Dear School of Ministry Graduate Students, Alumni, and Advisory Council Members,

As many of you already know, we are saying good-bye to Dr. Juliet Mousseau. She has done wonderful work for the School of Ministry and we are sorry to see her go. We advertised for the position she is vacating and received a number of fine applicants. We are having on campus interviews with two candidates next week: Dr. Scott Opperman and Dr. Martha Jewell.

Dr. Opperman will be finishing the Ph.D in Systematic Theology from the University of Durham in the United Kingdom in May, 2009. He also holds an MRE from Loyola in Chicago, and an MA in Theological Studies from Notre Dame. He has a broad range of pastoral experience as well, including religious education, young adult and youth ministry, health care ministry, spiritual direction, and social policy advocacy. http://www.dur.ac.uk/theology.religion/postgrad/currentpostgrads/?id=4243

Dr. Jewell will be finishing her D. Min. degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. in May, 2009. She also holds an MTS from the St. Francis Seminary School of Pastoral Ministry in Milwaukee. For the past five years she has also been the Director of the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project. (www.emergingmodels.org)  

Dr. Opperman will be presenting a public lecture entitled "Reconciling Dualisms in the Christian Life: A Theological and Ministerial Reflection" on Monday, February 16 at 7:00 p.m. in Gorman Faculty Lounge.

Dr. Jewell will be presenting a public lecture entitled "An Emerging Theology of Parish" on Thursday, February 19, at 7:00 p.m. in Gorman Faculty Lounge.

A wine and cheese reception will follow each of the presentations. We hope that you will be able to join us for either or both of these events. We encourage your feedback and will consider it seriously when we make a final decision about whom to hire.

In the meantime, if you would like to review the CV of each candidate, feel free to visit the School of Ministry office.

Sincerely,

Dr. John Norris

Sr. Theresa Khirallah, SSND

Dr. Dan Luby

Dr. Dorothy Jonaitis, OP

Dr. Brian Schmisek

Members of the Search Committee