being immersed in prayer • taking time to refresh oneself • believing that who we are trumps what we do
This was the sixth Colloquium cohort since the program began in 2002. The SOT•SEM recruits and supports one cohort a year as part of its commitment of outreach to parishes in the region. Contact Barbara Sutton for more information (bsutton@csbsju.edu). 14
FACULTY AND STAFF UPDATES retreat, “Praying with Imagination: A Retreat with the Saint John’s Bible, which she designed and has led for four years.
Kimberly Hope Belcher, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Liturgy Dr. Belcher joined the faculty in the fall. She received her Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame, specializing in liturgical and sacramental theology. Her current areas of research include postmodern sacramental theology, infant initiation, Trinitarian theology, ritual studies, and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Her recent presentations include “Sacred Space, Festal Time, and the Construction of Identity at Mar Thoma Diocese in Chicago,” at the American Academy of Religion, 2008; “Life After Death: The Call of the Baptized,” a Theology on Tap talk for the Archdiocese of Chicago; and “The Speech that Keeps Silent: Jean-Luc Marion and the Anaphora of John Chrysostom” at the North American Academy of Liturgy, 2010. Dr. Belcher was an instructor at Notre Dame and Loyola University Chicago while finishing her dissertation, Your Spirit Breathed on the Waters: A Trinitarian Gift of Identity in Postconciliar Infant Baptism. Her husband Matthew and children Thomas and Juliana support her academic work and supplement it in unexpectedly grace-filled ways.
Kathyrn Cox, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Theology Dr. Cox was a featured presenter at several Theology Day events on moral decision making and the emotions. She is developing a new course in Pneumatology and will be presenting a paper in July 2010 in Trent Italy at a conference on Catholic theological ethics in the World Church Mary Forman, OSB Associate Professor of Monastic Studies Sr. Mary Forman, OSB has designed a new course on the history of Christian prayers that explores the major responses of Christians to the desire for relationship and communication with the divine. This past summer she developed a course on the tools of holiness that prepare one for heaven, drawing on the Rule of Saint Benedict and its list of 74 maxims drawn from scripture, early church writers and Benedict’s own lived experience. Sr. Mary also facilitated the twenty-fourth Monastic Institute hosted by the SOT•SEM whose theme was: “Household Economics: Simplicity and Sustainability in Community.” She gave a keynote presentation, “‘Simply Content With What You Find’ (RB 61.3): Simplicity and Sustainability in the Rule of Benedict.” Sr. Mary edited the proceedings of the 2006 Monastic Institute published as One Heart, One Soul: Many Communities (Saint John’s University Press, 2009). The essays reflect on the origins, history, and present state of Benedictine monasticism as it looks to the future.
Kathleen Cahalan, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Practical Theology Dr. Cahalan has completed her book manuscript, Introducing the Practice of Ministry, that will be published by Liturgical Press in 2010. Other recent publications include “Beyond Pastoral Theology: Why Catholics Should Embrace Practical Theology,” in Secularization Theories, Religious Identity and Practical Theology, eds. Wilhelm Gräb and Lars Charbonnier (Zurich: Lit Verlag GmbH & Co., 2009) 392-97; “Mapping the Field of Practical Theology,” with James Nieman and “Introducing Ministry and Fostering Integration: Teaching the Bookends of the Masters of Divinity Program,” in For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry, eds. Craig Dykstra and Dorothy C. Bass (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008). Dr. Cahalan is completing leadership this year as Past-President of the Association of Practical Theology and a member of the Board of Directors of the Louisville Institute. She continues to lead the annual
Suzanne Hequet, Ph.D. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Church History This past summer, Dr. Hequet published her book, The 1541 Colloquy at Regensburg: In Pursuit of Church Unity. She also has two book reviews, one on a recent translation (2008) of nineteenth century work by A.F.C. Vilmar, entitled The Theology of Facts versus The Theology 15 15
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of Rhetoric: Confession and Defense for Word and World, and A Century of Prayer for Christian Unity edited by Catherine E. Clifford. She presented a paper at the Upper Midwest Regional AAR/SBL meeting on the use of service learning in teaching Benedictine values and will deliver an invited paper on Regensburg and modern ecumenical efforts this spring at Luther Seminary to the group Lutheran Heritage, scholars who meet three or four times a year to discuss scholarly works.
