As part of the 2021 Season of Creation, GMU will sponsor a seminar on October 4, the feast of St.Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, for graduates, students and all interested parties.

We will discuss the role of ecology in building peace in the Middle East.

The seminar will take place at 4 pm PDT, 7 pm EDT on Zoom. Len Schreibstein of Temple Emanu-El, San Jose CA will be our guest speaker and discuss his temple's sponsorship of "EcoPeace Middle East" and how it exemplifies interfaith and intercultural cooperation to address ecological concerns.

The upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and how religious leaders are addressing the climate crisis will also be discussed.

To prepare for the seminar, please read the pdf from EcoPeace Middle East.

The October 4 seminar will be the next Graduate Student Seminar.

You can still access the videos of the “Building Human Solidarity in the light of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter, Fratelli Tutti" Conference Hub of Americas workshops and the African Hub workshops on YouTube. The Asian Hub workshops can be accessed here

During this "Season of Creation," view Marita Grudzen's workshop, "Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor" presented at the conference. Just click on the video above.

"The Community Chaplaincy Program was such a fruitful experience. The teaching team and visiting teachers offered a variety of deeply important elements of spiritual care. It enabled me to deepen my Buddhist practice as it shows up while volunteering at a hospice house in ways that were profoundly beneficial. I recommend this class to anyone who feels a calling to walk down the beautiful path of community chaplaincy." ~ Sarah M.

Read more accolades from graduates of this outstanding program here.

Enrollment is now underway for the 2022 session.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Photo by Matt Palmer on Unsplash

During this "Season of Creation" read about Eco-Chaplaincy: In Service to a Suffering World

Fifteen people attended the GMU faculty meeting – only the second in GMU’s history - on Monday, September 13th. It was, of course, conducted on Zoom, and lasted slightly over an hour. Dr. Ron Nakasone began the meeting with an inspiring prayer from his Buddhist tradition. President Gerald Grudzen offered updates on developments at GMU, including the university’s participation in the well-attended global conference, “Building Human Solidarity in the light of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter, Fratelli Tutti.”

GMU’s librarian, Judy Clarence, described the sorts of services that she can offer students and faculty, and provided a demonstration of EBSCO’s Religion & Philosophy database as a potential option for GMU’s library. Faculty in attendance shared their thoughts on the possibility of cohort capstone programs for students who have completed the coursework toward their degrees and are working on their final projects. The meeting concluded with beautiful prayers led by Dr. Nihal Sahan from the Muslim and Catholic traditions.

More and more, GMU’s administration looks to our faculty for input on curricula and policies. We’ll continue to hold faculty meetings in which we invite the thoughts of faculty on a variety of matters. GMU faculty members: Even if, and especially if, you haven’t done so yet, please consider joining us for these meetings in the future!

Greetings to all! I hope you’re enjoying what’s left of summer and the beginning of fall.

Today I’d like to talk a little bit about Qualitative Research in the area of practical theology, its uses in ministerial studies, and a wonderful way that you can learn more about it. Qualitative Research collects and examines actual human experiences—for example, how individual members of a particular congregation understand and gain value from sermons--and then analyzes and derives meaning from the resulting data. (Quantitative Research, on the other hand, would look at trends in the value of sermons across many congregations and present them statistically.)

Suppose you decide to write a research paper exploring the emotions and feelings experienced by members of your spiritual community around the topic of climate change. Where do you start? How do you go about it? As a researcher, how do you gather the data?

You’re in luck. There’s a wonderful, and extremely thorough book newly available, for free, online: Qualitative Research: A Field Manual for Ministry Students by Timothy D. Lincoln, a librarian at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The book is full of examples and exercises drawn from variety of ministerial settings and religious communities. It addresses the distinctive features of research projects including how to evaluate a project’s success, and explains how to use specific techniques and procedures, from study design and recruitment of participants to collection of data, analysis, and interpretation of findings. Included is a databank containing transcribed interviews from a few qualitative studies, so you can get an idea of how to formulate questions for your participants.

To access this very helpful (and FREE!) tool, click on the link below. Then click on PDF to read the entire book. There’s also an option to download it.

Please feel free to contact me for assistance. ~ Judy Clarence, M.L.I.S.

Two things I appreciated about the program: I could go at my own speed and the instructors were people who had actually written and conducted services - they knew what they were talking about because they had done it.​ ~Dave Morrison Novi, MI

The beautiful afternoon of Saturday, September 18, witnessed the ordination of GMU grad Denise Hackert-Stoner and Federation of Christian Ministries (FCM) member Julie Corron in Albany, NY, within the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. The ordaining bishop, who also presided at the liturgy, was GMU’s own dean of ministry degree programs, Bridget Mary Meehan. Her shared (with Denise and Julie) homily offered a powerful testimony to the revolutionary Gospel witness of women priests. GMU student Debra Trees assisted Bridget Mary throughout the liturgy, and GMU faculty member Mary Theresa Streck guided those assembled through the liturgy and ordination.

FCM’s Dan Pellegrin was on hand to present Julie with an FCM Endorsement of her ministry. As for Denise: She had recently earned her D.Min. degree from GMU, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, GMU has not been able to hold in-person graduations. Thanks to the forward thinking and creativity of Bridget Mary and Mary Theresa, Denise was able to receive her degree at the end of the liturgy of ordination. GMU Provost Mary Ann Cejka presented her diploma, and a joyful reception followed.

GMU congratulates Julie on the occasion of her ordination and FCM Endorsement, and Denise for her ordination and the completion of her D.Min. with GMU!

Bridget Mary Meehan responds to "Love Letter of Unanswered Questions About Women's Ordination" by Kate McElwee in National Catholic Reporter in her blog: My Response: Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

GMU has received a donation of $5000 in stock transfers from a very generous donor. Stock transfers are a great way to save on capital gains taxes and support GMU. In addition, another $5000 has been offered as a matching grant so your donations this month will count as double!