September 12, 2017 The Journal of Pastoral Theology has just published an article authored by IPS Adjunct Professor, AHyun Lee. In the article entitled “What Do I Call You?” Postcolonial Pastoral Care and Counseling: Ambiguous Sense of Self with Perspectives on the Experience of Korean Clergywomen, Professor Lee “explores the ambiguous sense of self with the complexity of the psychological experiences of racial–ethnic minority women, especially Korean immigrant women’s subordinate roles in intercultural contexts”. Professor Lee interviews five ordained Korean clergywomen to “address the psychological influence of stereotyped representations and expectations that intersect with race, gender, immigration, and cultures”. To read the full text of Professor Lee’s article, go here: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/xJT3P7D4yf97vPINKhXx/full. Professor Lee is currently teaching IPS 472 (Pastoral Counseling in an Intercultural Context) this Fall semester. You can reach her at alee27@luc.edu.
9-12-2017|Comments Off on IPS Professor AHyun Lee article in Journal of Pastoral Theology
This past July, the Association of Theological Schools awarded IPS a grant to “develop and implement an innovative and nationally-recognized integrated formation program for students and faculty that includes intercultural competency”. Carol Taliaferro has just joined IPS as Coordinator of Formation to spearhead this strategic mandate.
We recently sat down with Carol to talk to her about her journey to IPS.
What brought you to IPS last spring? What course did you teach? Last spring a position became available for an Instructor for Spiritual Practicum II. One of the faculty members advised me of the vacancy and asked if I would be interested. I said yes, submitted my Curriculum Vitae, had an interview with the Dean, and to my surprise was offered the job as an Adjunct Instructor. As a Spiritual Director, I was very enthusiastic yet a bit anxious about teaching the course as this was my first teaching experience with IPS.
Have you always been involved in the education field? No, I have not always been involved in the education field. In fact, although I have done some informal teaching, IPS was my first professional teaching assignment.
How did that first teaching assignment unfold?As with most new endeavors there are things that you do well and some things that may require some improvement. I really enjoyed my first teaching assignment. I could not have asked for a better class. I only hope that their lives were enriched as much as teaching them enriched mine. I must say that I am truly grateful for the experience. I found that amazing things happen when you allow yourself to be stretched beyond your preconceived capabilities and self-imposed limitations.
What does the term “formation” mean for you? To me the term formation means human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral preparation for those who are planning to enter ministry.
What drew you to the Coordinator of Formation opportunity here at IPS? What drew me to the Coordinator of Formation opportunity at IPS was being able to help the students to find opportunities that will meet their personal developmental needs as they prepare to take on their ministerial and/or pastoral responsibilities.
What are you most excited for as the Coordinator of Formation? As the Coordinator of Formation I am most excited about getting to interact with the students, faculty and staff. I look forward to working with them and becoming familiar with their needs and doing all I can to assure that they are met. I am excited about piloting a new position in IPS and look forward to meeting and mastering the challenges this entails.
How will the presence of an in-house Coordinator of Formation concretely impact the lives of IPS students, faculty and staff? The presence of an in-house Coordinator of Formation will impact the IPS students, faculty and staff because they will have a direct source to refer to or one contact point when searching for personal formation opportunities. As Coordinator of Formation I will be collaborating with other departments, especially, Campus Ministry and the Division of Student Development and will advise the student, faculty and staff of what is available using social media and/or other forms of notification. I will also be available for personal consultations as requested.
Can you share something about your prayer life practice that a fellow IPS community member may be able to rest in? When I was first contemplating going into ministry, I was talking with a close friend and I told him that I didn’t really think I was ready for ministry, that I didn’t think I was smart enough, because all of the great theologians seemed to be brilliant. So much so, that I didn’t understand anything they were trying to convey. His response to me was “God does not call the qualified, God qualifies the called.” My friend has since passed on, but whenever I am confronted with a new challenge I remember his words. I then stop, take a deep breath, quietly reflect for a moment and trust that God has provided me with all that I need.
How can a member of the IPS family connect with you? The IPS family can contact me at ctaliaferro1@luc.edu.
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
On Monday, April 24th Loyola’s Institute for Pastoral Studies invited me to hear former President Barack Hussein Obama speak at the University of Chicago. It would be his first public appearance and speech post-presidency, and he decided that it would be with young future leaders from different academic institutions. In 2008, I voted for a presidential candidate for the first time. At no point in my teenage years did I think of voting as a way to demonstrate my contribution to a fair and just society for all Americans. Gaining the right to vote seemed a rite of passage of sorts, like seeing an R-rated movie when turning 17; but for me it held no real potentialities of equality for those who were disenfranchised and underserved. I did not know that by the time I was of voting age, I would be invested in the political process until President Obama was on the ballot. One could say the same of anything that does not matter until it does. How one gets to their destination is irrelevant for a child sitting passively in a car, until that child begins to navigate the car. Yet, I never thought voting could benefit me and persons who looked like me until I saw a person running for office who was from my city and had my skin complexion.
