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St. Lawrence Fund
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Institute for the Formation and Ministry of the Diaconate
 | In Association With: The National Association of Diaconate Directors |  |
All Offerings are Twelve-Week Courses, Delivered via the Internet Each Earns Two Graduate Credit Hours (48 class hours)
- complete courses in 12 weeks or less;
- gain knowledge from a practical pastoral focus, including topics such as pastoral care of the family, medical morality, Hispanic ministry, hospital chaplaincy, and Canon Law for deacons; and,
- learn from experienced deacon-facilitators with both academic credentials and real-world experience.
- Diocese of Rochester deacons, remember your cost for a course should be paid by your assignment.
- Cost $250 per credit hour
All Courses are Fully Accredited By The Association of Theological Schools and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Spring 2012 Courses
Registration Now Open
Twelve Week Trimester Begins January 99, 2012
Special Early Bird Discount $375
Regularly $500.00 Per Course
For More Details Or To Register, Please Contact Us At:
1-877-9DEACON (1-877-933 2266)
E-mail us at: deacons@pcj.edu
or visit us on the web at Pontifical College Josephinum - link
- PA990DE: Introduction to Grief Counseling This course is designed to allow the participant to explore the many facets of a person who is grieving the loss of someone close to them. Completion of this course will allow the participant to identify with those who bereave and allow the participant to experience a methodology of counseling that will be healing and helpful to the bereaved. The deacon will explore the attitude that we have toward death; define what grief and bereavement mean; identify factors that influence different reactions to grief; examine different bereavement scenarios; identify memorial and funeral services used to heal the bereaved and bring closure; consider cultural differences among various religions; explore the healing process through counseling; learn how to develop a good grief group; and list professional organizations and helpful resources for the bereaved and those who help them. He also will be assigned the role of acting as a counselor to another participant who will play the role of a bereaved person, thereby allowing the participants to gain practical insight into the theoretical basis of the course. Participants will be required to give a weekly report on the progress of their assigned counselee, and each counselee will give a weekly report on the work of their assigned counselor. This class will be facilitated by Deacon Bob McCormick, a retired educator and deacon of long service as a hospital chaplain of the Diocese of Rochester, NY.
- CL612DE: Canon Law for Deacons This course has been developed specifically for deacons, based on numerous requests from officers and members of the National Association of Diaconate Directors, headquartered here at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus Ohio. Canon Law plays an important part in every element of the deacon's ministry.
As Doctor Edward Peters, JCL, JCD of Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit has remarked: "Most cradle Catholics, having grown up with a vague awareness of the presence of canon law-however incomplete and even erroneous their understanding of Church law might be-are much less likely to pose questions about the operation of canon law unless, perchance, they find themselves directly affected by it. Not so with candidates for conversion; they are motivated to ask questions about all facets of Church life."
As deacons, in addition to being guided by the precepts of canon law, you will be seen as a de facto subject-matter expert by many with whom you come into contact. Canon law, the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the western world is the internal legal system of the Catholic Church. It affects, to one degree or another, virtually every aspect of Catholic life, sometimes much more intimately than many people realize; other times, though, much less directly than one might have otherwise thought.
This course of instruction is based on the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which guides the western or Roman, church. The code consists of over 1700 canons or rules, divided into seven topics, or "books. While the official language is Latin, be not afraid!" This course will be conducted in English.
- PA868DE: Pastoral Counseling for the Deacon This course presents basic counseling theory, processes and skill development, focused on assessment, listening, and goal setting. This course briefly outlines various emotional/mental disorders which may assist the non-professional counselor to make appropriate assessment and professional referral. This course is specifically designed for those deacons in pastoral settings who have come from other disciplines, and aims to introduce students to a variety of tools, strategies, and methodologies. Special emphasis will be placed upon helping the deacon recognize some common issues and problems which they are likely to encounter. Personal counseling styles will be addressed as a means of enabling each participant to understand his or her own strengths and weaknesses in a pastoral care setting. This course will permit the deacon to identify the critical differences between pastoral care and professional counseling, particularly as it relates to the nature and limits of the pastoral counseling task. This course will also assist the deacon to understand the elements of the counseling process and gain experience of elementary counseling interventions through practice and role-play, and to help learners to understand their own personal style of relating and its influence on the counseling process. This course will also introduce deacons to a wide range of helpful resources relating to pastoral care and counseling.
