BY ERIKA ANDERSON

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Celebrating years of academic study and commitment, graduates of the Pastoral Ministry Formation and LIMEX programs and their families gathered at Holy Spirit Church May 12 for a Mass and banquet in their honor.

Six LIMEX and eight Pastoral Ministry Formation graduates processed into the St. Mary’s Day Chapel, each carrying a single red rose, as the “Prayer of St. Francis” was sung. The multi-year programs provide formation for ministry in the church, usually at the parish level.

In his homily, Msgr. Peter Dora, vicar general of the archdiocese, offered his congratulations to the graduates.

“Congratulations on what you have accomplished, but more so, congratulations, glory and praise for what has been accomplished in you and what will be accomplished through you,” he said.

He compared the graduates to branches of the vine of Christ.

“If we cling to Christ, it gives us an assurance,” he said. “We are truly conduits of his truth, his wisdom and his love and we bring not only our own humble attachments, but an attachment to the Lord, our Savior.”

Following the celebration of the Eucharist the graduates were commissioned. As Mary Ann Fischer, past archdiocesan director of adult education, announced their names, the graduates walked up to the altar to receive lighted candles from Msgr. Dora and Father Paul Berny. Msgr. Dora then read a prayer of commissioning.

“Make their words the echo of Christ’s voice, so that those who hear them may be drawn to obey the Gospel. Fill the hearts of your ministers with the Holy Spirit, so that, becoming all things to all people, they may lead many to you, the Father of all, to sing your praises in your holy Church.”

LIMEX is the Loyola School of Ministry Extension program, through which students receive master’s degrees in pastoral studies from Loyola University in New Orleans.

For the past three and a half years, the LIMEX group has studied under the direction and guidance of facilitator Betty Lee Martin. Graduates are Judy Courtney of the Church of St. Ann, Marietta; May Fister of St. Anna’s, Monroe; Lorraine Hebert of the Church of St. Jude the Apostle, Atlanta; Catherine Heffernan of the Church of St. Benedict, Duluth, Carol Gossett of St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro, and Dottie O’Connor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta.

The curriculum consists of ten 10-week courses, set in a college quarter format. Classes include the Jewish roots of Christian faith, Christian origins, grace and Christ, church sacraments and ministry, and morality and ethics. Assignments from the texts are read and prepared, then during a three-hour class each week, members discuss and comment on pertinent aspects of their lives in conversation with the text concepts. At the end of each quarter, students are required to write a final theological, reflective essay. In addition to the May 12 celebration, the LIMEX graduates traveled to Loyola University to receive their degrees May 17.

Pastoral Ministry Formation (PMF) is a two-year certificate program that prepares lay people with leadership potential with the foundations, principles and skills necessary for effective pastoral ministry in the church.

Participants, who must be recommended by their pastor, attend 11 Saturdays of classes for two years at All Saints Church in Dunwoody, learning Scripture, theology, history, liturgy and leadership, pastoral ministry and evangelization skills. A third year is offered for graduates who want to develop further application of their skills.

The eight PMF graduates were Richard Laurens and Barbara Austin of St. Thomas the Apostle, Smyrna; Maria Henry and Tom Wood of All Saints Church, Dunwoody; Marilee Pavik of St. Lawrence Church, Lawrenceville; Marie Mulvenna of the Church of St. Gabriel, Fayetteville; Diane Graves of St. Thomas More, Decatur, and Patti Graper of St. Michael the Archangel Church, Woodstock.

At a banquet following the liturgy, graduates spoke about their experiences in the LIMEX and PMF programs.

Maria Henry, a PMF graduate, said that it was fitting that the graduation ceremony was held at Holy Spirit.

“What beautiful symbolism, that we would be fortunate enough to be celebrating this evening at this beautiful church named Holy Spirit, for our class now believes, in our collective heart, that truly it was the Holy Spirit at work in each of our lives that led us to participate in this truly marvelous program,” she said.

Henry also spoke of the closeness that her class achieved.

“We still stood as individuals, with sometimes conflicting viewpoints, yet we had bonded into one. We had not just learned about faith development, we as a group had become faith development,” she said. “The Holy Spirit had performed magic. We were connected. We had become and truly are friends in Christ.”

Tom Wood spoke about the duties that the graduates now have.

“Today we are truly a global community. We are God’s people. It is our obligation to spread His word,” he said. “Pastoral Ministry Formation has given each of us a base to continue this work of spreading His word.”

Carole Gossett, a graduate of LIMEX, is a retired Atlanta police officer, having served 23 years in law enforcement. She said that the program was a “movement from hiddenness to openness.”

“Through my LIMEX experience, I have learned to appreciate the messiness of Christianity and I have come to realize that it doesn’t come in a neat little package,” she said. “My LIMEX experience has not been about a master’s degree, though I got one. It has been a journey with God and God’s creation.”

Religious educator Mary Ann Fischer said that the success of the programs is evident in the closeness that students achieve.

“Every group says they are the best and that they are the most bonded,” she said. “That says to me that something is very right about the program.”

The Mass was concelebrated by Father John Welch, MS, and Father Gene Barrett, MS, parochial vicars at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Father Richard Kieran, pastor of St. Anna’s Church, and Father Berny, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church, Marietta, and former pastor of the Church of St. Gabriel.