• Miguel Diaz was granted tenure and promoted to full professor. Dale Launderville, OSB and Michael Patella, OSB were both promoted to full professor. • Natalie Regan was hired as the new director of admissions. She is a graduate of the Washington Theological Union (MDiv, 2009), having completed some of her coursework at the School of Theology•Seminary. In addition, she has experience in campus ministry at both Georgetown University and the College of Saint Benedict. Natalie replaces Brendon Duffy who took a new position in the University’s Institutional Advancement Department as senior advancement communication writer.
Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB Associate Professor of Theology The Gregorian Chant schola under the direction of Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, participated in the 10thInternational Gregorian Chant Festival in Watou, Belgium in May 2009 as one of 24 invited choirs from around the world. He gave three keynote addresses at the annual Collegeville Conference for Liturgy, Music, and the Arts in June 2009 and was the first invited speaker in the “Hovda Lecture Series” at the National Association of Pastoral Musicians national convention in Chicago. This past fall, Fr. Anthony presented four talks on the upcoming newly translated English missal to clergy and lay leaders of the Superior, Wisconsin diocese and recorded four video segments for the University of Notre Dame on the chant of the new missal which will be part of a online series of its Center for Pastoral Liturgy.
• Bernadette Dunn retired as Director Special Events & Programs. She is an alum of the School of Theology•Seminary (MDiv), a past member of the Board of Overseers, and a distinguished church minister who served on the chancery staff of the Crookston Diocese as director of Christian service prior to taking the position at Saint John’s. • Tyler Wessman resigned as accountant/admissions clerk to pursue a Master of Divinity degree at Boston College.
Illuminating Ministry A Journal Illuminating Ministry provides an opportunity for church leaders and those in ministerial formation to engage in community and prayer. New!
• Seven chapters written by pastoral ministers and the director of ministerial formation at Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary • Beautiful illuminations from The Saint John’s Bible presented in full color with corresponding Scripture verses • Spaces to record responses to reflection questions and pages to write personal thoughts, feelings, and prayers inspired by the lectio divina process
For more information call: 320-363-3052 To order: 1-800-858-5450 S978-0-8146-3342-7 Plastic spiral bound, 80 pp., 7 x 10, $19.95 Available May 2010
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What Does A Faculty Member Do On Sabbatical? The Case of Daniel Finn, Ph.D. Dan Finn reports that his yearlong sabbatical (Fall 2008-Spring 2009) was both stimulating and refreshing, returning him to his classroom with new energy and insight for his work as a teaching scholar. Dan is Professor of Theology and Clemens Professor of Economics and the Liberal Arts. He worked on two major projects during the sabbatical: editing a volume of essays and writing a book of his own. The book of essays arose out of a conference he organized in June 2008 that was a major step in the life of the “True Wealth of Nations” research project he co-directs for the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, located at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The book will be published by Oxford University Press this summer.
Cloud Times and the other for the Archdiocesan Catholic Spirit and the St. Cloud Visitor. When he wasn’t writing , Dr. Finn was giving presentations that included “The Unjust Contract: An Ethical Evaluation,” at the True Wealth of Nations Conference; “Prophecy and Accuracy in Christian Ethics,” the annual address of the President of the Society of Christian Ethics in Los Angeles ; “The Global Economy in Impasse: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Current Crisis” at the annual meetings of the Catholic Theological Society of America in Halifax, Nova Scotia; “Pope Benedict XVI and Liberation Theology,” at a conference on Catholic Social Theology for the Americas co-sponsored by DePaul University and Catholic Theological Union, in Chicago; “The Moral Ecology of Markets and Bernard Lonergan’s Economic Thought” at an international conference on the economic thought of Bernard Lonergan, held at Seton Hall University; and finally, “Catholic Social Thought as an Empirical Claim” at the annual meetings of the (British) Society for the Study of Christian Ethics in Cambridge.
Dr. Finn’s own book is a history of Christian views of economic life, beginning with the Bible and ending with debates today about markets, justice and Christian faith. Georgetown University Press plans to publish it under the tentative title, Well Water Deep Down: A Brief History of Christian Views of Economic Life. As co-director of the True Wealth of Nations research project, Dan focused part of his sabbatical time on that commitment, meeting with his co-director, retired European banker Mr. Paul Caron, and presenting some of the research of the project at the national economic meetings in San Francisco in January 2009. He chaired a similar session for faculty and World Bank economists at Georgetown University in March. With Mr. Caron he met with leadership of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican to discuss a conference to be hosted jointly by the Pontifical Council and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies in October, 2010 in Rome.
