A Lenten reflection from IPS Assistant Professor of Spirituality, Jean-Pierre Fortin:
According to the Gospel of John, when Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, he tells the Roman governor: “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). Jesus was born, came among us to bear witness to the truth. For us Christians, who profess to be followers of Jesus, a fundamental task and challenge to accomplish and face is to bear witness to Jesus. As it invites us to experience and celebrate the mystery of Christ’s Passion, death and resurrection in particular fashion, the Lenten/Easter season is a most suited time for us to reflect on the quality of the witness we bear of and to Christ.
A formative way to do this is to follow Pontius Pilate’s example, who admits to being profoundly challenged by the person and words of Jesus when he responds to Jesus’ witness with an honest question: “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Pilate opens himself to the possibility that he may be encountering a truth he had never foreseen. This encounter with truth in person may change who he is in profound ways. During this Lenten season, then, we may reflect on the ways Jesus questions our assumptions about our lives, we may think about the questions we have been carrying with us for some time (perhaps even a long time) which we know we should ask to Jesus in person. What are the questions that would liberate us, allowing us to pursue the truth revealed in Jesus in more faithful, complete fashion? We may bring these questions before Jesus in our prayer, with the desire and hope of being transformed so as to be able to bear witness to the truth that he is.
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See below for other Lenten offerings, resources, and events taking place around Loyola University Chicago and the greater Chicagoland area.
The Mission Office invites you to begin and end this Lenten season with an Ignatian examen focused on forgiveness and healing. Each session will begin with an examen followed by shared reflections on the insights or fruits of the examen. The first examen will focus on forgiveness, and as we begin Holy Week, the second examine will focus on healing. For more on this program, go to: https://www.luc.edu/mission/employeeprograms/lentenofferings/.
The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Department of Parish Vitality and Mission is delighted to provide Catholics and non-Catholics with a wide variety of opportunities to take Pope Francis’s words to heart and begin a Lenten mission of deepening relationships with those around them and with Jesus Christ. For specifics, go to this page: https://pvm.archchicago.org/lenten-resources.
Finally, for web-based resources, Campus Ministry has collated the below handout:
Coordinating Board Awards were first given in 1973 and are presented to individuals and groups within the Archdiocese in recognition and appreciation for their outstanding contributions to the life of the Church of Chicago.
In addition to IPS, the following also received a Coordinating Board Award:
Purpose over Pain
Wellness Programs for Priests- Loyola University, Ramute Kemeza, BSN, RN
Relevant Radio – Chicago
Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Radio and Television
IPS is humbled to receive a Coordinating Board Award, especially given the ACP’s mission:
To cooperate with the Archbishop in the Pastoral Care of the Local Church.
To foster dialogue and support among priests and deacons locally, nationally and abroad.
To nourish collaboration of priests and deacons with others serving in ministry.
To promote locally, ecumenism among the Christian Churches, and to cooperate with and promote interfaith dialogue with other faiths.
To seek cooperative action that promotes peace and justice through the entire metropolitan community, particularly noticing and attending to the needs of the poor and the alienated.
To strive for equality of women and men of all races and cultures.
Late this past January, two induction ceremonies took place in Liverpool and Darlington in the U.K. to mark the official launch of the new “Certificate in Pastoral Ministry for Dioceses in the North of England”, a program designed jointly by IPS in collaboration with Dioceses in the North of England.
Veronica Murphy and Catherine Darby, both from the Archdiocese of Liverpool, serve as the primary liaisons for this program. They have shared the following photos from the two induction ceremonies, saying:
“We had a wonderful Induction Day with the students from this side of the Pennines on Saturday. There was almost full attendance despite poor weather and great enthusiasm and excitement were apparent. Both the Induction Days were very well received & appreciated. (The students) very much enjoyed meeting one another face-to-face…It was a privilege to be with both groups who are now ready to launch into their first module!”
IPS professors Peter Jones and Michael Canaris will teach the first module — “What is Pastoral Ministry?” — starting this week. Over 50 registered students are expected to explore what being called to pastoral ministry in the church means today.
