Category : IPS Events

IPS Introduces New Clinical Instructor Dr. Deborah Watson

The Institute for Pastoral Studies is excited to welcome Dr. Deborah Watson on-board and introduce her to our community. Dr. Watson will begin her time as a Clinical Instructor with the Pastoral Counseling program this Fall 2017. Graduate Assistant, Ramona Gant, asked Dr. Watson a series of questions and here are some of her responses. We hope this Q & A session will give you a preview of what you can look forward to from Dr. Watson.

What graduate seminars would you like to teach?

My favorite courses to teach are family systems theory (comparable to IPS Family Therapy & Personal Transformation) and individual theories (comparable to IPS Models of Pastoral Counseling). Having a theoretical framework to organize all the information one gathers is necessary and associated with positive outcomes. Additionally, I find building that theoretical framework quite fun. I also enjoy working with practicum students, as it is the culmination of years of study and a time to apply what they have learned—an exciting part of the educational journey to be on with students as they begin to put into practice all that they have been preparing for.

What is your next major project, after you finish your work on your current one?

That is a great question. I was scheduled to leave for Bhutan on August 16 to continue my work there. Now, I am on my way to teach at Loyola and cannot be more excited to see what my next project will be.

What was your graduate program like, and do you feel it was effective in training students for jobs?

I had an awesome graduate program. It was a comprehensive and rigorous program. We had exposure to many ideas and resources. We had a diverse faculty body, particularly in regards to theories, experiences, and passions. This diversity gave students a wide range of teaching styles and exposure to different areas of interest and resources that enhanced student learning, preparedness, and adaptability. Preparing students for a multitude of job opportunities (e.g. advocacy, wellness, community work, clinical work, education etc.).

How did you prepare for the job market?

I have always stayed engaged with the communities I am involved with. Over the years that includes local churches, schools, and social service agencies. These connections keep me current with social and political happenings and the needs of the people or students I work with. Having personal and professional networks and being involved with people and projects not only bring purpose and meaning to my life but simultaneously keeps me current with information, skills, technology, networking, and trends (although I must add there is always room for improvement). As I was working on my doctorate in education, I always strived to expand my worldview or perspectives, to learn not only about others but myself (I believe a necessary ingredient in the helping professions). I have stayed an active member of the American Counseling Association (ACA), the National Board of Certified Counselors International (NBCC-I), the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), and the Illinois Counseling Association (ICA). I recently attended a conference hosted by the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC) in Richmond, Virginia, where I connected with colleagues that spent time in Bhutan working on the same project that I was working on (helping to build a mental health counseling infrastructure).

What do you do for fun?

I love to travel, listen to music, and play games. My greatest pleasure comes from spending time with family and friends. I also enjoy taking walks and going on bike rides (in the great outdoors).

8-01-2017 | Comments Off on IPS Introduces New Clinical Instructor Dr. Deborah Watson

IPS Receives Innovative Projects Grant for Contextual Education from the Association of Theological Schools

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.

 

7-18-2017 | Comments Off on IPS Receives Innovative Projects Grant for Contextual Education from the Association of Theological Schools

IPS Receives Innovative Projects Grant for Contextual Education from the Association of Theological Schools

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.

 

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IPS Receives Planning Grant from the Lilly Endowment

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

IPS Receives Planning Grant from the Lilly Endowment

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. 

 

 

 

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Dedication of Gilmour Connections Cafe

 

Peter Gilmour, D. Min, Professor Emeritus at IPS and recipient of the IPS Aggiornamento Award in 2014 was recently honored at the naming of Connections Café, to Gilmour’s Connections Café. Peter Gilmour Is a Loyola alum (BS ’64, MRE ’71) and has been involved with Loyola’s Institute of Pastoral Studies since inception in 1964. Please read his speech below and take a look at the pictures from the dedication. Peter can be frequently seen hanging out in the café, and we hope you’ll make a stop over there and enjoy some coffee and good conversation. Gilmour’s Connection Café can be found in between the Information Commons and Cudahy Library at the Lake Shore Campus.

Mellow Coffee and Strong Conversation

Remarks by Peter Gilmour at the dedication of Gilmour’s Connections Café at Loyola University Chicago, April 12, 2017.

“I’ve heard it said that near death experiences bring on a sudden review of one’s life.  Seeing you all here this morning brings on a flashback of my own life, but, thankfully, without a near death experience.  I’m delighted to be here today with my cousin Joan, former students from St. George High School, Loyola faculty and staff, friends from the Sheil Catholic Center, and yet others from near and far.  And to think this is happening during National Library Week.  Thanks for celebrating this moment as we sip mellow coffee and strong conversation.

I have lingered at Loyola for 3/4th of my life now, from undergraduate student to Professor Emeritus.  I have witnessed and been part of many changes these past 57 years.  And now, another change, naming this cafe Gilmour, a name I share with other family members who attended Loyola — my father, my brother, and my cousin.

So Loyola is alive and thriving because of change.

If people and institutions don’t change, rigor mortis sets in, a sure sign of death.  Coffee houses and this café are great examples of change.  In 1677, an Oxford academic by the name of Anthony Wood complained about coffee houses: “Why doth solid and serious learning decline, and few nor none follow it now in the University?”  His answer: “Because of Coffee Houses, where they spend all their time.”

