Description

Established in 2015, the Luce Fund for Theological Education supports the development of new models of teaching and learning, research and publication, leadership development and educational program design.  Inquiries to the Luce Fund are accepted annually. Structured as an open competition for seminaries and divinity schools, it is the Theology Program’s primary vehicle for supporting institutions of graduate theological education.
 
In this second year of the Luce Fund, the program received 75 letters of inquiry, and invited 18 full proposals. Based on the review of those proposals, we recommend support for nine theological education projects.

This includes a proposed grant to support Loyola University Chicago.

In collaboration with a network of Jesuit schools of theology, Loyola University Chicago’s Institute of Pastoral Studies will develop and launch a fellowship program for transitioning and retiring business executives, senior professionals, and institutional leaders. The program will be comparable in some respects to existing but more secular programs at Harvard and Stanford Universities, yet distinctive in its focus on spirituality, theological education, and community formation.  Cultivating an elder population that has the potential to contribute substantially to Jesuit seminaries and universities – and to a range of wider communities — each year-long program will be organized around the reflective discipline of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, with the aim of helping fellows become community-engaged “contemplatives in action.”  The Luce Foundation’s grant will account for less than 10% of the projected total budget during the program’s first two years, partially supporting program planning and design, curriculum development, and fellowships for seminarians participating in the program as part of their ministerial education.
 
Founded in 1870 by the Jesuits, Loyola University Chicago is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States.  The University’s Institute for Pastoral Studies educates students for professional ministry, spiritual development and faith-based leadership in a wide range of professions, offering several graduate degree programs.