- SP611DE: Spirituality of the Deacon In your role as a deacon, you have duties toward God, yourself and others. As you become more spiritually "in tune"ť you are able to serve all groups more fully and derive increased joy from your service. With particular emphasis on the formation and ministry of permanent deacons in the United States, this course correlates the sources, principles and practices of sound spirituality with the fundamental truths of Catholic faith, with the reality of human nature as redeemed and graced, and with practical aspects of spirituality in diaconal ministry.
It highlights development of sound spirituality in the context of the Church and emphasizes the need for, and spiritual benefits of, ongoing integration of spiritual reading, personal prayer, private devotion, liturgical worship, and pastoral practice throughout a deacon's ministry to the faithful.
- MO844DE: Topics in Moral Theology (NEW COURSE) This course includes the study of the interaction of the theological traditions of East and West, both today and throughout history, with emphasis on a particular theme or set of questions in Christian ethics. This course introduces the deacon to the foundational principles of Christian ethics from Eastern and Western considerations of basic themes: 1) the relationship between moral theology and Christian ethics; 2) God as source of the moral life; 3) the nature of the human person; 4) the problem of evil and the experience of sin; 5) conscience and moral decision-making.
This course provides the deacon with an opportunity to engage interactively with other deacons from various dioceses in critical reflection on selected moral topics as treated by the Eastern and Western Christian traditions: sexuality and marriage, bioethics from conception to death, and other life issues (globalization and poverty, war and peace, environmental ethics). This course is facilitated by Deacon Peter Gummere, a seasoned deacon and facilitator who has also facilitated the Medical and Health Care Morality for the Diaconate course.
- PA631DE: Principles of Catechesis As person of faith and a deacon, you continually catechize all of those around you. This course assists both new and experienced deacons to raise this catechesis to the conscious, thoughtful level. Our focus for this twelve-week course will be the realization that the authentic and on-going growth in knowledge and faith for all of those entrusted to the catechetical care of the Church is paramount. This course looks at how to both form and inform God’s faithful in the Catholic faith – engaging both the head and the heart. We explore the balance struck toward this goal over the history of Christianity. The readings, forums, and deliverables are particularly designed to allow deacons to find that balance for themselves and for their ministry. Course outcomes include:
- Familiarizing and enabling deacons to understand and use the long and rich history of catechesis in the Church to ensure effective catechetical ministry in a modern setting.
- Differentiating various means and tools of catechesis.
- Discussing the most recent ecclesiastical pronouncements and resources of the Church regarding catechesis.
- Explaining catechesis and the catechism of the Catholic Church more effectively to the faithful, using the images and religiosity of widely disparate faith traditions while remaining faithful and supporting the Magisterium.
The facilitator for this session will be Father Patrick Manning, Dean of the School of Theology at Walsh University.
Fall 2011 Courses (Closed)
- PA990DE: Introduction to Grief Counseling
- PA883DE: Pastoral Care of Marriage and Family This course is based on the mandate given by John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio, "No plan for organized pastoral work at any level must ever fail to take into consideration the pastoral area of the family" Since parish families should be the first communities of evangelization and families often experience crises, Deacons must be sensitive to the need for a proper pastoral response. This course focuses on the pastoral aspects of ministry with families, and significant attention will also be given to marriage preparation in the parish. A vision for pastoral care of families will be developed by focusing on:
- Church teaching,
- The dignity of marriage,
- The marital embrace, and
- The family
This course will emphasize the critical importance of ministering to married couples and families as they seek to become "domestic church." Materials used in this course will be drawn from church documents, current research, and practical pastoral experiences in order to help Deacons adequately respond to the issues faced by today's families. We are fortunate to have Deacon Bill Urbine, D.Min, LMFT, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Deacon of the Diocese of Allentown, PA as our facilitator for this course.
