Our Lady of the Lake College, the only Catholic Franciscan institution of higher education in the southeastern United States, recently received a $446,692 award from Lilly Endowment Inc. to develop a summer program for youth centered on Franciscan theology, ethics and vocational discernment.
Young people often have a good sense of what Christians believe, but many do not know how those beliefs took shape or why and how they endure. This new summer program, entitled “The Franciscan Experience” (TFE), will help high school-aged students seeking deeper engagement in the Christian tradition. St. Francis of Assisi fascinates young people who find his radical love of God and emphasis on service appealing. However, few of them have studied the deeper reasons behind Francis’ love of the poor.
“We find that when students engage in the 'why' questions, especially when posed in relation to their own experiences, they engage with the material in a more substantive and permanent way,” explained David Whidden, PhD, the lead investigator on the grant.
As part of the week-long program, instructors will draw upon the College’s nationally-recognized program in service-learning to challenge students to more actively address the ethical and theological questions posed in the classroom through service in the community. Participants in the program will have the opportunity to serve in a soup kitchen and a shelter for women and children. TFE will challenge students to reflect on questions related to ethics, social justice, and how each of us is called to care for the poorest in our community.
Designed for students looking for more intellectual, spiritual, experiential and ethical formation, TFE will also encourage high school students to think about their own calling in life. Thanks to previous support from Lilly Endowment, Our Lady of the Lake College has an established program for assisting its own students with vocational calling. Consequently TFE leaders will have a unique vantage point from which to help high school students use theological reflection to orient themselves toward lives of service.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 and remains committed to its founders’ wishes in supporting the causes of religion, education and community development. Its religion grantmaking is designed to deepen and enrich the religious lives of American Christians.
“We are a teaching college dedicated to our mission of academic engagement and service in the community,” explained Tina Holland, president of Our Lady of the Lake College. “Each day of ‘The Franciscan Experience’ will focus on one of our five Franciscan values—humility, joyfulness of spirit, reverence for all life, justice, and service. In collaboration with the Diocese of Baton Rouge and with help from Lilly Endowment, we anticipate that TFE will help high school students address issues of faith and discern their gifts for the purpose of serving the common good.”
Photo: The new theology program was developed by OLOL College religion faculty (l to r) Dr. David Whidden, Dr. John Meinert and Dr. Brian Pedraza.