The “Certificate in Pastoral Ministry” program will consist of 10 six-week modules delivered in an online format utilizing faculty from IPS and England. The certificate is a non-degree, non-credit program offered over two years that equips lay ministers, teachers, deacons, and parish leaders with up-to-date knowledge, skills, and education for contemporary pastoral ministry. Upon completion of the 10 modules, students will be awarded a Certificate in Pastoral Ministry by IPS.
Fr. Ted Stone, a key figure in the founding of IPS in 1964, passed away on January 4th at the age of 91.
According to long-time IPS professor and Aggiornamento Award recipient Peter Gilmour, Fr. Ted was a Chicago diocesan priest who worked full-time in the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) office of the archdiocese when he helped co-found IPS.
Gilmour continues: “(Fr. Ted) worked closely with Michael Gannon to shape (IPS’s) first curriculum and community character. He was one of the major teachers in the summer program in its early years. (Fr. Ted) was well known internationally, having attended many of the “International Study Weeks on Catechetics” held around the world back then. He left the priesthood, married, and after his wife’s death, returned to the priesthood.”
“Stone was an associate pastor at Mary, Seat of Wisdom for 20 years, until his retirement in 2002, but continued to serve the parish in the years that followed, the archdiocese said.”
“According to the Archdiocese of Chicago, Stone requested to leave the priesthood in 1969 in order to marry. He and his wife had two children, but after her death in 1981, he looked to return to the priesthood, the archdiocese said.
In 1996, following the death of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago, Stone shared with the Chicago Tribune of how he sought Bernardin’s help in resuming his vocation. According to Stone, it took seven years of interceding before the cardinal was able to get church officials in Rome to approve Stone’s reinstatement.
He kept going back and back, trying to get the authorities to allow it,” Stone was quoted as saying.”
Luca Badetti, Community Life Director at L’Arche Chicago, recently honored Fr. Ted with a L’Arche post, writing “Ted lived fatherhood in various ways: both as a priest and as a father of two…He left the active priesthood in 1969, after which he married. He fathered Tim, a beloved core member of our L’Arche community, and Bethanne, a precious friend of our community…”
In recalling the last year of Fr. Ted’s life, Badetti adds, “Even through the health effects of aging, Ted seemed to walk on earth as a “man on a mission” would. A soft-spoken and humble man, his posture, his walk, his glances and his attentiveness seemed to be directed to something – or better, Someone – much larger than himself. Ted seemed to be in this world, yet not of it.”
Fr. Ted with Elbert, Christianne and Jean at a L’Arche event
We – the students, faculty, staff and alumni of IPS – wish to relay our heartfelt gratitude for the life of Fr. Ted Stone and our sincerest condolences to Fr. Ted’s remaining loved ones, including daughter, Bethanne Stone; son, Timothy Stone; and sisters Mary Lippa and Dorothy Moore.
1-30-2018|Comments Off on In Memoriam: IPS Co-Founder Fr. Ted Stone
IPS is now home to the Chicago Catholic Scripture School, a program that provides in-depth knowledge of the Bible within a Roman Catholic framework to parish leaders, deacons, catechists, staff members, and anyone wishing to deepen their understanding of scripture. The IPS Chicago Catholic Scripture School (IPS CCSS) falls under the Continuing Education (CE) umbrella within IPS and is overseen by IPS alumnus, Mark Bersano.
With the help of CE administrative assistant Mirta Garcia, Mark also supervises the following CE programs:
Parish Leadership and Management Programs
IPS Continuing Education Courses
Parish Health and Pastoral Care Ministry Certificate
Restorative Justice Ministry Certificate
Certificate in Pastoral Ministry for North England and Wales
English Pronunciation and Parish Enculturation Course
Legacy Leaders Fellowship Program (Check out our recent blog “Loyola-IPS Receives Grant from Henry Luce Foundation for Legacy Leaders Fellows Program”.)
IPS Retreats for Catholic School Teachers
We recently sat down with Mark to learn more about him and his growing contribution to the life of IPS.
Mark Bersano
Let’s begin with CONGRATULATIONS on your recent promotion to Assistant Dean for Continuing Education, Mark! Any thoughts on this recognition?