When I was an undergraduate, the only type of cafes were neighborhood greasy spoons: the Pantry, Standees, and the infamous Cindy Sues located on what is now the Loyola Plaza in front of the el station (Loyola graduate and noted Chicago author Stuart Dybek sets his short story “Tea Ceremony” at Cindy Sues that appears in his recent book, Ecstatic Cahoots).  Here in this library you were not allowed to bring food or drink into the building, and silence reigned supreme.  Today, in the heart of this library and information commons, this café serves up what used to be contraband — mellow coffee and strong conversation — now within the heart of the university!

Yes, change keeps thing alive and vibrant.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have been present at the creation of the Institute of Pastoral Studies back in 1964, and having been part of it for my entire career.  I met the most fascinating and dedicated students from near and far in my courses through the years.  My many colleagues were a source of inspiration to me.  And I never would have been able to research and publish without their ever ongoing encouragement coupled with this university’s fine library services, and the research leaves and grants Loyola awarded me.

Since my retirement, I have devoted time to the promotion of the Loyola libraries through serving on the Friends of the Libraries Board.  My special interest has been to develop a catalog of Loyola Alumni who have published books.  This ongoing and never ending project has identified close to 400 alums who have written more than 800 books.

Thank you Loyola University for all these opportunities to further its mission, give me such a fascinating series of personal and professional experiences, and, today, for the honor of this café now named Gilmour.  I am forever grateful for this connection to mellow coffee and strong conversation.

That’s one thing that will not change!”

Below is a video and Dr. Peter Gilmour receiving the 2014 IPS Aggiornamento Award:

https://youtu.be/yVg1udU7acY

**Photos 1 and 3 borrowed from Loyola University Chicago University Libraries Facebook page.

4-13-2017 | Comments Off on Dedication of Gilmour Connections Cafe

Dedication of Gilmour Connections Cafe

 

Peter Gilmour, D. Min, Professor Emeritus at IPS and recipient of the IPS Aggiornamento Award in 2014 was recently honored at the naming of Connections Café, to Gilmour’s Connections Café. Peter Gilmour Is a Loyola alum (BS ’64, MRE ’71) and has been involved with Loyola’s Institute of Pastoral Studies since inception in 1964. Please read his speech below and take a look at the pictures from the dedication. Peter can be frequently seen hanging out in the café, and we hope you’ll make a stop over there and enjoy some coffee and good conversation. Gilmour’s Connection Café can be found in between the Information Commons and Cudahy Library at the Lake Shore Campus.

Mellow Coffee and Strong Conversation

Remarks by Peter Gilmour at the dedication of Gilmour’s Connections Café at Loyola University Chicago, April 12, 2017.

“I’ve heard it said that near death experiences bring on a sudden review of one’s life.  Seeing you all here this morning brings on a flashback of my own life, but, thankfully, without a near death experience.  I’m delighted to be here today with my cousin Joan, former students from St. George High School, Loyola faculty and staff, friends from the Sheil Catholic Center, and yet others from near and far.  And to think this is happening during National Library Week.  Thanks for celebrating this moment as we sip mellow coffee and strong conversation.

I have lingered at Loyola for 3/4th of my life now, from undergraduate student to Professor Emeritus.  I have witnessed and been part of many changes these past 57 years.  And now, another change, naming this cafe Gilmour, a name I share with other family members who attended Loyola — my father, my brother, and my cousin.

So Loyola is alive and thriving because of change.

If people and institutions don’t change, rigor mortis sets in, a sure sign of death.  Coffee houses and this café are great examples of change.  In 1677, an Oxford academic by the name of Anthony Wood complained about coffee houses: “Why doth solid and serious learning decline, and few nor none follow it now in the University?”  His answer: “Because of Coffee Houses, where they spend all their time.”

When I was an undergraduate, the only type of cafes were neighborhood greasy spoons: the Pantry, Standees, and the infamous Cindy Sues located on what is now the Loyola Plaza in front of the el station (Loyola graduate and noted Chicago author Stuart Dybek sets his short story “Tea Ceremony” at Cindy Sues that appears in his recent book, Ecstatic Cahoots).  Here in this library you were not allowed to bring food or drink into the building, and silence reigned supreme.  Today, in the heart of this library and information commons, this café serves up what used to be contraband — mellow coffee and strong conversation — now within the heart of the university!

Yes, change keeps thing alive and vibrant.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have been present at the creation of the Institute of Pastoral Studies back in 1964, and having been part of it for my entire career.  I met the most fascinating and dedicated students from near and far in my courses through the years.  My many colleagues were a source of inspiration to me.  And I never would have been able to research and publish without their ever ongoing encouragement coupled with this university’s fine library services, and the research leaves and grants Loyola awarded me.

Since my retirement, I have devoted time to the promotion of the Loyola libraries through serving on the Friends of the Libraries Board.  My special interest has been to develop a catalog of Loyola Alumni who have published books.  This ongoing and never ending project has identified close to 400 alums who have written more than 800 books.

Thank you Loyola University for all these opportunities to further its mission, give me such a fascinating series of personal and professional experiences, and, today, for the honor of this café now named Gilmour.  I am forever grateful for this connection to mellow coffee and strong conversation.

That’s one thing that will not change!”

Below is a video and Dr. Peter Gilmour receiving the 2014 IPS Aggiornamento Award:

https://youtu.be/yVg1udU7acY

**Photos 1 and 3 borrowed from Loyola University Chicago University Libraries Facebook page.

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