John T. Sebastian, Ph.D., became LMU’s second vice president for mission and ministry in 2017 and leads the many activities of the LMU community that engage our mission and identity. In this essay, he discusses the mutually supportive relationship between LMU and the Catholic Church, as seen in our programs that educate and empower congregations.
When I arrived at LMU in 2017, the first formal event I attended was the graduation ceremony for the Center for Religion and Spirituality (CRS). Led by my colleague Bob Hurteau, CRS is the university’s continuing education resource for volunteer and professional ministers in the Catholic Church. On that day, we awarded 250 certificates in various aspects of ministry and theology. I was stunned to see that our Sacred Heart Chapel was filled to the rafters with graduates and their families, coworkers, and friends. Many of the students, drawn from local parishes, were Latino, and the ceremony was conducted in English and Spanish, as are many of the center’s classes.
The event was an eye-opener for me. What I saw on that day was that the Catholic Church is thriving, right here and right now, and LMU is in the thick of it. It was a powerful thing to behold. Some of CRS’ graduates work for the Church, while others are lay volunteers who have day jobs. Many of them are immigrants, coming from vibrant communities throughout the greater L.A. area. Now, they have expanded skill sets and are empowered to be better ministers of their local churches. I became emotionally overwhelmed, thinking of how Southern California’s congregations are actively contributing to the vitality of the Catholic Church, especially at a time when the church’s influence in other parts of the country is said to be declining. Talk about having an impact beyond the bluff!
LMU enjoys an excellent partnership with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. We each have so much to give the other and sharing resources benefits both institutions. I am fully committed to growing this partnership in the coming years. The Church has so many needs that LMU is well equipped to address. For example, our Media Arts for Ministry certificate has been popular ever since the pandemic necessitated that Masses and other religious services be conducted remotely. In addition to meeting pandemic needs, local churches now enjoy offering remote programming as an extra option between in-person Sunday services.
Previously housed under LMU Extension, the Center for Religion and Spirituality is now an essential part of LMU Mission and Ministry, and its programs have evolved to meet the times. I am especially proud of our certificate in Black Catholic Spirituality, launched in response to the unjust murder of George Floyd in May 2020. LMU has long enjoyed a good relationship with the Black Catholic community. In fact, Anderson Shaw, the director of the African American Catholic Center for Evangelization for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, sits on the CRS advisory board. The certificate program helps us to uplift the distinctive identity and history of the Black community within the Catholic Church.
Another key CRS program is Mantener el Camino (“stay the course” in Spanish), a degree pathway for low-income, Spanish-speaking students who have extensive pastoral experience but have not yet achieved a college degree. Done in partnership with local community colleges, the program begins by enrolling students in an associate’s degree program at one of the community colleges while they take two courses at LMU that count toward the degree and are taught bilingually. Faculty and advisors then guide students through the challenges of a college education, preparing them for bachelor’s and master’s degree programs at LMU or other universities. With Mantener el Camino, our goal is to create a pipeline of trained ministers who can then serve their local constituents more effectively.
Through programs such as these, CRS responds to real needs that have been identified in our highly diverse Greater Los Angeles community, and the potential impact over time is enormous. It is imperative, therefore, that we work to make CRS resources even more accessible to all parishioners. The cost of tuition may be relatively low, but for many of these active and aspiring ministers, it still poses a significant burden. With today’s parish donations not as robust as they used to be, the onus is on us to provide more funds for scholarships. For me and for the rest of LMU leadership, supporting the Center for Religion and Spirituality is a major priority going forward.
“The [Black Catholic Spirituality] certificate program helps us to uplift the distinctive identity and history of the Black community within the Catholic Church.”
John Sebastian
Finally, I’d like to conclude by emphasizing that I am passionate about all of the programs we are developing in Mission and Ministry because they share a wonderful common theme: reaffirming Catholic values and practices while working to make them more accessible and more relevant to today’s constituents. In addition to CRS, the Academy of Catholic Thought and Imagination (ACTI), led by School of Film and Television faculty member José Garcia Moreno, is doing very exciting work applying cutting-edge technology, such as high-definition video, virtual reality, and assisted reality, to the dissemination and practice of faith. If we can use technology to help people see the sacred in different ways – ways that are relevant to the world we live in now – we might be able to get to a deeper level of discourse, one beyond the facile divisiveness that is now popular.
ACTI is currently being reinvented as the Center for Spirituality and Technology, which will leverage LMU’s location in Silicon Beach to become a world-class venue for exploring how technologies like digital animation as well as augmented and virtual reality can enhance religious experience and expression. In my view, such bold innovations are an untapped goldmine of possibility and must be supported with as much vigor as we support CRS. Just as the invention of the printing press revolutionized society and helped give birth to the Protestant Reformation, our current high-tech revolution continues to transform our daily lives even as it offers the potential to greatly expand our practice and understanding of the Catholic faith. And what better place to ignite such bright possibilities than LMU?
If you’d like to support the work of LMU Mission and Ministry, you can make a gift here.