It’s a great honor and I’m proud and very grateful to have the new title. It affirms the work Mirta and I are doing with Continuing Education and the importance of this work to the community. I’m both grateful and humbled. The title change should open more doors as I negotiate new Continuing Education programs and course offerings.
I understand you’re an IPS alumnus. Can you tell us a little bit about what you were doing prior to enrolling at IPS?
Before coming to Loyola in 2005, I was the Chief Deputy Recorder and Director of Technology for the Will County Recorder of Deeds Office in Joliet. I was a one-person computer department, overseeing and maintaining six servers, 75 user workstations, and a 20-million record database. I oversaw RFP’s for hardware and software; configured and maintained servers, databases, and networking equipment; trained users; improved process efficiency; and basically administered every piece of equipment in the office. When I came to IPS I often joked that I no longer wanted to deal with anything that had an electrical plug.
Why did you choose IPS? What did you study?
A colleague in the Management Information Systems Department in Will County was doing her MA in Pastoral Studies with IPS. She told me about a new MA in Social Justice degree that IPS was starting. I came in and spoke with Mary Elsbernd (who oversaw the Social Justice MA at that time), and was enrolled in the very first social justice course in the summer of 2005. I was impressed with the Jesuit ideals around social justice and the way IPS offered a transformational education experience. After the first course, I was hooked and ended up working with a major university grant project while I pursued my studies for the MASJ.
What was life like as an IPS student? Any particular memories of classes, characters, etc. that remain with you to this day?
Classes were wonderful—with so many interesting people as both instructors and classmates. Discussions were always rich and courses were challenging and thought provoking. The semester that stands out the most for me was Spring 2008—my final semester. I took Hearts on Fire to learn about Ignatian Spirituality at the same time as a Nonviolence class based in Franciscan teaching. The courses complemented each other and I felt quite steeped in the two traditions. When the Hearts on Fire course ended, no one wanted to leave the classroom. We stayed after the last session for a couple of hours just chatting. I’m still in touch with some of those classmates, nearly 10 years later.
How did you become the Coordinator of Continuing Education (CE) here at IPS?
While I was working on my MASJ degree, I worked for a Lilly Grant called INSPIRE. It was a partnership between LUC and the Archdiocese of Chicago that supported teambuilding on the staffs of Catholic parishes. When I graduated, I went to work for the grant full time. When the grant ended, my current role was created to extend the learning of INSPIRE into the future, and now I am in charge of all Continuing Education programs that IPS provides.
What is your mission as Assistant Dean for Continuing Education?
My mission is to provide engaging non-degree educational opportunities to people in parishes and congregations who wish to supplement their knowledge in service of the Church. This role developed out of the INSPIRE project, which ended in 2013. I have been working at IPS in this capacity since 2014.
How is your IPS degree allowing you to fulfill your goals as Assistant Dean for Continuing Education at IPS?
My social justice degree coupled with my work with INSPIRE provided me with a wonderfully supportive network of people in diocesan and congregational roles. I also got a great understanding of the educational needs of people in parishes. Armed with these tools, I’m able to effectively interface with a wide variety of people, assess needs, and create educational opportunities to address those needs. My office aspires to be flexible in order to address continuing education needs in real time as they surface.
You and Mirta continue to service an increasing number of constituencies. What are the highlights/challenges associated with such growth?
The highlight is certainly that we have the opportunity to do a lot of different things with a very diverse group of people. For example, we’re working on a new restorative justice ministry. New ideas and opportunities are always arising, and we’re able to act on them relatively quickly. The challenge is that with so many projects, it can be difficult for two of us to keep up! We’re creating projects based on innovative ideas at a much faster rate than we can make them reality.
Mark Bersano and Mirta Garcia
Can you share a personal spiritual practice that a fellow IPS community member may find helpful?
At night before bed, I try to assess what’s going on with me—an examen of sorts. I try to move into an “observer” mode. I look at my emotions, knowing that they are not me. I look at my thoughts, knowing that they are not me. I look at my body and any pains or physical sensations—knowing that they are not me. I look at all of the things stimulating my emotions and thoughts, knowing that they are not me. I recall that I am consciousness—the observer of all these things. That’s me. It’s a very emotionally grounding and calming exercise.
