Can you share about your background and what brought you to BKSM?
I came to BKSM by a circuitous and unlikely route. After college, I worked as an editor in New York at a magazine covering fine art. As much as I enjoyed that job, after several years I felt drawn to making a change. It was clear to me that I wanted a work life that was personally meaningful in a way that any corporate setting—even one dedicated to fine artists—was just not going to provide. At the same time, I came into a period of personal crisis in which I had an opportunity to reimagine my life. As I was trying to discern my next steps, I had a profound sense of God’s presence from the support and love of my family and friends and also the very simple and abiding idea that kept coming to me: that God loves me. This experience brought all kinds of questions for me about the nature of God and faith itself. I started to realize that my interests in art and literature were ways of seeking God before I had a theological vocabulary. I always wanted to know in everything I studied or wrote about, “what does this mean?” In a time of going very deep in myself, when I felt I had nothing more to lose, I applied to Union Theological Seminary for a M.Div., thinking that a graduate professional degree such as this would provide a range of options post-graduation.
I started Union with my three-year-old son in tow, and while I was there, I remarried and gave birth to another son. It was an intense time! All the while I kept coming back to questions about Jesus and the interpretation of his life and death. My academic background in literature drew me to New Testament Studies, along with courses in history and theology. I started to see a calling to teaching and scholarship, so I applied to Fordham for a Ph.D. in a field of historical theology: Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity. After I completed my coursework at Fordham, I began teaching, which I enjoyed as it was very challenging. After I graduated, I held various teaching positions in New York City before landing a full-time job at Rockhurst University, which brought me and my family to Kansas City. I grew up outside of Wichita, so in a way this was a homecoming for me. While at Rockhurst, which is a Jesuit university, I completed the Ignatian Exercises with a guide at the Ignatian Spirituality Center. This is where I met Don Compier, who recruited me to teach the New Testament seminar at BKSM. Shortly after, I learned about the job opening as dean. I hesitated to apply, but several colleagues and friends encouraged me to try, so I sent in my materials.
What attracted you to BKSM?
I admired the students first and foremost—still do. I identify with their desire to serve God. They come from so many different family and professional backgrounds, and they are so genuine and earnest in their commitments to serve their communities and God.
I was also attracted to BKSM’s model of accessibility and adaptability. So many are shut out of graduate level studies because of the expense and having to commit to living full-time in another city or state. BKSM’s model removes those barriers. I have been very impressed with the community behind BKSM—the support of the bishops, parishes, the dedicated staff and faculty. Knowing that so many look to BKSM and support its mission encourages me every day.
How do you see theological education impacting people’s lives?
Theological education is transformative because it prompts a person to think deeply about ultimate things. By this I mean that if we are asked to, we can name those things that are irreducibly meaningful to us. Theology offers the tools to analyze why we hold these things in this way and how those positions impact our ways of being in the world. I was fortunate to a have a broad-ranging theological education at seminary and as a doctoral student. Much of my work is in historical theology, so I tried to understand how the Christians and Jews of antiquity saw their world and God in it. I was always trying to see the social, political, and religious matrix from which their claims arose. I could never claim to truly grasp their worldview, but it made me a more empathetic person in the attempt to do so. The best theological education, to me, is that which is rigorous and expansive, and at the same time, continually prompts the learner to be critically self-reflective and to consider the implications of his or her own theological positions and those of others. If we can have a bit of distance on why we believe what we believe, and consider why such questions matter, we can go a long way to being more loving—and that is what God calls us to be first and foremost.
What are your hopes for BKSM?
I have so many hopes for BKSM! My first priorities are to strengthen the existing programs with a focus on retaining and recruiting exceptional faculty and other mentors for students. I care a lot about effective teaching, and I am committed to supporting faculty and students in every way. I think contextual education, or field education, is a very critical part of the formation process, and I have assembled a working group of Canons to the Ordinary across the BKSM dioceses to advise me on a curriculum for field education. We are growing, with more and more dioceses outside the Midwest seeking to join our courses. I plan to work with intention and clarity with the Board about how best to grow BKSM without losing its essential regional focus. We have many challenges in the need to expand in the context of limited financial resources. We continually run up against the fact that we have a small staff, with only so much time in a day, and questions of how to make the most of what we can realistically accomplish.
What does the job of seminary dean entail? What are some of your responsibilities and what does a day look like for a dean?
My job requires a lot of email correspondence, phone calls, and Zoom meetings. I am constantly collaborating with others—primarily staff, Board members, students, faculty, and other leaders in education and in the Church. I am really enjoying all the personalities and all the generous people who are my interlocutors and advisors. I am also doing a lot of thinking. I want to try to anticipate any problems and get ahead of them as soon as possible, but of course, there are always surprises. So, I consider myself a learner in all things related to this job. One steep learning curve for me is the financial side of BKSM. I am responsible for BKSM’s budget and its expenditures and investments. Fortunately, the Board and diocesan staff members have been very helpful. I also carve out time to keep up with the scholarship in my field, and one day I hope to get back to writing and publishing more. I also spend time each day on my prayer life because attending to my inner life and my relationship with God will only support and enrich my capabilities as dean, and as a person, for that matter.
What do you want the people to know about BKSM?
I was invited to the House of Bishops meeting in March to discuss this very question. I can say right now that local formation is absolutely vital for the Church. Data by the national Church shows that more and more ordinands come from schools like BKSM. The BKSM bishops say they depend on BKSM to supply their parishes with clergy. We are in a time in which the Church is reinventing itself and that includes the ways in which we form our lay and ordained leadership. BKSM is an exemplar to the whole Church of how to respond to these changes. I am honored to be entrusted with BKSM’s mission.
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