Photo by James A. McBride
Bishop Joseph A. Galante, next to Sr. Roseann Quinn, SSJ, signs documents Aug. 14 formalizing a partnership between the Diocese of Camden and St. Joseph’s College of Maine, which will provide an online Master of Arts Degree in pastoral theology for those working or desiring to work in parish ministry.
On Tuesday, Aug. 14, a signing ceremony took place in the Camden Diocesan Center to formalize a partnership between the Diocese of Camden’s Office of Lay Ministry Formation Program and St. Joseph’s College of Maine, which will provide an online Master of Arts Degree in pastoral theology for those working or desiring to work in parish ministry.
Bishop Joseph A. Galante signed the documents in the Camden Diocesen Center. Representing St. Joseph College were Patricia Ireland, online theology program director; Gwendolyn DeCicco, business development recruiter; and Suzanne Murphy, Continuing Education in the Division of Graduate and Professional Studies.
On its website, the college states its program “is based on the philosophy that effective ministry requires a solid theological foundation, grounded in solid Catholic doctrine, with a deep spiritual and pastoral orientation.”
Courses begin every month on-lineand are self-paced. If students so wish, they can finish the program early, and if they want to skip a week, they can log back in the next week and complete two weeks’ worth of homework.
Some of the courses will be offered on-site in the summer, for those wanting to accelerate their degree.
Courses offered include New Testament, Old Testament, Christology and Ecclesiology.
St. Joseph’s College of Maine will provide students with waiver of application fees; tuition reduction; admissions counseling for prospective students to discern whether the program is right for them; and academic support from the first course, to completion of their degree.
The partnership with St. Joseph’s is the latest addition to the offerings of the diocese’s Lay Ministry Formation program, which has partnered with numerous institutions of higher learning to offer college and university certificate and degree courses for parish leaders and staff members who serve in pastoral ministries.
For more information about this program, and other Lay Ministry Formation programs, call Linda K. Robinson at 856-583-6116, or go to www.camdendiocese.org and click on “Lay Ministry Formation Program.”
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