The Association of Theological Schools, has awarded the Institute of Pastoral Studies and Dr. Dan Rhodes with an innovative projects grant to aid in a new approach to Contextual Education. This project will form equipped leaders to serve the church and society in the twenty-first century and will pioneer a model of theological education based on the process of action research teams.
The long-term goal is to implement a thoroughly reimagined approach to CE based on a model of Theological Action Research Teams (TART). This expanded and more thoroughly integrated approach to CE engages students from their first semester forward. It shifts to a 30-week placement accompanied by coaching, learning communities, skill-focused workshops, and practical instruction. Working with community partners, students will engage in discerning community-identified issues and, subsequently, organize community-based, co-creative, and theologically informed initiatives for addressing these issues. Additionally, this approach aims to develop a program of theological education that attracts and retains underserved and underrepresented students as well as engendering new faculty scholarship across theological/ministerial specialties rooted in community collaboration.
This year, the CE program will begin research and preliminary steps toward instituting the TART model, building infrastructure, strengthening community partnerships, and developing programmatic components aiming to launch the first IPS student cohort to engage the TART/CE model in Fall 2018.
The Association of Theological Schools, has awarded the Institute of Pastoral Studies a formation grant to aid in a major initiative to “develop and implement an innovative and nationally-recognized integrated formation program for students and faculty that includes intercultural competency” – which will fulfill part of IPS’ strategic plan.
The goal of the formation program is to incorporate opportunities for personal and spiritual formation in high quality theological ministerial education by developing a variety of personal capacities required for pastoral leadership. Two major components of the grant include engaging faculty in their own personal and spiritual formation and researching best-practices with regard to total integrated formation, specifically attending to intercultural competency.
The formation period begins with a two- day faculty/staff retreat in mid-August as a way to launch the academic year. In conjunction with the retreat, the faculty will continue to focus on the process with readings and discussion at monthly meetings. The process will culminate with a second retreat in April, where faculty and staff will reflect on key learnings discussed throughout the academic year. The outcome will be a pilot integrative formation program for students and faculty incorporating intercultural competencies to begin in the fall of 2018.
7-12-2017|Comments Off on IPS Receives Formation Grant from the Association of Theological Schools
Lilly Endowment Inc, has awarded the Institute of Pastoral Studies a planning grant as part of Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose, a new initiative. Dr. Dan Rhodes, IPS Faculty Coordinator of Contextual Education, and Mark Bersano, IPS Coordinator of Continuing Education, will lead the planning process. The grant will fund the planning of an “innovation hub” at Loyola’s IPS, which will seek to help congregations learn more about their calling and purpose within their parish communities.
The goal of the planning process is to listen to members of congregations in the Chicagoland area to distill the challenges they are facing and to learn how their communities may be able to work together to engage their faith and God’s call more deeply. The planning process will have three parts. The first step will include individual meetings with clergy and staff from the congregations. The second step will include regional meetings, discussions and listening sessions for the clergy and lay ministers in congregations. The final step will be a large central assembly on July 19 where all of the above participants will come together.
The planning period will be devoted to gathering perspectives, insights and other information that will help IPS create an “innovation hub” for congregations. The hub will seek to offer resources and opportunities for collaboration to help faith communities strengthen their role as places where people at every stage of life – including youth – find ways to discern and live lives of calling and purpose more deeply.
7-05-2017|Comments Off on IPS Receives Planning Grant from the Lilly Endowment
On April 6, 2017, The Institute of Pastoral Studies and Alumni Relations cosponsored a panel discussion event to discuss homelessness at the international, national and local levels. The panel of distinguished guests was made up of: Mark McGreevey from the Institute of Global Homelessness, Dr. Nonie Brennen, the CEO of All Chicago, Making Homelessness History, and Charles Levesque, the Executive Director of Depaul USA.
If you were unable to attend the event please see the video of the evening below, and click on the photo to the right where you will find the IPS Flickr album from this event.
This series of blog posts will feature six IPS students. Read their thoughts on their degree programs, why they chose IPS, and what they hope to do after IPS.
Ramona N. Gant
Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling/ Master of Divinity
Hometown: Chicago, IL
I came to IPS after being enrolled in two different graduate programs. I guess you could say I was searching and when I heard about IPS I set up an interview with the Enrollment Advisor. After hearing about the Pastoral Counseling program, I knew that this was the place, and the best fit for me. I choose the Pastoral Counseling program because it was a clinical program that had spiritual undertones in its foundational structure. It’s nice to learn in an academic environment where God language is not left out of the classroom. Recently, I added on the M. Div. My bachelor’s degree is in Youth Ministry and it has always been the case that I would pursue a M. Div. The timing finally felt right. My hope upon completion of graduate school is to pursue my LPC while I continue to work as a part-time Youth Director at University Church in Hyde Park, as well as land a position in a counseling center where I can work towards obtaining my 2,000 for my LCPC.