Coincidentally Finn’s sabbatical overlapped with his year as president of the Society of Christian Ethics (SCE). He continues as chair of the SCE Committee on Global Research in Ethics, dedicated to strengthening long-term relationships between the Society and scholars in the developing world. He also serves on the SCE International Speakers Fund Committee, piloting a program to bring to the SCE annual meeting Christian ethicists from the developing world, followed by lectures on college campuses around the US (a program that brought to Saint John’s this past January Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ, moral theologian and Jesuit provincial for East Africa.)
During the year of sabbatical, Dr. Finn found time to publish five items:
While this extensive list of accomplishments reaches national and international audiences, Finn sees what he has done during a year of intense scholarly activity has having direct benefit for his work with students. “In my experience of sabbaticals over the past three decades, there is an intimate relationship between productive scholarly sabbaticals and vitality in the classroom.” He reports that “Not only is a teacher better equipped intellectually after a sabbatical but just as importantly the energy generated in personal relationships with other scholars across the nation and world carries over to one’s classroom presence, where a teacher needs not only to offer the content of a course but needs to energize students about the discipline, luring them into greater effort.”
• “The Priority of Labor Over Capital: Some Needed Extensions,” Journal of Catholic Social Thought (vol. 6, #1, Winter 2009). • “Can This Market be Saved?,” an interview of his views of the market and the current economic crisis , US Catholic (vol. 74, #3, March 2009). • “Economics of Charity: Pope Benedict’s ‘Caritas in Veritate,’” an article on Pope Benedict’s new encyclical, Commonweal (August 14, 2009). • Two different opinion pieces on Caritas in Veritate, one for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. 17
GRADUATES FOR 2009 In completing the Master of Arts and Master of Divinity degrees, students often undertake a major thesis or pastoral project. This is a sampling of research some of our 2009 graduates accomplished. Benjamin Durheim, MA Theology—Systematics “Communion or Crowd: Søren Kierkegaard and John Zizioulas in Conversation” Laura Kelly Fanucci, MDIV Walking with a Generation towards Justice: Integrating Catholic Social Teaching into Young Adult Ministry
Brendan McInerny, MA Theology—Systematics The Incarnation of Divine Love: A Theology of Prayer and Action in the Work of Hans Urs von Balthasar Jill Pawlowski, MDIV “Feed My Sheep”: Lay Pastoral Ministry in Rural Minnesota
Kathryn Janssen, MA Pastoral Ministry The Body of Christ as the Tap Root for Young Adult Ministry Christopher Kostelc, MA Pastoral Ministry The Transfigured Mission Trip: Making the Most Out of the Mountaintop
Monica Priebe, MA Pastoral Ministry Come Journey with Me: Christ Modeling Marriage Mentoring Michael Silhavy , MA Liturgical Studies The Richard Proulx Hymnary (GIA Publications, Inc). Michaeleen Swanson, MDIV A Time to Replant: Responding to the Struggles of a Post-Vatican II Catholic Community in a New Cultural Terrain
Deborah Larson ,MDIV Finding God in the Garden: Cultivating a Sacramental Way to Think About Food
Spring 2009 Graduates Front Row: Laura Kelly Fanucci; Jill Pawlowski; Kelli Kester ; Kate Nienaber; Katie Janssen Middle Row: Monica Priebe; Deborah Irwin; Janie Keogh, OSB; Gosbert Francis Shawa, OSB; Matthew Moser; Genevieve Mougey; Kendall Ketterlin; Deborah Larson Back Row: Benjamin Durheim; Mark Barder; Joshua Perry; John Bai; Christopher Kostelc
Fall 2009 Graduates Front Row: Jude Perera, TOR; Michaeleen Swanson; Gregory Silva, TOR Back Row: Michael Silhavy; Brendan McInerny; Adam Koester
Summer 2009 Graduates
David Smoker; Justin Matelski
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MILESTONES 2009
Kendall Ketterlin published his book, Remembering God: The Story of a Volunteer and Hurricane Katrina, in November, 2009. Email: kketterlin@me.com.
