Jim McGinnis – Rest in Peace

This news from the National Office. I and we will miss Jim

Jim McGinnis, 1995 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace and the co-founder of the Parenting for Peace and Justice Network, died on Thursday morning, August 13. He died during his morning walk. His wife, Kathy, went out in search for him when he did not return at the time he normally does. She saw police cars at a house and stopped to see what was going on and saw a body covered with a sheet on the porch of a house. It was Jim. He was probably trying to get help. He had been experiencing chest pains a few weeks ago and went for a workup – stress test at a hospital. They did a chemical stress test and told him he was fine.

The funeral Mass will be Tuesday evening, 7:30 pm, at St. Alphonsus Liguori ("The Rock of Christ") Catholic Church in St. Louis. If you care to send condolences, please address them to: Kathy McGinnis, 7361 Stanford, St. Louis MO 63130; (314) 726-5367; Kathyppjn@aol.com

Dan Mulhall, National Catechetical Advisor for RCL Benziger, shared these reflections.

My understanding is that Jim donated his body to science. There seems to be plans for a wake/celebration of Jim’s life on Saturday, Aug. 22, but I don’t know any details.

Jim and Kathy have been such important figure in helping us to see how a commitment to peace and justice could be lived every day, regardless of our situation in life. They contributed much at meetings, conferences, workshops, conference calls, talks, and programs. They offered us hope, vision, frustration, humor, challenge, successes, failures – all the stuff of life--in all they did, directed to a noble end.

Jim was also a clown and used his clown identity to preach the Gospel message of justice an peace throughout the world. May he, this day, share the joy of the resurrection with the Lord whom he served so well. May his soul and all of the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.

If you would like to leave messages or remembrances of Jim, Pax Christi has set up a discussion thread on Pax Christi USA's Facebook page for people to share memories, thoughts, thanks and more. You can click on this link to read the discussion thread or post your own comments.

Something to Read

I want to recommend as a must read, the transcript of Mary Hess's talk at the CTS meeting at Notre Dame, May of 2009. Her discussion of Authority, Authenticity and Agency in the Web 2.0 and Social media worlds provides valuable insights for our ministry. She also discusses the changes in the publishing world and its impact on our programs. You will find the article here: www.luthersem.edu/mhess/HessPaper.pdf

Thanks to Caroline Cerveny, SSJ for the link to this article.

I want to recommend that you find a copy of the June 25th 2009 issue of "Origins" and read the article by Terrence W Tilley. The Title of the article is, "Three Impasses in Christology." Tilley's discussion of impasses and stalemates is an interesting conversation. The way we address impasses and stalemates has a direct impact on catechesis. I especially like the emphasis he gives to staying at the table. A tactic he says he learned from his Marianist friends at the University of Dayton.

Anne Emails from the Board Meeting

We are in the thick of our meeting in DC. I honestly thought the agenda would be one that we could finish in good time. However, I have found that there are a variety of topics that need further discussion. Yesterday we looked at a technology piece and had a great discussion. We hope to have a recommendation on that piece in July.

Today we visited the NCCL offices and made random calls to our members. We received valuable input from our members and will incorporate that input into the rest of our meeting. There were also a few membership issues that we grappled with and Russell Peterson, Tom Quinlan, and Michele Harris will finish the piece and bring it back to the board in July.

Currently we are involved in a discussion on the forums lead by Chela Gonzales. We hope to also talk about committees tonight............
Tomorrow we are visiting the USCCB with Michael Steier.

More later!
Anne

Pictures from Board Meeting In DC

Anne Roat, NCCL President sent these pictures from the Board's meeting in Washington. From the looks of things the meetings are going well.

Thomas Berry, CP

I received this information from the people at Loyola Institute for Ministry regarding Thomas Berry, CP.

We want to inform you of the death of Thomas Berry, CP, Ph.D., on June 1, 2009. Thomas died in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he was born 94 years ago, the third of thirteen children.

Thomas left a unique and rich legacy to those of us who follow him in time -- the sense of Creation as God's first and ultimate self-disclosure -- the need to remember that the first article of our Creed is belief in God, Creator of Heaven and Earth -- the reminder that the natural world evokes our earliest and deepest experience of beauty, intimacy, and imagination, those attributes which dispose us to the world of the sacred and distinguish us from other life forms.

Thomas received an honorary doctorate from Loyola in 1994. He responded to this in his customary, self-deflecting way, "I want to thank this University for being the first Catholic university to bestow such an honor on one whose primary commitment is the natural world."

Thomas returned to LIM and Loyola annually over the next ten years, offering workshops and lectures, all of which have been sent to the archive established at Harvard University to house his massive literary and video legacy.

His wisdom and presence suffuse our LIM/LIMEX curricula. And it was under his tutelage that the Religion and Ecology Focus Area was developed.

Thus we at Loyola and particularly the community of the Institute for Ministry are indebted to this scholar/teacher who identified himself as geologian, or student of Earth. May he rest in peace and may his work prosper through the creative efforts of those legions who bear his influence in their minds and hearts and carry it forward into the Great Work of the 21st century. www.thomasberry.org


On behalf to the Loyola Institute for Ministry,

OSV Acquires Harcourt Religion Publishers

Our Sunday Visitor announced today its acquisition of Harcourt Religion Publishers (a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. This brings together two of the nation’s leading Catholic publishing groups. Terms of the transaction were undisclosed. Read the press release here. For more information visit the web site here.

Let us Know What You Think

We would like to conduct an informal evaluation of this year's FORUM. Please share your input by sharing a comment (or you can also e-mail one of us). We purposely kept the EVALUATION questions short:

1. What was most beneficial for you about this year's DDRE FORUM?
2. What key insight did you take with you from this time together?
3. What one thing would you change about this gathering?

Thanks for your support and sharing,
Rebecca Titford: rtitford@mobilearchdiocese.0rg ,
Mark Nuerhing: mnuehring@dow.org ,
Elizabeth Field: efield@camdendiocese.org

Young American Losing their Religion

This story from ABC news has some relevance for our ministry. I would find it interesting to have a discussion about this story. Young Americans Losing Their Religion.

I wonder how the discussion might change if the research was built around faith and religion.

Leadership Elected in Dearborn

NCCL Membership elected new officers during our 2009 gathering in Dearborn, Michigan. Anne Roat was elected President; Kathy Kleinlein, Treasurer; Russell Peterson, Vice President; and Joanie McKeown, Secretary. Bryan Reising was elected by the Diocesan Directors Forum to serve along with Elizabeth Field and Rebecca Titford as Animator.

We also want to thank, Mary Ann Ronan, David Loftus, Lorraine DeLuca, and Janet Schaeffler for their three years of service as President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. We appreciate the time, effort and leadership you gave to NCCL and the membership. Thank You.