- PA951DE: Good Practices in Parish Administration: This course provides priests, deacons and parish administrators with a comprehensive overview of civil, legal and financial issues which may be encountered in a parish setting. It also provides a structured overview of various scenarios likely to be present in a parochial setting, and does so in both the context of civil and canon law. Topics addressed include: overview of civil law, contracts, negligence and premise liability; land use and zoning, employment law, worker’s compensation and unemployment compensation; civil law regarding marriages and families, festivals, bingo and games of chance; casinos, game-nights and liquor liability, tax exempt status, confidentiality and privileged communication; protection of children, and financial management. This course has been developed and reviewed by experienced attorneys, accountants, and pastors.
- PA868DE: Pastoral Counseling for the Deacon
- PA967DE: Prison Ministry for the Deacon: This course is specifically designed for those deacons involved or with interest in ministry to the incarcerated. It has been developed by a cadre of deacons, each of whom is a full time employee of a correctional facility, as well as an experienced chaplain. It addresses issues which are specific to local, state or federal correctional facility. It will enable a deacon to:
- Employ appropriate programs and demeanor as a volunteer or contract chaplain within a correctional setting.
- Identify basic correctional procedures within Federal, State, and Local penal institutions.
- Examine and differentiate inmate mentality.
- Differentiate the role of a Catholic chaplain from an institutional chaplain.
- Provide effective Catholic services - liturgical and educational.
- Discuss the limits of confidentiality within counseling and basic religious counseling method
Deacon Robert Werner, a full-time employee of the Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Medical Corrections Center in Fort Devens, MA, will return to facilitate this popular and most useful course.
- PA631DE: Principles of Catechesis:
Summer 2011 (Closed)
- PA990DE: Introduction to Grief Counseling.
- MO841DE: Medical and Health Care Morality for the Diaconate As a deacon, you may frequently be asked to assist the faithful as they grapple with emotionally charged medical issues. This course will present fundamental Church principles relating to health care morality and medical ethics that will provide you with confidence as you are called upon during these discussions. This course studies the theology of the human body, personhood, and human dignity in protecting life from beginning to end and in treating illness. This course will be of particular interest to deacons involved in hospital, nursing home, ministry to the aging, or other similar settings, and to those deacons who have completed our course in Hospital Ministry and who desire an in-depth examination of Catholic moral principals on this topic. Deacon Pete Gummere, a microbiologist and long-time writer and commentator on Catholic moral theology, and a deacon of the Diocese of Burlington, VT will return to facilitate this course during the upcoming term
- PA951DE: Good Practices in Parish Administration
- PA868DE: Pastoral Counseling for the Deacon
Spring 2011 Semester (Closed)
- PA631DE: Principles of Catechesis
- CL612DE: Canon Law for Deacons:
- PA951DE: Good Practices in Parish Administration:
- PA931DE: Hospital Ministry for the Deacon: This course introduces participants to the role of the hospital chaplain. Basic responsibilities and day-to-day tasks are discussed in detail. Participants will be required to frequently visit hospital, work with a chaplain as a mentor, complete assigned tasks relating to clinical visits, read assignments, and complete reflection papers. A vision for pastoral care of the ill and frail will be developed by focusing on Church teaching, the dignity of human life, the power of prayer, and the need for thorough and prayerful preparation by the deacon.
- PA868DE: Pastoral Counseling for the Deacon:
- SP611DE: The Spirituality of the Deacon:
The Fall 2010 Semester (Closed)
- PA921DE: Catechesis of the New Roman Missal
- PA951DE: Good Practices in Parish Administration
- PA883DE: Care of Marriage and the Family
- PA967DE: Prison Ministry
- SP611DE: Spirituality of the Deacon
- PA868DE: Pastoral Counseling for the Diaconate
- MO841DE: Medical and Health Care Morality
- CL612 DE: Canon Law for Deacons
The Spring 2010 Semester (Closed)
- PA951DE: Good Practices in Parish Administration
- MO841DE: Medical Morality
- PA883DE: Care of Marriage and the Family
- PA967DE: Prison Ministry
- PA931DE: Hospital Ministry