2009
Katie Janssen works with the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls to develop a service program called Franciscan Community Volunteers.
1994
Mike Hagstrom teaches religion at Shanley High School in Fargo, ND and was one of 141 teachers from across the country recognized in June, 2009, as a teacher of excellence by the US Department of Education Presidential Scholars Commission.
1990
Daniel McCarthy, OSB, published, Listen to the Word: Commentaries on Selected Opening Prayers of Sundays and Feasts with Sample Homilies. This book offers a thorough revision of the commentaries on the collects first presented in The Tablet from March 2006 - September 2007.
1987
S. Frances Nosbisch, OSF, moved to the island nation of St. Lucia in September 2008 to begin a new mission of her congregation. She lives in the town of Vieux Fort and is Program Coordinator for the Archbishop Kelvin Felix Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre in Castries.
2009
Matt Moser and his wife, Jill, welcomed Jonathan Walter on October 8, 2009. Matt is greatly enjoying his chaplaincy residency.
2007
Rev. Cody Unterseher an editor for the journal, The Anglican, and began the doctoral program in liturgical studies at the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 2009.
2006
Gerardo Rodriguez and his wife, El, welcomed Daniel Agape on November 22, 2009.
1987
Danuella Zsupan and Randy Jerome became engaged during a trip to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the summer of 2008 and were married in Chicago in 2009.
Nick Wagner received a First-Place Award from the Catholic Press Association at its 2009 convention for his book, The Way of Faith: A Field Guide for the RCIA Process.
1984
Sr. Andrea Zbiegien, SFCC/D.Min., is presently serving as full-time chaplain for Ascension Health at St. Vincent Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida, and has been serving as reader and consultant for dissertation/project authors and for those readying their theological and other research for publication.
1983
Nancy Dalavalle Wething serves on the theological faculty of Fairview University, CN. Nancy recently started a blog: http://nancydallavalle.blogspot.com.
1982
S. Mary Forman, OSB, edited the recently-published book “One Heart, One Soul: Many Communities,” which revisits the 2006 Monastic Institute and its focus on the future.
2004
2000
Anne Koester is in a new position at Georgetown University as Director for Off Campus Student Life.
1998
Anne Tyson started a consulting/education project with a friend that helps survivors of suicide—Healing Hearts Ministries. More information is available on their website at http://mysite.verizon.net/chabereth/healing_hearts. html.
1996
Rev. Mark Strobel was featured in an article, “A Comfort Greater Than Dikes, Sandbags, and Flood Insurance” in the Star Tribune following the days of the Fargo flood. Story can be found at http://tinyurl.com/djx4tt.
1995
Ted Ulrich is an associate professor in the department of theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.
1981
Fr. Bob Koopmann, OSB, inaugurated as the twelfth president of Saint John’s University on October 1, 2009.
1995
Bernadette Dunn retired from her position as School of Theology·Seminary Event and Alumni/ae Association Coordinator.
1980
S. Mary Christa Kroening, OSB, serves as Senior Consultant, Liturgical and Ritual Services, for the Benedictine Health System. She has guided the process for designing, building and blessing 22 chapels, mostly in long term care facilities. Continued on page 20
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1980
Tren Meyers married Kathleen O’Neil in 2006. They live in Connecticut where Tren serves as chaplain for Yale Cancer Center and in spiritual direction ministry at the divinity school. Email: temeyers@att.net.
1979
Rich Munsell lives in Hawaii and resigned from active ministry in July 2009.
1977
Br. Aaron Raverty, OSB, Project editor for Liturgical Press and serving on the SJU Board of Regents and the SOT·Sem Board of Overseers, presented a paper on “Monastic Gender Status: Beyond the Polarity of Masculine and Feminine” on a panel at the 53rd International Congress of the Americas in Mexico City, July, 2009. In the last few years, his research has focused on gender and interreligious dialogue.
1974
Fr. Colin F. Bircumshaw became Monsignor on March 18, 2009, in Salt Lake City.
1972
Fr. Bob Flannery was a recipient of the 2009 Alumni Achievement Award from the Saint John’s University Alumni Association for his work as a priest and ecumenist.