Any words of wisdom for IPS students unsure about how their current studies will manifest concretely down the line?
Stay present. Learn. Absorb. Build relationships. You never know how what you learn or who you meet will manifest in your life later. It’s part of the great mystery.
Did you know that in the last three years, several IPS Faculty have published over fifty-plus scholarly works?
Congratulations to Michael Canaris, Jean-Pierre Fortin, Peter Jones, Therese Lysaught, Daniel Rhodes, Heidi Russell, William Schmidt, Brian Schmisek, and Deborah Watson for continuing to uphold IPS’s tradition of dynamic scholarship as an integral component to the formation of diverse and dynamic leaders for creative, compassionate, and courageous service to church and society.
These published works are broken down as follows:
Books: 10
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals: 18
Chapters in Books: 9
Encyclopedia articles and other academic publications: 3
Pastoral Resources: 7
Book Reviews: 7
For a full list of these published works, read on below.
Books (10)
Rhodes, Daniel. Can I Get a Witness? The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press)
Canaris, Michael M. Living Christian Joy Daily: Everyone’s Call – Essays from Rome. Co-edited with Donna Orsuto, STD. Foreword by Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2017.
Rhodes, Daniel, and Tim Condor. Organizing Church: Grassroots Practices for Changing Your Congregation, Your Community, and Our World (Chalice Press, 2017).
Russell, Heidi. The Source of All Love: Catholicity and the Trinity. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian. The Rome of Peter and Paul: A Pilgrim’s Guide to New Testament Sites in the Eternal City. Pickwick Publications, 2017.
Canaris, Michael M. Francis A. Sullivan, S.J., and Ecclesiological Hermeneutics: An Exercise in Faithful Creativity. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. Grace in Auschwitz: A Holocaust Christology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.
Schmisek, Brian. Ancient faith for the modern world: a brief guide to the Apostles Creed. Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications, 2016.
Schmisek, Brian. A Greek reader for Chase and Phillips selections from antiquity. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016.
Russell, Heidi. Quantum Shift: Theological and Pastoral Implications of Contemporary Developments in Science. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2015.
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals (18)
Canaris, Michael M. “The Church as Migrant: A New Model of the Church for a ‘Cross-ing’ People,” The Ecumenist (in press).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Prayerful Spirituality as Experiential Theology: Teresa of Avila’s Mystical Transposition of Augustine’s Confessions.” Studies in Spirituality (in press).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Christ Risen, Wonder Arising: A Christian Theology of Miracles.” Toronto Journal of Theology 33, supplement 1 (2017): 25-38.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Divine Kenosis: Building the Human Community Out of Mercy.” The Ecumenist: A Journal of Theology, Culture and Society 54, no. 2 (2017): 8-17.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Symbolism in Weakness: Jesus Christ for the Postmodern Age.” Heythrop Journal 58, no. 1 (2017): 64-77.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Four Perspectives – Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation. By Charles C. Camosy.” Horizons 44, no. 1 (2017): 160-64. doi:10.1017/hor.2017.5.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Confession as Spiritual Communion: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Theology of Forgiveness and Reconciliation.” Touchstone 34, no. 3 (2016): 14-24.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Spirituality as Lived Interpretation: A Transformative Encounter between Two Traditions.” Religious Studies and Theology 35, no. 1 (2016): 37-51.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Geographies and Accompaniment: Toward an Ecclesial Re-ordering of the Art of Dying.” Studies in Christian Ethics 29, no. 3 (2016): 286-293. doi:10.1177/0953946816642977.
Lysaught, M. Therese. Issue editor, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 41, no. 6 (December 2016). Special issue on The Anticipatory Corpse, by Jeffrey P. Bishop.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “From The Anticipatory Corpse to the Participatory Body.” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 41, no. 6 (December 2016).