DukhNiwaran Kaur Khalsa
Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling
Hometown: Chicago
I heard of Loyola’s IPS when I moved to Chicago in 1988. I had it on my back burner as I pursued my career in therapeutic massage and Kundalini Yoga. As my spiritual life expanded and as I found myself doing as much “counseling” as bodywork, I decided to merge these interests. I hope to serve people as they experience the challenges in their lives with a holistic – body, mind and spirit – approach with Pastoral Counseling. I was happy to find a Masters Program that would prepare me to be a licensed therapist and delve into spirituality as well as psychology. I hope to serve people who are struggling with their relationship to spirituality – people of all faith traditions and particularly people with no faith tradition. I hope to do this in private practice or at the treatment center I currently work at – or both! As a Sikh Minister, I also hope to serve my spiritual community both as a therapist and in leadership roles that can be informed by the depth of presence the skills and scholarship are giving me. The community of students I study with! I have made connections with people that start off in a deeper more meaningful place than most friendships do. We also have a broad ethnic diversity in our student population that inspires me.
Fr. Bruno Kaharuza Tibamwenda
Master of Arts in Christian Spirituality
Hometown: Mbarara Archdiocese, Uganda, Africa.
I came specifically to be trained in the skills of spirituality and spiritual direction. In fact, my story is a bit long though I may be brief, I was here in 2010 -2013 specifically for Pastoral counseling which was of great necessity in my home area as it is elsewhere on the globe. I have been in ministry as a priest for 20 years and I felt my ministry was no longer as effective as it should be. In sharing with my ordinary who had good knowledge of what Loyola is, he directed me to this school majorly because of her excellence in formation and education. It is a school that is well renowned on the globe for her excellence in training and forming her students in matters of discipline and academic excellence. I can now tell from my personal experience as an alumni, what I picked here helped me to have a positive impact on the ground. I could move the masses, people were healed and impacted psychologically. From their yearning and testimonies what came clearly upfront was a desire to be filled in matters of spirituality. As this was observed by many, my ordinary recommended that I come back to specialize in spirituality and spiritual direction so as to be able to help people who are in need in our diocese. After my graduation, I hope to be going back home to my home diocese to continue to address that pastoral need on the ground to be of benefit to my people. I love Loyola University for her dedication to her career of teaching and learning of her students, Loyola gives a lot of care to her students and aims at being relevant to needs of the time. This goal has had a great impact on her students and thus relevant to the modern world.
Destiny K. Mitchell
Master of Arts in Social Justice
Hometown: So. Chicago Heights
I chose to study social justice because I have always felt a call to serve others, especially underprivileged, muted groups. I chose to study IPS because I felt it would be a perfect integration of my passion for people, and the call for Christian stewardship. The factors that were most important for me when choosing a graduate degree were that I loved the subject material, and that I felt called to not only the field of study, but the program itself. Although I am unsure where I will ultimately end up career wise, I’d like to think I’ll be doing something with advocacy journalism or working in communication with a nonprofit post-graduation. One of the things I love most about IPS are my incredible peers who all have a great level of social consciousness and genuine care for other people.
Beatrice Phelps
Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
When I moved to Chicago for work I did so knowing that there were several universities in the area and many options for me to continue my studies. Having coming from another Jesuit university for my masters in theology I knew that Loyola and particularly the IPS would be a good fit for me to pursue the integration of my two passions, psychology and theology/spirituality. I contacted the program advisor for Pastoral Counseling and found that we had a lot in common. He made me feel comfortable with being able to complete the program while working full-time as teacher, and once I enrolled he helped me become part of the community at IPS. I came for the strong academics and the personal and pastoral approach to learning. What I love most about IPS is that the community is made up of a variety of faiths, ethnicities and cultures, ages, and life experiences. My time here has been enriched by all of this. After I complete this degree I hope to pursue a doctoral degree and study the integration of psychology and spirituality, while also continuing my licensure process and practicing clinical therapy.
