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Ministries Program Starts New Era
Excerpt from an article by Cliff Newell in The Lake Oswego Review,
May 28, 2009.
Marylhurst University has made great strides in recent years, and now its ministries program is stepping up to keep pace.
"Marylhurst University has been changing ever since it started," said Dr. Cecelia Ranger of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, the order that founded Marylhurst. "It has continually evolved to meet the needs of people. The ministries program needs to evolve, too."
Ranger will be directing this evolution, along with Father Rick Ganz, SJ, and Dr. Sheila O’Connell-Roussell. They are heading up a ministries program that formerly was sort of like Marylhurst campus buildings before they were recently so beautifully renovated – somewhat shabby and worn.
But the blueprints are ready for some great work:
- Major emphasis on interfaith relationships.
- Reaching out to the surrounding community.
- Provide religious instruction to students, no matter what their faith.
- Confront "real world" issues with spiritual insight.
Perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of the re-invigorated ministries program is the emphasis on reaching out to other Christian denominations and other religions.
"We have worked so hard over the last 100 years to achieve unity – Anglicans, Lutherans, Greek Orthodox, Catholics," Ganz said. "But most people don’t know that. We have got to get going to heal our world and not sit back in our camps."
To that end, Marylhurst recently has become the scene for some impressive ecumenical gatherings, including "Partners for Peace" on March 15, which attracted Jews, Muslims, Sabeel (a Palestinian Christian group), Catholics, Buddhists, all praying together for peace in the Middle East.
These are efforts that Marylhurst, with its history, seems uniquely qualified to achieve.