BC adds School of Theology, Ministry
By: Alexi Chi
Posted: 11/8/07For the first time in Boston College's history, three separate theological entities will pool their wide-ranging resources to form the School of Theology and Ministry. The union will allow BC to offer students more comprehensive opportunities for theological study and spiritual formation for the ministry. The School of Theology and Ministry combines the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry (IREPM) and the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, which focus their energies on the development of lay and religious ministers, with the Church in the 21st Century Online, which is aimed toward ongoing faith formation and spiritual renewal for adults. At the helm of the School of Theology and Ministry will sit the Rev. Richard Cliford, S.J., acting president at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. Cliford, who obtained his doctorate at Harvard University, has been teaching at Weston Jesuit since 1970 and has served as dean of the school in the past. The revamped school has been long in the works and will join BC in practice in the fall of 2008. "The STM was largely the vision of Father Leahy," Cliford said. "He had the vision of a large and well-resourced school of theology and ministry that drew on three already-existing entities and he felt that the whole would be greater than its parts because of the stimulating connection. I have always thought Weston Jesuit should be part of Boston College because it would benefit both schools." Cliford hopes to realize the vision of University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., by creating one school out of three entities that is, as Cliford said, "unified in its programs and its administration, keeping the best of each one of the constituent members and bringing them to creative contact and making them better at what they do." The School of Theology and Ministry will be housed on property acquired by BC from the Archdiocese of Boston. In August 2006, BC purchased 18 acres of land as well as academic and administrative buildings on Brighton Campus. The school will move its operations to Bishop Peterson Hall and the St. John's Seminary library, which with the integration of the collections of both St. John's Seminary and the Weston Jesuit School of Theology libraries will become the STM library.The Weston Jesuit School of Theology will become the ecclesiastical faculty at BC; its addition to the School of Theology and Ministry will assist BC in becoming one of the premiere centers for theological education and spiritual formation for the ministry. Weston Jesuit School of Theology was affiliated with BC from 1959 to 1974, but left in order to obtain the ability to grant its students civil degrees. In becoming part of the School of Theology and Ministry, Weston Jesuit will be able to expand its mission in preparing men and women for the ministry as well as grant students degrees from a University with a $1.75 billion endowment and national prominence. "In a word, with the re-affiliation come resources," Cliford said. "We broaden our audience. Then we have the stimulation of the university environment with its many professional skills. We are able to give more support, financial aid, and housing to our lay students who will become ministers in the church or who will do studies in theology."Cliford also cited ways in which the re-affiliation will strengthen the mission of Weston Jesuit. The first of these was the School of Theology and Ministry's ability to reach a far broader range of people, pulling students from BC as well as adults who are currently continuing their education through Church in the 21st Century Online."Some of our demographic is fixed - we prepare men for priestly studies - but we would like to increase the number of lay students, men and women, and we would also like to be able to support any student, even if there is any financial need. We would like to be able to offer them as much support as we can," Cliford said.Cliford also looks forward to the strength that the collaboration will create. "Both the Institute and Weston Jesuit are very strong institutions. C21 is a very important resource, but smaller. What the Institute brings is a 36-year-old tradition of religious education, adult faith formation, pastoral ministry, and a terrific summer program. We'll gain a lot from combing these two schools," Cliford said. Church in the 21st Century, which reaches out to adults working and volunteering in Catholic parishes, will reap similar benefits from its new affiliation with the School of Theology and Ministry. "Becoming a part of the school is a very exciting prospect for us because it will give us many more resources to call upon when we draw our courses and give us a solid base for us to do our work," said Barbara Anne Radtke, program manager for Church in the 21st Century Online and an adjunct associate professor of the IREPM. Radke also expressed excitement at the prospect of sharing in the international reach of the School of Theology and Ministry. "IREPM works with people from a number of countries, and Weston also has that international outreach. Our courses have been received in 77 different countries, so it's very exciting in terms of the school being genuinely international in its scope and ability to have an impact in all things theological and ministry," Radke said. The school will not incorporate BC's theology department, which will remain at its current location in 21 Campanella Way. "We have always had cordial relations with the theology department. They do not, however, prepare people for the ministry. They research in theology. We are a professional school, practitioners," Cliford said. As he takes on his new role as dean of the School of Theology and Ministry, Cliford anticipates little conflict in merging the three entities. "There's obviously going to be a breaking-in period," Cliford said, "and we're simply planning for that. We don't anticipate conflict so much as getting each position right, and we're going to be as flexible as we can. We don't anticipate any major problems."