In Hope of Resurrection Alumni 1938 Rev. Monsignor Alfred A. Schneider 1941 Abbot Jerome Weber, OSB 1943 Fr. Martin Brodner, OSB 1951 Norman T. Stencil 1953 Fr. James Gray, OSB Relatives and Friends Lydia C. Althaus Joan C. Andert Madolin Bay Barbara Beniek John C. Bettendorf, Jr. Dolores A. Blenkush John Blomer, Jr. Deacon Richard Broich Helena C. Condon William Connors Tom Coval Sally Dahlheimer John Q. Dittberner Kathryn M. Dohmen Roman J. Ebensteiner Ervin M. Eickhoff Mildred I.Ethen Milton S. Evenson George R. Fisher, Jr. Richard A. Flaspeter Dennis Frank Norbert B. Frieler Wilbur Gahm Lorraine F. Gallus
1953 Fr. Eugene Gabriel Belair 1955 Fr. Kenneth Knoke 1955 Fr. Simon Bischof, OSB 1957 Fr. James Tingerthal, OSB
Madeline M. Gohman Delphine A. Goldstrand Philip C. Gordon Susan Gudden Eugene Herges Clara M.Huberty Eileen C. Johnson Betty Johnson Ardee Johnson Lucille E. Jonas Wade W. Judd Julianna Kahl William Ketterlin Loretta M. Klobe Roman Koetter Magdalena Kortan Lila O. Kuffel Josephine Kwatera Stella M. LeBlanc Jim Lehman Bernadette H. Mareck William McShane Helene Moorse William Nietfeld
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Fr. Ed Nistler John J. Poxleitner Adella L. Rademacher Viola M. Roering Florence Roth Donald M.Santo William Schenk Monica A. Schleper Caroline Schreiner Harvey H. Schultz Edmund Schulzetenberg Joseph Singer Donald L. Stalboerger Lora M.Ulrich Annie M. Walz Kathleen Walz Maury Wasserman Abbot Robert West, OSB Carmella M. Worms Tom Woychick Mary Woychick Jerome Young
SUMMER LEARNING Western Monasticism c. 1050-1350 (July 12-16) Colman O’Clabaigh, OSB
Introduction to Christian Tradition I and II (June 14-15 & July 19 & 23) Kevin Mongrain
God’s Other Peoples (July 12-16) Reid B. Locklin
Christology (June 21-25& July 19-23) Michael Byron Pauline Letters (June 14-July 2) Charles Bobertz
Reading the Wounded Soul: Spiritual Guidance in Evagrius Ponticus and John Cassian (July 12-23) Luke Dysinger, OSB
Eucharist (June 14-July 2) Kimberly Belcher
Mary in Doxology, Devotion, and Doctrine (July 12-23) Maxwell Johnson
Fundamental Moral Theology (June 14-July 8) Regina Wolfe
Gregorian Chant I (July 20-22) Anthony Ruff, OSB
RB 72 on Good Zeal: Benedict’s Hymn of Love (June 21-25) Mary Forman, OSB
Applied Liturgical Music (June 14-July23) Applied Organ Kim Kasling
Old Testament: Samuel I and II (June 28-July 2) Laszlo Simon, OSB
Applied Voice Carolyn Finley
Theology of the Body and the Rule of Benedict (June 28-July 9) Carmel Posa, SGS
Applied Composition Brian Campbell Service Playing Kim Kasling
Old Testament: Historical Books (July 5-23) Laszlo Simon, OSB
LMUS Practicum Kim Kasling
Psalmody/Hymnody (July 5-23) Victor Gebauer Early Western Monasticism: From Saint Antony to Saint Gregory the Great (July 5-9) Abbot Daniel Hombergen, OCSO Trends in Ministry (July 5-9) David DeLambo
Twenty-Fifth Annual Monastic Institute: Benedictine Spirituality June 27-July 1, 2010 This year’s Institute explores key elements of monastic spirituality and reflects on the fundamental dynamics of a life of prayer within a Christian community. The wisdom of the Benedictine tradition proclaims the glory of God and encourages peoples of all walks of life to taste the sweetness of the Lord. Featured speakers include Kathleen Norris, Irene Nowell OSB, David Mossi SJ, and Charles Bobertz, Ph.D.