Starr Young
Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling/Master of Divinity
Hometown: Chicago, IL
I learned about IPS through a recommendation from my mentor. In was in search of a program that would prepare me to be licensed counselor as well as further allow me to participate in the study of my faith. This is why I decided to pursue the dual degree of Masters of Pastoral Counseling and Masters of Divinity. The most important factors for me in choosing a graduate degree were the strength of the reputation of the faculty and quality of ministerial opportunities outside of the classroom. Upon graduation from IPS my professional goal is to combine my education and faith into a career as a counselor. I hope to one day open a community center where I can offer services to contribute to the healing of the mind, body, and spirit of each client. My personal and more immediate goal is to help to provide a place in the Catholic Churches of Chicago where Young Adults can feel accepted and inspired by their faith through a ministry entitled ReCiL (Reclaiming Christ in Life). I love IPS because of the community of faculty, staff, and students. The quality of what we learn in the classroom is superb but what sets IPS apart for me are the amazing people at IPS. The community is the perfect balance of supporting and challenging. I feel that IPS gives me all the tools I need to achieve my goals.
4-13-2017|Comments Off on IPS Student Spotlight Series: Reflections on Being an IPS Student
A university as a straight line from the Jesuits must point to a global formation, not only intellectual, a formation of the whole human person. In fact if the university becomes simply an academy of ideas or a «factory» of professionals or a mentality centered on business prevails in its structure then it is truly off the path. We have the [Spiritual] Exercises in hand. Here’s the challenge: take the university on the path of the Exercises. This means risking on the truth, and not on the «closed truth» that no one discusses. The truth of the encounter with people is open and requires that we let ourselves make enquiries truly from reality. And the Jesuit university must be involved with the real life of the Church and the Nation: also this is reality, in fact. A particular attention must be always be given to the marginalized, to the defense of those have more need of being protected. And this—it is clear—is not being a Communist: it is simply being truly involved with reality. In this case, in particular a Jesuit university must be fully involved with reality expressing the social thought of the Church. The free-market thought that removes man and woman from the center and puts money at the center is not ours. The doctrine of the Church is clear and it must move forward in this sense. – Pope Francis
This was drawn from a recent conversation with Pope Francis. With the Jesuits now gathered in their General Congregation to elect a new superior and to map out the future initiatives and strategies of the Society of Jesus, and the nation involved in an obviously polemical presidential campaign, join the whole community of IPS – students, faculty, staff, and alumni – in praying that the Holy Spirit guide us toward fulfilling this mandate.Let us follow our individual vocation to work for the in-breaking reign of God and to share our particular and collective charisms, thus playing our part in living the witness to which each of us is called.Let us never abandon our role to serve as prophets, ministers, educators, and disciples, or forsake the gospel for comfort, pride, wealth, or power. Let us live lives of justice, peace, solidarity, and holiness, realizing always that “Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his, to the Father through the features of men’s faces.”
Dr. Michael Canaris
10-12-2016|Comments Off on What is the role of the Jesuit universities?
We are sad to report that Mary Regula has left our parish. She joined the St. Gertrude staff last year, and quickly won everyone over with her hard work, keen organizational abilities, and terrific attitude.
She is moving with her family, her husband, Randy, and her sons—Andrew, a new graduate of St. Norbert College; Michael, a senior at Carthage College, and John, who just graduated from Mather High School.
Congratulations and best wishes to Mary, as she starts a new chapter of her life in Allouez, Wisconsin! She will be deeply missed by everyone at St. Gertrude!
Last week, Art Blumberg, came on board as Director of Parish Management and Facilities at St. Gertrude. This is actually his second time here. In the fall of 2013, he did his field work and internship for his Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS) degree at the parish, working mostly with Fr. Dom and the Gym Mass.
For the past two years, he has served as Director of Parish Operations at St. Philip the Apostle in Northfield. Prior to that, he earned a MAPS degree at the Institute for Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago, where he met and took classes with Abby Mikesell. He is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity at Loyola.
His family has long-standing ties to St. Gertrude. Art’s mother-in-law, Pat O’Callaghan, was a parishioner for many years and was often a lector at St. Gertrude East, and several of his nieces and nephews were baptized here.
Art and his wife Madeline have been married for 31 years and are parishioners at St. Margaret Mary, where they are active in several ministries. They have one son, Nick, who is an Associate Producer for the program Chicago Tonight on WTTW.
We ask you extend a warm welcome to Art as he adjusts to his new position here!
9-14-2016|Comments Off on Meet Our New Business Manager
This past December, Senator Dick Durbin came to Loyola to speak about undocumented students, the challenges and opportunities they face, and how his own work for comprehensive immigration reform has been informed by his Catholic faith and his experience as a first-generation American.
