September 15, 2023
Leave-taking from IPS to Pastor Steve
I was hired for my first tenure track academic position by Loyola University Chicago for their Institute of Pastoral Studies. IPS was started in the early 1960s during the Second Vatican Council by Loyola’s School of Education, not its Theology Department. It was established to provide education for clergy and women and men religious for the church that was being imagined at Vatican II before its conclusion. By the time I arrived on the faculty over three decades later, it was one of the premier ministry schools in the United States, drawing students from all over the world, as well as a number of different denominations and traditions. What made it truly unique is that every class was capped at 12 students. If 13 people enrolled, they would split it into two classes. It was the most intimate formal learning context I have ever been a part of. And this intimacy created an intense sense of community because of it.
Although the students would graduate with a degree from Loyola Chicago’s Graduate School, they all saw themselves first as IPS students because of the deep friendships that were forged in their time there. To acknowledge the community that was created, and the separation that people would feel when departing, IPS had begun a practice of “leave-taking” for their graduating students before their graduation from Loyola. Their leave-taking rite came from the ancient Christian practice of separation after people had come together to celebrate a feast for more than one day. Such a leave-taking rite was originally called in the Greek “apodosis,” which literally means conclusion. But practically it meant that a community was formed for a holy purpose, and now they are separating, celebrating the community they created and acknowledging those friends to whom they now said “goodbye.” In their leave-taking ceremony in 2003, I was one of the leave-takers, as I was heading to North Park Seminary to serve as Dean of Chapel. It was a very helpful way of saying goodbye to such a rich community.
We are about to have a leave-taking at our church. We will be celebrating the ministry, friendship, talents, and contributions of Pastor Steve and Marilyn at First Covenant Church. With Steve retiring from ministry, we will also be providing Steve with a leave-taking from his life’s work as a pastor. It will be a time of celebration, with occasions of remembrance, thanksgiving, and ultimately leave-taking: remembering that Steve joined our church—and ministry in general—for a holy purpose, and that he and Marilyn are now moving on to a new season. For these reasons we will celebrate the life and service of Pastor Steve and Marilyn. With thanks to God for God’s faithfulness expressed through them, we will send Steve and Marilyn off with a blessing, as reflection of the many blessings we have received from them.
This special event will be a dinner on Saturday evening, November 18. Please save the date. More information will follow soon.
The grace of this to us all is that Marilyn and Steve will be returning in the near future to call this church their home.
With gratitude for Steve, Marilyn, and you all,
~ Pastor Todd