© Copyright 2007 The Heights
By: Alexi Chi
Posted: 11/8/07For the first time in Boston College's history, three separate theological entities will pool their wide-ranging resources to form the School of Theology and Ministry. The union will allow BC to offer students more comprehensive opportunities for theological study and spiritual formation for the ministry. The School of Theology and Ministry combines the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry (IREPM) and the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, which focus their energies on the development of lay and religious ministers, with the Church in the 21st Century Online, which is aimed toward ongoing faith formation and spiritual renewal for adults. At the helm of the School of Theology and Ministry will sit the Rev. Richard Cliford, S.J., acting president at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. Cliford, who obtained his doctorate at Harvard University, has been teaching at Weston Jesuit since 1970 and has served as dean of the school in the past. The revamped school has been long in the works and will join BC in practice in the fall of 2008. "The STM was largely the vision of Father Leahy," Cliford said. "He had the vision of a large and well-resourced school of theology and ministry that drew on three already-existing entities and he felt that the whole would be greater than its parts because of the stimulating connection. I have always thought Weston Jesuit should be part of Boston College because it would benefit both schools." Cliford hopes to realize the vision of University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., by creating one school out of three entities that is, as Cliford said, "unified in its programs and its administration, keeping the best of each one of the constituent members and bringing them to creative contact and making them better at what they do." The School of Theology and Ministry will be housed on property acquired by BC from the Archdiocese of Boston. In August 2006, BC purchased 18 acres of land as well as academic and administrative buildings on Brighton Campus. The school will move its operations to Bishop Peterson Hall and the St. John's Seminary library, which with the integration of the collections of both St. John's Seminary and the Weston Jesuit School of Theology libraries will become the STM library.The Weston Jesuit School of Theology will become the ecclesiastical faculty at BC; its addition to the School of Theology and Ministry will assist BC in becoming one of the premiere centers for theological education and spiritual formation for the ministry. Weston Jesuit School of Theology was affiliated with BC from 1959 to 1974, but left in order to obtain the ability to grant its students civil degrees. In becoming part of the School of Theology and Ministry, Weston Jesuit will be able to expand its mission in preparing men and women for the ministry as well as grant students degrees from a University with a $1.75 billion endowment and national prominence. "In a word, with the re-affiliation come resources," Cliford said. "We broaden our audience. Then we have the stimulation of the university environment with its many professional skills. We are able to give more support, financial aid, and housing to our lay students who will become ministers in the church or who will do studies in theology."Cliford also cited ways in which the re-affiliation will strengthen the mission of Weston Jesuit. The first of these was the School of Theology and Ministry's ability to reach a far broader range of people, pulling students from BC as well as adults who are currently continuing their education through Church in the 21st Century Online."Some of our demographic is fixed - we prepare men for priestly studies - but we would like to increase the number of lay students, men and women, and we would also like to be able to support any student, even if there is any financial need. We would like to be able to offer them as much support as we can," Cliford said.Cliford also looks forward to the strength that the collaboration will create. "Both the Institute and Weston Jesuit are very strong institutions. C21 is a very important resource, but smaller. What the Institute brings is a 36-year-old tradition of religious education, adult faith formation, pastoral ministry, and a terrific summer program. We'll gain a lot from combing these two schools," Cliford said. Church in the 21st Century, which reaches out to adults working and volunteering in Catholic parishes, will reap similar benefits from its new affiliation with the School of Theology and Ministry. "Becoming a part of the school is a very exciting prospect for us because it will give us many more resources to call upon when we draw our courses and give us a solid base for us to do our work," said Barbara Anne Radtke, program manager for Church in the 21st Century Online and an adjunct associate professor of the IREPM. Radke also expressed excitement at the prospect of sharing in the international reach of the School of Theology and Ministry. "IREPM works with people from a number of countries, and Weston also has that international outreach. Our courses have been received in 77 different countries, so it's very exciting in terms of the school being genuinely international in its scope and ability to have an impact in all things theological and ministry," Radke said. The school will not incorporate BC's theology department, which will remain at its current location in 21 Campanella Way. "We have always had cordial relations with the theology department. They do not, however, prepare people for the ministry. They research in theology. We are a professional school, practitioners," Cliford said. As he takes on his new role as dean of the School of Theology and Ministry, Cliford anticipates little conflict in merging the three entities. "There's obviously going to be a breaking-in period," Cliford said, "and we're simply planning for that. We don't anticipate conflict so much as getting each position right, and we're going to be as flexible as we can. We don't anticipate any major problems."
© Copyright 2007 The Heights
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