Rhodes, Daniel. “Time Emptied And Time Renewed – The Dominion Of Capital And A Theo-Politics Of Contretemps.” Journal of Religious Theory (December 12, 2016).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Spiritual Empowerment for Love: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics of Resistance.” The Bonhoeffer Legacy: Australasian Journal of Bonhoeffer Studies 3, no. 2 (2015): 19-40.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Critical Theology, Committed Philosophy: Discovering Anew the Faith-Reason Dynamics with Origen of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo.” Philosophy and Theology 27, no. 1 (2015): 25-54.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Clinically Integrated Networks: A Cooperation Analysis,” Health Care Ethics: USA 23, no. 4 (Fall 2015): 6-10.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Roman Catholic Teaching on International Debt: Toward a New Methodology for Catholic Social Ethics and Moral Theology,” Journal of Moral Theology. 4, no. 2 (June 2015): 1-17.
Schmidt, William. “Integral Theory: A Broadened Epistemology,” American International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 3, no. 1 (2017).
Schmisek, Brian. “The “Spiritual Body” as Oxymoron in 1 Corinthians 15:44.” Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture 45, no. 4 (November 16, 2015): 230-38. doi:10.1177/0146107915608597.
Chapters in Books (9)
Canaris, Michael M. “Immigration and Ecclesial Receptivity: Congar and Rahner as Resources for An Ecumenical and Philoxenical Ecclesiology of Reception,” in The Meaning of My Neighbor’s Faith: Interreligious Reflections on Immigration. Edited by Alexander Hwang and Laura Alexander. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, (in press).
Lysaught, M. Therese. “A Midwife of Grace: Sr. Mary Stella Simpson,” in Can I Get a Witness: The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press).
Rhodes, Daniel. “A Sickness Unto Life: Cesar Chavez and the Quest for Farmworker Justice.” In Can I Get a Witness? The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press).
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Catholicism in the Neonatal Context: Belief, Practice, Challenge, Hope.” In Religion and the Newborn, edited by Ron Green and George Little. Oxford University Press (in press).
Canaris, Michael M. “Alma Mater, Mater Exulum: Jesuit Education and Immigration. A Moral Framework and its Historical Roots.” In Undocumented and in College: Students and Institutions in a Climate of National Hostility, edited by Terry-Ann Jones and Laura Nichols. New York: Fordham University Press, 2017.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Incarnating Caritas.” In Incarnate Grace: Perspectives on the Ministry of Catholic HealthCare, edited by Charles Bouchard. 11-26. (Catholic Health Association, 2017).
Canaris, Michael M. “A Rahnerian Reading of Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church,” in Learning from All the Faithful: A Contemporary Theology of the Sensus Fidei, edited by Bradford E. Hinze and Peter C. Phan, 196-212. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2016.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Ritual – A Framework for Ritual at the Deathbed.” In Dying in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Lydia Dugdale. 67-86. MIT Press, 2015.
Watson, D. Sculpting narratives: Experiencing positive narratives in therapy. In The therapist’s notebook for children and adolescents: Homework, handouts, and activities for use in psychotherapy (2nd ed., pp.), Sori, C. F., Hecker, L. L., & Bachenberg, M. E. (Eds.). New York: Routledge, 2016.
Encyclopedia Articles and Other Academic Publications (3)
Rhodes, Daniel. “Brownson, Orestes Augustus”; “Christian Community Development Association”; “Garvey, Marcus”; “Morehouse, Henry Lymon”; “Open Doors”; “Stringfellow, Frank William”; “Word Gospel Mission”. Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
Watson, D. Genograms. In J. Carlson & S. Dermer (Eds.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Marriage, Family, and Couples Counseling. 733-737. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2016.
Rhodes, Daniel. “The Contradiction of Hope in an Estranged World: David Harvey’s Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism,” in Syndicate Theology (April 6, 2015).
Pastoral Resources (7)
Schmidt, William. Editor, Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy for Music Ministers: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy: Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis for Sundays and Solemnities: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy Sunday Missal 2018. Liturgical Press. 2017.
Schmisek, Brian. Fundamentos del Nuevo Testamento: Jesús y sus discípulos. Paulist Press. 2017. (Translated from English Edition: Catholic Bible Study Program: New Testament Foundations Student Workbook Paulist Press. 2008).