When President Obama won the 2008 election I was in disbelief. Yeah, I voted for him but what were the odds that he would actually win? In 2012, I became hopeful that we could live in a country where all persons mattered because we were employing those in society who typically were marginalized and deemed unfit to be president. However, in the 2016 election I was reminded of this country’s resistance to change. Why this country consistently institutes wealthy older heterosexual white men to lead us baffles me. It’s as if America said “you know what – we are going to elect the richest, oldest and most misogynistic white man to ever run for presidency to fix everything that is wrong with America to ‘make her great again!’” Straight again. Hate again. Keep her led by a man that most cannot stand, but if all else fails at least she represents whiteness and that historically has equated to dominance. Yet somehow – despite this country’s proclivity to tradition – attending the conversation with former President Barack Obama and young future leaders at the University of Chicago reminded me that anything is possible when young people are inspired to go out and change the world.
President Obama decided to speak briefly and allow the panel of youth to do much of the talking. The take away points from his time with us was “not to worry so much about what we want to be, but pursue what we want to do.” If we figure out what we want to do, we will spend our lives pursuing this doing, and maybe along the way we will discover that we are what we wanted to be. Dope!
His last note-worthy point was a reiteration of a point made by a student who said we should “listen to each other to understand versus listening to respond.” He honed in on this point as a lesson for life that he learned the hard way through his years of marriage. Given the fact that the U.S. does not share a common history, and no longer shares commonality in our gathering of news – for better or for worse – it has definitely strained our ability to listen to understand the other. As a black woman, I think listening to respond has always been at play as it concerns my people and our struggles in this country. Currently, my experience of this petition of “listening to understand” is a prevailing discourse in society because the dominant culture is experiencing the sting of oppression in a country that has typically worked for them, and however devastating dominant culture believes this past election was, it came as no surprise to those who have experienced oppression in various forms.
Obama was a reminder that there is good in the world. Not because of his political views, skin color and commitments or lack thereof, but by virtue of who was in the room; to my left an Asian student, to my right a Latina, in front of me a woman wearing a hijab and all the way in the corner an older all-too-giddy white male professor honored to be a part of such a profound opportunity. The point I’m making is that the room was filled with the “other.” We were listening, laughing and understanding despite any and all potential differences. There, in the Logan Center for the Arts Performance Hall we gathered for a common cause… to represent our academic institutions and to have a conversation with President Obama.
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
Watch Dr. Daniel Rhodes, IPS faculty member,talk about his recently released book: Organizing Church: Grassroots Practices for Embodying Change in Your Congregation, Your Community, and Our World.
Reviews
“Lots of people are fed up with ‘organized religion.’ They recognize that religion is too often poorly organized-or well organized around the wrong purposes! Drawing wisdom from the important field of community organizing, this book helps you imagine a church organizing well and for the right purposes.” – Brian D. McLaren, Activist, Author
“Conder and Rhodes have led community organizing ministry in their contexts; now they guide us in organizing the church Christ means for us to be.” – Will Willimon, Duke Divinity School, United Methodist School (retired)
“A very timely book! Tim and Dan invite you down a path that’s not for the faint of heart or the dull of spirit.” – Vanna Fox, Senior Vice President, Wild Goose Festival
“The Church is badly in need of an ecclesiology that is world-centered and not self-centered.” – Gerald Kellman, Reinvestment Organizer and Barack Obama’s Organizing Mentor
3-28-2017|Comments Off on Book Announcement: Organizing Church: Grassroots Practices for Embodying Change in Your Congregation, Your Community, and Our World
Just a few days after the new president was inaugurated, he began making drastic changes in our country. People took to the streets, and the airports, in protest of the measure which banned immigrants from seven Muslim countries, and Syrian refugees. Though it was denied that this was a “Muslim ban”, it is hard to reason why Christian refugees were still allowed to enter the country, under this temporary executive order. In response to this order many bishops of the Catholic Church have spoken out against the order, calling the faithful to act in solidarity with the refugees and make their voices heard in defense of human dignity, citing the Church’s long-standing commitment to care for the defenseless of other faiths. The Catholic Church is a refuge for the defenseless, the stranger, the marginalized. Likewise, many institutions across the country have proclaimed their status as a sanctuary for those affected by this executive order, or any future order which does not regard their human dignity and basic human rights.
