“Father Ron wanted the Continuing Education department to be a service to the wider community,” she explained. “He wanted OST to be a place for theological discussion on a broad variety of topics across the spectrum, including the ecumenical and interfaith communities,”
Ten years ago, Rose Marden was Oblate School of Theology’s associate academic dean when Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI, asked her to assume additional responsibilities organizing Continuing Education events.
Within two years, as the number of events grew, she found less and less time for her work as associate academic dean. Father Rolheiser split the two areas of responsibility between two people, making her the associate dean for Continuing Education and hiring Sister Linda Gibler, OP, as associate academic dean.
During the past three years, Dr. Marden discerned that it’s time she focused more on teaching – her first love. She retired July 1 from her Continuing Education post and will teach full-time as assistant professor of pastoral theology. She was honored June 15 at the end of the 2016 Summer Institute with a cake, a bouquet of flowers and a certificate of appreciation for a job well done.
Indeed, her record is stellar. She has expanded the schedule from two major events to 20 or more per year. Sister Sarah Sharkey, OP, who retired in 2015, was an immensely popular speaker at continuing education events for years, consistently attracting overflow audiences. Thanks to Father Rolheiser’s connections with prominent spirituality leaders and thinkers, OST has attracted a host of nationally- and world-renowned scholars. They include cosmologist Brian Swimme; centering prayer leader Father Thomas Keating, OCSO; Palestinian Archbishop Elias Chacour; Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann; authors Paula D’Arcy, Kathleen Norris and Barbara Brown Taylor; author and retreat director James Finley; and psychoanalyst Robert L. Moore.
“Father Ron wanted the Continuing Education department to be a service to the wider community,” she explained. “He wanted OST to be a place for theological discussion on a broad variety of topics across the spectrum, including the ecumenical and interfaith communities,” she recalled. Dr. Marden commented that many Catholics have ended their faith formation at the time of confirmation and that high school students often are not interested in more religious instruction. “To reflect more seriously after you’ve experienced life is what’s so great about all the people we’ve brought to this campus. They’ve challenged people to expand their thinking about ‘How big is your God?’ They’ve challenged people’s thinking so that it’s not what they learned at 10 or 14 – there’s a much bigger picture to examine and think about.”
The Continuing Education program “has just kept unfolding. I never thought I’d be doing 20 events in one year,” Dr. Marden commented. She’s learned that many details go into planning a successful Continuing Education event and has developed a checklist of 92 items which she can pass on to Victoria B. Luna, her successor. The director does some of the tasks, while Brenda Reyna, her capable assistant, does others.
Although attendance at any given lecture is often between 250 and 300, Dr. Marden said some registrants are able to come only for one or two sessions of a three- or four-day event so the actual attendance is often higher for the whole event. The program’s growth was a major factor leading to construction of the Whitley Theological Center, dedicated in 2012.
“This program has attracted a broad range of people to our campus, and those who routinely attend have become a community of people quite well educated in faith. Some come from Austin and Corpus Christi, and for our annual Summer Institute some people fly in from Florida and Canada. With the things they’re talking about, where else can you go to talk about that?” Dr. Marden asked rhetorically.
“I enjoy conversation and adult interaction. I don’t just stand there and lecture; I love to engage people, and I usually get pretty good feedback that people enjoy the courses I teach,” she said.
Along the way, Dr. Marden has continued her own education. Earning a Master of Theological Studies in 1994 and a Master of Divinity in 2003—both degrees from OST—she went on to earn a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Catholic University of America in 2014.
With the Continuing Education infrastructure firmly in place for Victoria Luna to manage, Dr. Marden is free to assess the direction of faith formation and how she can mentor parish faith formation leaders and seminarians who must teach in today’s church.