Schmisek, Brian. El Programa de la Escuela Bíblica Católica: Fundamentos Del Antiguo Testamento: De Génesis a 2 Reyes. Paulist Press. 2016. (Translated from English edition: Old Testament Foundations Student Workbook. Paulist Press).
Book Reviews (7)
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Theology in the Flesh: How Embodiment and Culture Shape the Way We Think about Truth, Morality, and God,”International Journal of Public Theology [in press].
Canaris, Michael M. “Review of Will Pope Francis Pull It Off? by Rocco D’Ambrosio.” The Way, Oxford, October 2017.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Review of Joseph Selling, Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics.” Studies in Christian Ethics 30, no. 4 (2017): 509-513. doi:10.1177/0953946817720910j. https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946817720910j.
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Bulls, Bears, and Golden Calves: Applying Christian Ethics in Economics, by John E. Stapleford.” International Journal of Public Theology 10, no. 1 (2016), 125-127. doi:10.1163/15697320-12341431.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Review of Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation, by Charles Camosy,” Health Progress 97, no. 3 (May–June 2016): 67–68.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Book Review: Michael Banner, the Ethics of Everyday Life: Moral Theology, Social Anthropology, and the Imagination of the Human.” Studies in Christian Ethics 29, no. 3 (2016): 339-342. doi:10.1177/0953946816642960. https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946816642960.
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Ethics that Matters: African, Caribbean, and African-American Sources,” International Journal of Public Theology 9, no.1 (2015): 113-114.
This past summer, The Association of Theological Schools(ATS) awarded the Institute of Pastoral Studies and Dr. Dan Rhodes with an Innovative Projects grant to aid in developing a new approach to Contextual Education (CE) in the model of Theological Action Research Teams (TART).
As part of the research associated with this ATS grant, Professors Therese Lysaught and Dan Rhodes recently traveled to The Centre for Theology & Community (CTC) in East London, UK. While in England, Professors Lysaught and Rhodes met with CTC Director, Rev. Angus Ritchie as well as persons in their lay community, community organizers connected with the Centre, and a priest and lay leader from a Catholic Parish in nearby Manor Park.
“The Centre is doing some amazingly creative work and reinventing what parish and lay ministry look like,” says Professor Rhodes, “and the trip was wonderfully informative for learning how to engage participants in Action Research projects as well as for glimpsing the future of lay ministry.”
CTC’s Rev. Angus Ritchie and IPS’s Dan Rhodes in East London
The CE program continues to research and take 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 long-term goal is to implement a thoroughly re-imagined 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 under-served and underrepresented students, as well as engendering new faculty scholarship across theological/ministerial specialties rooted in community collaboration.
In adopting the TART model, IPS 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.
Fr. Brett Hoover, CSP will speak on Comfort, Challenge, and the Good Life, and sign copies of his new book Comfort, An Atlas of the Body and Soul, Monday, November 14, 2011 at 7pm in Regents Hall, 16th floor of Lewis Towers. This event is free and open to the public.
11-07-2011|Comments Off on Comfort, Challenge, and the Good Life
from Susan Rans, MA Social Justice Community Development Graduate Program Director
No matter which direction you turn these days, the issue of housing appears. The struggling economy? Collapse of the housing bubble and its questionable finances. Neighborhood decline? Mortgage foreclosures and their impact. Unemployment? About one fifth of jobs are related to housing. Homelessness? See all of the above—housing.
In addition to historical patterns of housing discrimination, the impact of predatory lending, and the disappearance of affordable and subsidized housing, these new aspects of the housing crisis make it an impossible issue to ignore. And yet, housing is a really difficult subject to wrap your head around, as it is multi-faceted and complex. Just arriving at definitions for all the terms mentioned so far requires some study and research. I’ve often said that housing has a ‘secret language’—a series of acronyms and contributing factors that housing advocates use, inscrutable to most regular folks. Fannie Mae? Freddie Mac? Section 8? Section 221 (d) 3? Leverage? Derivatives?