In a letter to the school in December, Loyola University Chicago President, Dr. Jo Ann Rooney said the following:
On Wednesday, a statement of support was published by the presidents of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) to reaffirm our commitment to undocumented students on our campuses and our unwavering support for all students, faculty, and staff, regardless of their faith traditions. This statement reflects the shared mission and values that are central to our Jesuit, Catholic tradition.
On behalf of the University, I also signed on to a statement of support initiated by Pomona College, which now has more than 400 signatures.
I encourage you to read both statements and thank you for your continued support and contributions to our mission.
The events of the past weeks have been troubling in so many ways, but one note of encouragement has been the way people are coming together in solidarity across the country to stand up for the rights of others. I attended the protests at Chicago O’Hare airport and witnessed the diversity of the people protesting. The love and acceptance was palpable. These events have reminded people of basic shared humanity, and how the threat to basic human rights can tear lives apart. People stood together to make a statement that these actions will continue to be resisted, challenged, and overturned. Those with any amount of power will continue to use their power to help the powerless and the defenseless. At Loyola, we will continue to be people with and for others.
On January 21, 2017, the day after the new presidential inauguration, people marched in cities all over the country for the largest protest in the history of the United States of America and more joined around the world in organized events with the title of “Women’s March”. Students and faculty of Loyola’s Institute of Pastoral Studies marched to show the new administration that people will not back down in the face of injustice. It was the Women’s March, but we marched for so much more. We marched for all those facing the many forms of injustice including, racial, gender, and religious discrimination, violence, poverty, for the marginalized of our society, for refugees and immigrants, for access to affordable healthcare, for environmental protection, and for much more.
As a Catholic Jesuit school, we are called to be people for others, to stand up for social justice and follow in the footsteps of activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day who began the Catholic Worker movement, and Jane Addams the founder of the Hull House here in Chicago, to name on a few in the long line of modern-day prophets working for justice. The signs of the march echoed the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching: honoring the dignity of the human person, the call to family community and participation, the protection of rights and responsibilities, the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable of our society, the dignity of work and the rights of workers, the call to solidarity as one human and global family, and a call to care for God’s creation.
DukhNiwaran Kaur Khalsa(pictured center-left in the photo to the right), a pastoral counseling student at IPS, travelled to Washington DC for the march. She said of her experience, “What an empowering experience of unity in diversity! 500,000 people from all walks of life each with our own passionate agenda, standing up for the rights of ALL of us without exception. THIS is what democracy looks like!”
Kate Wester (pictured left), a pastoral counseling student at IPS, said this of her experience at the Women’s March in Chicago: “Being at the women’s march was an incredibly moving and positive experience. I saw all kinds of people coming together, peacefully to voice their vision for our country and our world. I went because I believe change will only happen from the bottom up. I want my voice to be heard, and I want to share my vision for a world without oppression that is inclusive and affirming for all people, and reverent towards our environment. Or, as a sign I saw said, ‘The patriarchy won’t smash itself!'”
Dr. Therese Lysaught (pictured far-left) attended the Women’s March in Madison, WI. She said: “Before we left Saturday morning, news sites were estimating that approximately 10-15K people would turn out for the Women’s March in Madison. Madison turned out to be one of the biggest marches in the country with 75-100K. We were stunned by how many people were with us. We were delighted by the age range—from babies to 85 year old women, the presence of so many men, the coalition of real issues named on the signs. Seeing so many who were willing to come out, to show up, to use their bodies as well as their voices to protest what is happening gave me a huge sense of relief as well as a re-infusion of hope. It also motivated me to continue to take concrete actions to add my voice to our political process in ways that I never really have done before. I’m so glad to be at the IPS and Loyola University Chicago, surrounded by colleagues and friends to whom all these things matter as well.”
Patrice Nerone, IPS student attended the Women’s March in Chicago and said: “I joined the women’s march as a sign of my intention to be committed to myself and to the best interests of vulnerable people, to mark an end to complacency in the face of social injustice. By marching, I pledged to resist policies that I believe infringe upon our basic human rights, freedoms, and dignity. By marching, I found my voice and raised it in unison with others and for others, thereby empowering myself with the hope of empowering others.”
As a student here at IPS and a future counselor, I plan to be involved in social justice and in our community, and so I was eager to travel to Washington DC to join in the Women’s March on Washington, to listen to the stories of others marching and to be seen and counted in this effort. Marchers were friendly but passionate, angry but peaceful, and saddened yet committed to action. We heard the words of intersectional feminism and the challenge to do more for our sisters and brothers, calling our senators and being heard. It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many people fighting for what they believe. This was solidarity and love in action. It is only the beginning of the consistent work that is needed. Check out more photos of the Women’s March on Washington below.
