pat loughery

I had a fantastic phone talk on Wednesday with Lowell Bakke about my Doctor of Ministry course of study.

It came at a great time, since I’ve been kinda drifting since the Celtic Trail class and project work, and not being able to make it into the Overture I class in Jan. Overture I is kind of the “intro to the D. Min” program, and lays out all the emphases, and also looks at leadership styles. I had a work conflict that didn’t allow me to make the class.

After talking with Lowell, it looks like this is my remaining work, which I’m trying to fit into the schedule of my life.

1. Take the Orthodox Trail course, which looks at eastern Orthodoxy (in a very similar fashion to the Celtic Trail course’s look at Celtic Christianity). That’s late October 08.
2. Take Overture I, the “intro to the d. min” class. That’s offered June ’08, Jan and June ’09.
3. Take the Biblical Interpretation class offered in Sept of ’08 and ’09.
4. Take the Research Bridge class with Winn Griffin, which is offered in spring and fall.
5. Write my dissertation

Lowell also had 4 or 5 people that he encouraged me to contact, including a very interesting possibility for my dissertation adviser.  Until that conversation has happened, I don’t want to name any names, but that person’s book has been really helpful to me.

I should be finished with my coursework in around 18 months, and on track for a June ’10 graduation.

I need to flesh out my thesis a lot, but what I’m interested in doing is looking at ancient forms of spirituality from the Benedictine, Jesuit, Celtic and Orthodox streams, and integrating them into contemporary community life. I’ve been most interested in monastic and religious orders’ approach to life.  I may add another stream or two – Fransiscan, perhaps; I’m also interested in what’s happening at Taize these days although that’s a very contemporary expression of ancient-future faith.  I’d like to find a way that these spiritualities can be embedded in missional, incarnational, suburban and urban communities which don’t necessarily live in a common house.

It’s also possible that I’ll just focus entirely on Celtic spirituality, since that’s where my head and heart are most focused.  However, I continue to pray along with the Jesuit and Benedictine models, and I think there’s a lot more there that I want to integrate into my life.

So that’s what’s up here lately.

I think, actually, that I’ll rewrite the thesis idea again very soon, and will post it here.