Senator Dick Durbin addressing the Loyola community
IPS Professor Dr. Michael Canaris was one of many IPS community members in attendance and he had this reflection to share about the event and the Senator’s speech:
“The Scriptures and Christian teaching are unambiguous in their call to stand in solidarity with the marginalized, the disadvantaged, and the exile, and to respect the dignity of every human person. Senator Durbin’s work on behalf of migrants and refugees throughout his career has echoed this mandate and, when traced through sponsorship of the DREAM Act for instance, helped in many ways to inspire a re-appreciation of Loyola’s commitment to this underserved population across disciplines. It’s an issue that reflects our values as a university rooted in Catholic and Jesuit traditions, and has historical antecedents going back to the school’s founding and in fact to the original Company of Ignatius.”
Senator Durbin’s talk hit home for many Loyola students who were in the audience who are immigrants and/or a part of the Senator’s DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act. These students, affectionately called Dreamers, continue to grow in number and attend colleges across the country, with the largest population right here at Loyola Chicago.
The event titled, “Undocumented Students: Perspectives from a US Senator informed by the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching and his own family’s story,” was live tweeted through the Loyola IPS Twitter account and spurred conversation using the hashtags: #SenDurbinSpeaks and #SenDurbinVisitsIPS. You can see some of the conversation below.
Loyola’s new Martrys Award was created to honor the Salvadoran Martyrs. This year marks the 26th anniversary of their assassination.
In a recent letter to the Loyola community, Interim President John Pelissero wrote, “Loyola honors the Salvadoran martyrs each year because in their lives and deaths, they exemplify the Jesuit and Catholic ideals and values that we seek to emulate, such as solidarity with the poor, working for social justice, and courageously witnessing to the truth.”
Each year, the award will be presented to a faith-based organization or individual who, among other things, strives to fight social injustice, educates others, and creates awareness of issues affecting the oppressed. In addition, there is a $25,000 grant that comes with the award. This money is intended to promote the legacy of the Martyrs in El Salvador and support Loyola’s commitment to social justice.
The first recipient of this annual award is The Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants (ICDI). ICDI’s Executive Director Sr. JoAnn Persch will be accepting the award on behalf of the organization. Persch gradated from IPS in 1971 with a degree in Religious Education.
Another IPS graduate, Chris Murphy, is Loyola’s current Director of Staff Mission Formation and Faculty Staff Chaplain. He said that the ICDI is “currently responding to migrants and refuges from El Salvador and Latin America. The suffering of these people is rooted in many of the same structural injustices to which the martyrs responded. The work of the Interfaith Committee reminds us of the way to which we are the direct heirs to, and responsible for, the ongoing mission of the martyrs. For the Interfaith Committee’s dedication to addressing injustice they will receive the Martyrs Award from Loyola University Chicago.”
When given the news of being the recipient of the Martyrs Award, Persch said, “As an alum of Loyola and as Director of ICDI it made me very proud. We are an ever growing program and this award will encourage our growth to be able to serve more people. To be selected as seeing our ministry in tune with the strong faith and courage of the martyrs is very touching.”
Sr. JoAnn Persch, RSM, a Loyola alumna, photographed at Sisters of Mercy in Chicago, on October 28, 2015. Sr. JoAnn is the recipient of the Martyr’s Award for the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants. (photo by Natalie Battaglia)
Persch began her long and successful career at IPS where she said she was given the foundation needed to carry out programs ranging from child and adult education to parish ministry.
She recalls that at the time, the IPS Religious Education program was only offered during the summer.
“We had outstanding professors who would come from all over to teach in the program for the summer,” Persch said. “I really enjoyed the Scripture classes and also then Father John Gorman (now Bishop Gorman) who taught religious psychology. I have used what I learned many times.”
As the co-founder of ICDI, Persch has been able to see the growth of ICDI in the nine years of its existence.
“I see the hand of God working in every way. We have such a wonderful committed staff and amazing volunteers who really see our responsibility to our immigrant sisters and brothers. The fact that in nine years we are able to assist through all of our programs has to be the work of God.” Persch added, “We all receive so much more than we give through our relationships with our immigrant sisters and brothers.”
Though Persch is living in the present and fighting social injustice day by day, she is also preparing of the future.
“I want to share leadership so that when I can no longer serve in this capacity others are prepared and imbued with the vision and mission of ICDI… I would hope that we could continue raising funds that will not only keep us solvent, but keep having the ability to grow to meet the needs as they arise.”
This award is not only a great honor and opportunity for Persch and her organization, it is also somewhat of a homecoming for her.
“IPS has always held a very special place in my heart and I am so happy to be connecting again.”
**The award ceremony is taking place on November 16 at 3:30 pm in Damen Student Center Multipurpose Room South. There will also be a Memorial Mass at 5:15 pm in Madonna Della Strada, followed by a reception in McCormick Lounge.
