In an effort to better serve the needs of African American Catholics in South Jersey and to prepare students for leadership in African American parishes, the Diocese of Camden will offer an undergraduate certificate program in pastoral ministry to African American Catholics through St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, beginning in Fall 2009.
An agreement detailing the program was signed at the Camden Diocesan Center on Friday, February 20 by Bishop Joseph Galante and Sister Roseann Quinn, SSJ, delegate for Lifelong Formation for the Diocese of Camden, and Rev. Msgr. Joseph G. Prior, Rector of St. Charles Seminary and Dr. Carmina Magnusen Chapp, Academic Dean of the seminary.
Also present for the signing were Msgr. Roger McGrath, vicar general and moderator of the curia, Kevin Connor, director of Lay Ministry Formation for the diocese, and Carolyn Jenkins, director of Black Catholic Ministry.
“It is a wonderful day for St. Charles Seminary and the Diocese of Camden,” said Msgr. Prior. “We are so happy to be able to participate in this. I want to thank Bishop Galante, Sr. Roseann, Carolynn and Kevin for inviting us and for entering into this agreement.”
Dr. Chapp emphasized the uniqueness of the program. “This undergraduate certificate program is the only one of its kind in the country. No one else does this, no one else has developed something to empower the African American Catholic community the way this program has.”
The certificate program, modeled on a Masters program developed at Xavier University in New Orleans, began in 1995 in the Religious Studies Division at St. Charles Seminary. The Religious Studies Division at St. Charles provides Catholic theological education for non-seminarians at all levels, from non-credit catechesis to graduate work. The Division offers programs for educators, those involved in parish ministries, and the general public.
The Certificate in Pastoral Ministry to African Americans Catholics program (MAAC) consists of twenty-four undergraduate credits, including one course in Sacred Scripture, the History of Black Catholics in the United States, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Theology of the Church, and Pastoral Issues in African-American Communities. The curriculum concludes with a service project.
Dr. Chapp emphasized that the program is not only for African American Catholics. “The program is for anyone who does ministry in the African American community and who wants to be better prepared to do so,” she said.
According to U.S. Census data, there are more than one million African Americans in New Jersey, representing about 14 percent of the population. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) estimates that about 7 percent of the African American population identifies itself as Catholic.
“It saddens me that our diocese is based in a city that has a sizeable African American population, and yet, there are so few African American Catholics,” said Bishop Galante. “It is important to have participation in this program to come to an understanding and an experience of the rich, profound, deep faith life of the African American Catholic community. If we are a pilgrim people, no one expresses that more beautifully, more poignantly, than the African American community. And so, I am so very grateful to St. Charles Seminary for providing us with this opportunity to have our people participate in this wonderful program.”
Carolyn Jenkins, the diocese’s director of Black Catholic Ministry, said, “The program is invaluable to those who are from the black community and to those who minister to the black community. Not only am I involved in the program, but I have seen the results of the program.”
Sr. Roseann Quinn, expressed hope that word of mouth would help promote the MAAC program throughout the diocese. She said an information session about the program is being planned and noted that more information would follow, including course locations.
The initiative is one component of the diocese’s “Lay Ministry Formation Program” which was announced last fall. The program offers college and university degree and certificate courses for parish leaders and staff in the diocese who serve in various pastoral ministries, including religious education, youth and young adult ministry, campus ministry, adult faith formation, Hispanic and Black Catholic ministry, family life, ministry to seniors, and liturgy. Programs also are offered for lay persons involved in pastoral administration, Catholic schools, and parish business management.
In addition to the Ministry to African Americans program at St. Charles Seminary, the diocese is working in partnership with the College of St. Elizabeth (Morristown, NJ), Georgian Court University (Lakewood, NJ), the Center for Ministry Development (Naugatuck CT), and the Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center.
More than 90 South Jersey Catholics are enrolled in the Lay Ministry Formation Program this spring.
Kevin Connor, the diocese’s director of Lay Ministry Formation, emphasized at the signing ceremony that through agreements forged with the participating colleges and institutions, the degree and certificate programs are being offered at a substantial discount for parishioners of the diocese. In addition, candidates that are accepted into the program will pay only 1/3 of the discounted tuition cost. Parishes and the diocese will pay the remaining portion of the cost. Financial assistance also will be made available based on need to those parishioners who cannot pay their portion of the cost.
The diocese also has made arrangements with the participating colleges and institutions for the courses to be offered at convenient satellite locations within the diocese. The courses are being offered at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Absecon (satellite campus for Georgian Court and College of St. Elizabeth) and the St. Pius Spiritual Life Center, Blackwood, (satellite campus for Georgian Court and College of St. Elizabeth) and John Paul II Retreat Center, Vineland (satellite campus for the Center for Ministry Development and College of St. Elizabeth) and St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral, Camden, Immaculate Conception, Bridgeton and Our Lady Star of the Sea, Atlantic City (all satellite campuses for the Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center).