Saint Mary’s to host presentation about the U.S. religious landscape

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University will host a public presentation titled, “The U.S. Religious Landscape: Continuities and Some Change” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Saint Mary’s will host guest speaker Clifford Grammich, Ph.D., the chairman of the 2010 Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies who will discuss the fact that recent religious data shows many remarkable patterns of stability over the past century, including the Catholic Church as still the largest religious body in the U.S.

The event will be held in the Common Room, located on the third floor of Saint Mary’s Hall, and is sponsored by the SMU Departments of History, Political Science and Theology.

For more information, contact Dr. Richard Tristano at rtristan@smumn.edu.

SMU Department of Theology hosts second Vineyard Colloquium

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University Department of Theology will presents its second Vineyard Colloquium on Tuesday, Jan. 25. The lecture, “The Lay Vocation to Ecclesial Ministry,” will begin at 4 p.m. in the President’s Room of the Toner Center.

Guest speaker Todd Graff currently serves as the director of the Office of Ministry Formation for the Diocese of Winona.

A colloquium is a somewhat more informal, yet academic, conversation between scholars on a given topic. The Vineyard Colloquia give students a chance to hear from local and national scholars and practitioners in lay ecclesial ministry. The series is part of the Spirituality for the Vineyard program for students discerning lay ecclesial ministry.

The public is invited to attend. For more information, contact Dr. Susan Windley-Daoust at (507) 452-4430.

Public invited to hear guest theology speaker Sept. 19 at SMU

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University’s “Vineyard Colloquia” inaugural lecture will feature guest speaker Sister Kate Dooley, OP, on Sunday, Sept. 19. Dr. Dooley will present, “Opportunities and Challenges in Lay Ministry” beginning at 7 p.m. in the President’s Room, located in the SMU Toner Student Center.

Dr. Dooley is a Sinsinawa (Wis.) Dominican Sister who teaches at Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. For the past 25 years, she taught in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

She holds an M.A. from the Catholic University of America, a M.Th. from Harvard Divinity School, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Dr. Dooley has published widely in catechetical and liturgical journals and written a number of texts and resource materials for religious education. She is one of the general editors for the Benziger series, “Christ Jesus the Way” and has won numerous national awards.

The “Vineyard Colloquia” is a series of national and local scholars and practitioners of Catholic ministry, speaking and sparking conversation on the practice and spirituality of lay ecclesial ministry.

The event, hosted by the SMU Department of Theology, is free and open to the public.