Glenmary Home Missioners - Serving Rural America Since 1939

The following story first appeared in the Autumn 1999 Glenmary Challenge.
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Glenmary president Father Jerry Dorn and other members of the Glenmary community in Cincinnati extend hands in blessing over seminarian John Cichello after he renewed his Glenmary Oath this spring.

Over the past 60 years, the formation of Brothers and priests for Glenmary’s missionary efforts has worn a distinctive face. Right from the start, founder Father William Howard Bishop wanted Glenmarians to be able to go into another culture, right here in the United States, with the “right tools” to do missionary work.

This concern has continued to shape the ever-changing face of Glenmary’s formation program. In the 1940s and ’50s, this meant providing seminarians with practice in street preaching and manning information booths at county fairs; it also meant developing an appreciation for Gospel music. Today, it means in-depth study of evangelical culture, fluency in Spanish and a knowledge of the changing ethnic, racial and economic conditions of the South.

In the early years, new Glenmary priests were trained alongside diocesan priests at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West in Cincinnati. But Father Bishop was already dreaming of the day he would have his own seminary staffed by Glenmarians to prepare specialists for rural ministry. Even though there were few men in those years, he found a way to send some off for doctoral work so they would be prepared to teach in that seminary. This dream was accomplished when Our Lady of the Fields Seminary opened in Glendale, Ohio, in 1949.

Following Vatican II it became apparent that formation of both Brother and priest candidates could not be done by Glenmarians alone. Father Ray Orlett, director of Glenmary education, called for the closing of our seminary and the major revamping of all phases of Glenmary formation.

During the intervening years, there have been many changes in the places where Glenmary candidates attended college and Glenmary seminarians studied theology.

Changes over the years in the formation of Glenmary brothers paralleled a changing understanding of the brothers’ role within Glenmary. In the early years, brothers were trained in practical skills such as gardening and carpentry. Since the 1960s, however, as Brothers have come to be seen as having their own distinct ministries within Glenmary, a more complex formation program was necessary. Today Brothers are sent for advanced degrees and the best technical training, and they are often trained and formed at the same institutions as seminarians.

Glenmary, from its beginnings, has always had an eye on the changing context of missionary ministry. Who are the people we serve? How is the context of Appalachia, the South and the Southwest changing?

Answers to these questions set the backdrop for all changes in our formation program and for our search for appropriate institutions of higher learning for our men. Father Steve Pawelk, for example, studied African-American culture at Xavier University in New Orleans. Neil Pezzulo, to be ordained this fall, studied Appalachian culture at the Appalachian Ministries Education Resource Center in Berea, Kentucky. John Cichello, a seminarian who made his Final Oath to Glenmary in August, studied Latino culture at the Mexican-American Cultural Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Cooperation with other religious communities of Sisters, Brothers and priests has also broadened our vision and helped us form men with an attitude of inclusiveness. Lay women and men at various places of formation have helped our missionaries understand the importance of ministering side by side with all people in the Church. Glenmarian Dennis Ramsey is now participating in an intercommunity novitiate program in Washington, D.C.

In all religious communities today, formation programs look far different than 40 years ago. This is partly a response to changes in Church and society; it is also due to the changing needs of the people presenting themselves for formation. Forming 18-year-olds in the 1950s was a far different challenge than addressing the needs of the 30- and 40-year-olds who are entering Glenmary today.

New members now come with broad experiences of life. Many are already competent in professional fields. Dennis Ramsey, for example, entered Glenmary at 45 from a career in information systems.

To address this situation, we continually adapt the program to the needs of the individual. This is especially true in our candidacy program in Hartford, Kentucky. There Brother Larry Johnson works closely with each man to affirm the gifts and skills already developed; assess needs for future ministry; and provide knowledge and experience to enhance personal and intellectual growth.

Father Mike Kerin is presently director of our novitiate and theologate in Washington, D.C. Besides the theological training at Washington Theological Union, Father Mike sees that our men are formed in various areas according to their needs. Neil Pezzulo, for example, made a 30-day Ignatian Retreat this past summer as part of his spiritual growth and development in preparation for ordination. Neil spent a previous summer supporting striking workers at a poultry plant in North Carolina.

John Cichello, who will be ordained in 2000, is a good example of that flexibility in action. When John entered Glenmary he already had a year’s experience in Appalachia, so he spent some of his first summer with Glenmary in South Georgia. He then went to Alabama for a phase of his novitiate. Along with his theological studies, he worked in Spanish-speaking and African-American parishes, and he also completed an internship in jail ministry.

“My formation program has been very flexible and based on my own needs, my gifts and the needs of Glenmary,” John says. “I have also worked with children, young adults and senior citizens. The community has supported me in all these endeavors.”