AGPIM

President
Gary Pokorny
(St. Francis Seminary)

Past-President
Eilish Ryan
(University of the Incarnate Word)

Vice-President
Kathleen Brown
(Washington Theological Union)

Treasurer
Edward Mahoney
(St. Michael's College)

Secretary
Marge Kloos
(College of Mount St. Joseph)

Send inquiries about membership, annual meeting, or AGPIM website to: marge_kloos@mail.msj.edu

Called and Gifted Award

Tom Walters (St. Meinrad School of Theology)  received the Association's Called and Gifted Award from Eilish Ryan, AGPIM President ,as 2006 recipient Mercedes Iannone shows her appreciation for Tom's competent leadership throughout the years.
 

THEOLOGY

AGPIM supports the emergence of a new theological paradigm in graduate education for ministry. This theology, commonly referred to as practical or pastoral theology, is a mutually interpretive, critical transforming conversation between the Christian tradition and contemporary experience.

Pastoral and practical theology takes place in a community of faith, implies a spirituality that is both personal and liturgical, and is directed towards individual and social transformation in Christ.

AGPIM was founded to promote the quality of ministerial education in the service of church and society. AGPIM accomplishes its mission through collaboration, networking, and the exchange of information among its members. On occasion, AGPIM provides an advocacy voice addressing larger contextual issues for ministry.

HISTORY

In February of 2007, the Association of Graduate Programs in Ministry celebrated twenty years as an organization. The organization of 35 Catholic colleges, universities and seminaries was founded in 1987 to create a forum for graduate program directors and administrators to participate in collegial conversations about the education of ministers. Member institutions are currently training numerous students for roles as lay and ordained ministers of the Catholic Church. Annual member meetings have occurred in various retreat centers throughout the United States since the 1987 meeting.

Initially the vision for the organization focused on the 1986 report, Preparing Laity for Ministry: a Report on the Progress in Catholic Diocese throughout the United States.  Since this first gathering at the Julie Penrose Retreat Center in Colorado Springs, CO, annual meetings have taken up a variety of topics and formats. Several significant studies, funded by the Lilly Foundation, were conducted by AGPIM including A Same and Different Future: A Study of Graduate Ministry Education in Catholic Institutions of Higher Learning in the United States.

More recently AGPIM has continued to develop relationships with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project  and others who are studying the shifting sands of ministry formation. AGPIM cosponsored the National Symposium on Lay Ecclesial Ministry at St. John’s School of Theology, July 31-August 3, 2007. Sixteen AGPIM-member schools were represented. One result of this important gathering was the call for national dialogue in four strategic areas: Pathways to Ministry, Formation for Lay Ecclesial Ministry, Authorization for Lay Ecclesial Ministry and Workplace Issues.

Between 2004 and 2006, at the invitation of a committee of the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth of the USCCB, AGPIM representatives participated in a consultation about the document Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord. The document serves as “a resource for diocesan bishops and for all who are responsible for guiding the development of lay ecclesial ministry in the United States.” This important series of conversations provided insights and themes for the ongoing assessment of higher education programs whose mission it is to participate in the formation of Catholic ministers.

A strategic plan for the organization was developed as part of the 2002 and 2003 annual meetings. Based on a SWOT analysis, members determined seven areas of concentration that could better position the organization as leaders in the education of ministers:

·         Plan for and actively participate in sustained conversation and collaboration
with the US Bishops, NALM, NFCYCM, NCLL, and CARA

·         Promote conversations between diocesan leadership and AGPIM member
schools by sharing best practices in ministry education, developing a common
language and understanding about spiritual formation, and using the national
listings of competencies for ministry.

·         Promote sustained conversations and research about spiritual formation
in the preparation of lay ecclesial ministers

·         Develop and make use of the AGPIM website and other electronic resources
to share information more fully among member institutions, their students, their
graduates, and others in the broader community

The association recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary.  To recognize this milestone, the organization instituted the Called and Gifted Award. Two recipients have been honored with the award, Mercedes Iannone (St. Thomas University, FL) and Tom Walters (St. Meinrad Seminary, IN). Dr. Iannone served as AGPIM’s president from 1993-1994. Dr. Mary Elsbernd (Loyola University of Chicago) presented the award to Dr. Iannone, commenting on her long term of service to the organization as a trusted colleague and innovative ministry educator. Dr. Eilish Ryan (Incarnate Word University, San Antonio) presented the award to Dr. Walters, acknowledging his contributions as an outstanding researcher to further the mission of AGPIM. Awards were presented at the 2006 and 2007 annual meetings in Jacksonville, FL and Scottsdale, AZ. respectively. 

Recipients of the award have made a substantial and lasting contribution to AGPIM, such as having conducted research, provided leadership, or fostered collegial conversation in an organized and helpful way. Within the discipline of pastoral theology the recipient is respected for hers or his contributions to the field, especially as an educator and minister. Recipients also represent the interests of graduate education in ministry and the organization in the broader ecclesial and academic communities. The award is presented to an AGPIM colleague as part of the annual meeting.

For more information about membership in AGPIM or the Called and Gifted Award contact Dr. Gary Pokorny, AGPIM President or Dr. Marge Kloos, SC, AGPIM Secretary.