So how does a person who yearns for a just society enter this world? Here at IPS, we have a great opportunity to learn from a master. This Fall, Erica Pascal, housing attorney and activist, will lead us in an exploration of current housing issues. In fact, that’s the title of the course: Current Housing Issues (IPS 648). A Community Development course open to anyone who wants to explore housing justice. Just thought you’d want to know…
7-26-2011|Comments Off on Housing as a Justice Issue
One of my proudest moments at IPS (not that I had anything to do with it!) was when 3 IPS students formed the White Rose Catholic Worker House a couple of years ago. Their community has grown, and their commitment to living and teaching Social Justice has been without boundaries. As a matter of fact, they are looking for a bigger place in the Rogers Park neighborhood, so if any of you know of a big old house or apartment (building) that is becoming available (at little or no cost), please contact The White Rose Catholic Worker at the e-mail address or phone number listed below.
In the meantime I received the following notice from our friends just this morning. Please help in anyway you can.
Thanks.
An Appeal for Border Justice Friends,
As many of you know, immigration and border policy are in need of drastic reform. Since 1994, over 6,000 people have died attempting to cross into the United States to re-join their families or to escape extreme poverty by looking for work. For the past three years, I’ve worked with No More Deaths – a Tucson, AZ-based community that provides life-saving humanitarian aid to undocumented migrants.
We are in need of medical supplies and funds to continue the works of mercy of providing drink to the thirsty and food to the hungry. In August, Marcy and I (Jake Olzen) will be driving from Chicago to Tucson with a load of medical donations. We are looking for more help.
So, if you are able to, please consider helping us by:
Donating Medical Supplies (We have some very specific needs, so please see the list below of what we need)
Making a financial contribution to the White Rose Catholic Worker to help defray our transportation and volunteering costs (checks can be made to “White Rose Catholic Worker”).
Organizing an education event about what’s happening on the U.S.-Mexico border or what challenges undocumented people face in their daily lives (contact the White Rose for more info or for speakers)
Pray for the revolution of hearts for a more just and humane immigration/border policy
Join in one of theFriday morning vigils at the immigrant detention center in downtown Chicago.
Thank you for considering this appeal. We know the economic times are tough and the needs of our sisters and brothers continue to grow, but like the poor woman who gave her two coins, little by little we can make the world a better, saner place.
We leave the week of August 6, so please be in touch by August 1 if you have donations. We can pick them up.
No More Deaths Medical Needs
1. One-time use ice packs (the kind you smash with your hands) This is a great need we have right now as we can’t seem to find any from our usual sources
2. Individual dose packs of Tylenol (acetominophen), bismuth tablets (not the liquid)
3. Glucometers with directions and appropriate “in-date” testing strips (for testing blood sugars for the many diabetics we encounter).
4. Lancets for testing blood sugar
5. Individual sunscreen packets/ tubes
6. Individual Biofreeze packets/ tubes or other kinds of muscle ache creams.
7. Natural Tears Eye Drops or any other type for dry eyes
8. Individual one-use packets of triple antibiotic ointment or regular size tubes if the individuals packets are not available
9. Cold medications(non-drowsy kind)
10. Anti-acids(Tums or a less expensive brand)
11. Ace wraps–2 inch and 3 inch
—
Marcy and Jake
White Rose Catholic Worker
2127 W. Devon
Chicago, IL 60659 whiterosecw@gmail.com 773.856.0315
7-21-2011|Comments Off on An Appeal for Border Justice
A formative way to do this is to follow Pontius Pilate’s example, who admits to being profoundly challenged by the person and words of Jesus when he responds to Jesus’ witness with an honest question: “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Pilate opens himself to the possibility that he may be encountering a truth he had never foreseen. This encounter with truth in person may change who he is in profound ways. During this Lenten season, then, we may reflect on the ways Jesus questions our assumptions about our lives, we may think about the questions we have been carrying with us for some time (perhaps even a long time) which we know we should ask to Jesus in person. What are the questions that would liberate us, allowing us to pursue the truth revealed in Jesus in more faithful, complete fashion? We may bring these questions before Jesus in our prayer, with the desire and hope of being transformed so as to be able to bear witness to the truth that he is.