Youth Ministry (July 5-9) Jeff Kaster Technology in Ministry (July 12-16) Tim Welch
For course descriptions, credits, and schedules, see www.csbsju/sot 21
FROM THE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Dear Friends, At the risk of asking a personal question… how are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? New Year’s resolutions are a wonderful opportunity to set new goals for ourselves as we determine what we could be doing differently. We may promise ourselves to be less judgmental or to eat more vegetables or to pray each morning. Our goal is not change for change sake but because we want to be the person we were meant to be and whom God called us to be. This means having our priorities in the correct order. One of the challenges in life is to figure out what is really important to us – not just what we say is important to us. For example, it’s hard to be a Vikings fan without watching the games, knowing any of the players, or owning any purple clothing. And, as I suspect many of you know all too well, it’s hard to be a Christian if it only means going to church on Sunday – and carrying on the rest of the week barely giving it a second thought.
It’s never too late to make good on New Year’s resolutions or to refine them. I wish you well in following your heart to that which is important to you. For me, I’m resolving to spend more time reading scripture and as much time as possible with my new granddaughter, Ava, who was born this past October. I wish you and yours all the best as we continue our journey into 2010.
Saint John’s School of Theology*Seminary is well aware of this latter challenge. The school contributes to the ongoing renewal of the church by educating seminarians and lay ministers who will revitalize our communities. These ministers, steeped in the Benedictine charism of Saint John’s, will be the next generation of church leaders, well-equipped to face the daunting challenges of being a Christian in the twenty-first century. They will be leaders who will invite the once-a-week Christians to become committed Christians, who find the same hope and inspiration in the church that we do.
Grace Ellens Director of Development
We all can fill our lives with many good causes – many more than we have time for. One of the ways we define ourselves is by the choices we make – how we spend our time and how we spend our money. One of the choices I hope you will make is to be a supporter of Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary. By doing so you will be defining yourself as a person of faith and generosity, hope and vision – serving those people today who will be serving you tomorrow. 22
Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary Board of Overseers Dean
M. George Allen
Tom McKeown
William J. Cahoy
Deacon Mark Barder
Kathleen Norris
Director of Development
Richard Berendes
Fr. Michael O’Connell
Joseph Commers
Mary Ann Okner
Fr. Marvin Enneking
David Pedersen
John Erhart, Chair
Mary Jo Pedersen
Grace Ellens Editor Victor Klimoski Contributors Dr. William Cahoy Abbot John Klassen OSB Virginia Stillwell John Erhart
Dan Fazendin
Br. Aaron Raverty, OSB
Jeff Kaster Barbara Sutton
Lynn Fazendin
Jane Kelley Rodeheffer
Mary Ochsner Haeg
Richard J. Rodeheffer
Kathleen Cahalan Photography Rosalie Huh
Ray Haik
Lino Rulli
Marcia Hanson
Gene Scapanski
Mary Lou Jennings
Fr. Mark Scott, OCSO
Bishop John Kinney
Fred Senn
Abbot John Klassen, OSB
Denny Smid
CSBSJU Communications
Conversatio is published twice each year by Saint John’s School of Theology*Seminary Comment, questions, corrections, story ideas? Victor Klimoski
Fr. Robert Koopman, OSB
Frank Wilderson
vklimoski@csbsju.edu (320) 363-3560
Thomas Manthey
Idalorraine Wilderson
Patrick Maxwell
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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Saint John’s University P.O. Box 5866 Collegeville, MN 56321 Change Service Requested
Upcoming Events
www.csbsju.edu/sot/news
Theology Day: What Does Excellence Mean in Ministry? Victor Klimoski, Ph.D. April 9 and May 21 (Collegeville); April 28 (Alexandria), and May 7 (Minneapolis) Holy Land Study Tour (May 11 – June 1) YTM Summer Institute (June 18-26) National Catholic Youth Choir (June 15-29) Conversatio Retreat on Stewardship with Fr. Dale Launderville, OSB (June 20-25) Collegeville Conference on Music, Liturgy, and Theology – New Music, New Texts: Preparing for a New Missal (June 21-24) Annual Monastic Institute: Benedictine Spirituality (June 27-July 1) Transitioning Into Ministry Retreat with Barbara Sutton, D.Min. July 18-23) Praying with The Saint John’s Bible Retreat (July 18-24) Conversatio Retreat on Justice with Bernard Evans, Ph.D. (July 25-30) Planning Meeting for the 2011 National Symposium on Lay Ecclesial Ministry (August 2-4)