The Ministry Institute
at Gonzaga University
Discern Your Ministry.
Enhance Your Leadership Skills.
Deepen Your Commitment To Service.
Program Opportunities at Ministry Institute
The Ministry Institute brings together women and men from a variety of places and cultures. Some come for graduate degrees from Gonzaga University (GU), while others prepare for graduate studies by completing GU’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program. All plan on sharing their gifts in service to others.
Some are discerning a call to priesthood, diaconate, and religious life or preparing to enter a seminary. Others are preparing for lay ministry in the Church. Some are professional ministers, ordained and lay, who are taking a break from active ministry to develop their skills for more effective ministry. All share a common commitment and use the resources of Gonzaga University and the Spokane community for personal enrichment, academic education and pastoral training.
For all of these, the Ministry Institute provides a setting where small community living is a supportive environment for personal growth, broadening of intellectual horizons, deepening of spirituality, and honing of ministerial skills.
The Ministry Institute’s programs are semester-based.
Academic Programs
The Religious Studies Department at GU offers a Master of Arts (MA) in Religious Studies. MA and doctoral degrees in Leadership are offered in GU’s School of Professional Studies.
Sabbatical Programs
Our semester-based sabbatical program allows students to rest and renew their souls with liturgy, weekly community meals, and relaxation. Students in our International Outreach Program benefit from elements of our Sabbatical programs while pursuing their degrees.
Mission of the Ministry Institute
The Ministry Institute at Gonzaga University is a center for faith education, spiritual renewal and leadership in ministry grounded in the Roman Catholic and Jesuit traditions. We desire and seek participants of diverse backgrounds, cultures, faith traditions and experience.
The Institute assists women and men in discerning or enhancing roles in ministry and in developing spirituality and ministerial identity. It emphasizes both communal participation and the worth of the individual and values dialogue, respect for diversity and the nurturing of personal conscience.
History
The Ministry Institute started in 1981, when Father Armand Nigro, SJ, Father Vince Buezer, SJ, and Father Jack Evoy, SJ, anticipating a shortage of priests, found men who had been widowed and in other careers, but were interested in serving as Catholic priests. Conventional seminary training was not appropriate, so they established the Ministry Institute as a seminary to train second-vocation men for the priesthood.
In the mid-1990s it ceased to be a seminary. In the late 1990s, plans began to use the building for lay and ordained Catholics, and for non-Catholics in the Religious Studies graduate program, which gained accreditation of the Association of Theological Schools several years ago. Now non-Catholics can transfer credit for their work to seminaries in their denominations.
In the 1990s, the former CREDO and FOCUS programs, which brought priests and nuns from around the world for sabbatical studies, became the Ministry Institute’s sabbatical program.
Currently, the Ministry Institute brings men and women together from a variety of locations and backgrounds. Some are discerning a call to priesthood, diaconate, and religious life or preparing to enter a seminary. Others are preparing for lay ministry in the Church. Some are professional ministers, ordained and lay, who are taking a break from active ministry to develop their skills for more effective ministry. All share a common commitment and use the resources of Gonzaga University and the Spokane community for personal enrichment, academic education and pastoral training. For all of these, the Ministry Institute provides a setting where small community living is a supportive environment for personal growth, broadening of intellectual horizons, deepening of spirituality, and honing of ministerial skills.
History
The Ministry Institute started in 1981, when Father Armand Nigro, SJ, Father Vince Buezer, SJ, and Father Jack Evoy, SJ, anticipating a shortage of priests, found men who had been widowed and in other careers, but were interested in serving as Catholic priests. Conventional seminary training was not appropriate, so they established the Ministry Institute as a seminary to train second-vocation men for the priesthood.
In the mid-1990s it ceased to be a seminary. In the late 1990s, plans began to use the building for lay and ordained Catholics, and for non-Catholics in the Religious Studies graduate program, which gained accreditation of the Association of Theological Schools several years ago. Now non-Catholics can transfer credit for their work to seminaries in their denominations.
In the 1990s, the former CREDO and FOCUS programs, which brought priests and nuns from around the world for sabbatical studies, became the Ministry Institute’s sabbatical program.
Currently, the Ministry Institute brings men and women together from a variety of locations and backgrounds. Some are discerning a call to priesthood, diaconate, and religious life or preparing to enter a seminary. Others are preparing for lay ministry in the Church. Some are professional ministers, ordained and lay, who are taking a break from active ministry to develop their skills for more effective ministry. All share a common commitment and use the resources of Gonzaga University and the Spokane community for personal enrichment, academic education and pastoral training. For all of these, the Ministry Institute provides a setting where small community living is a supportive environment for personal growth, broadening of intellectual horizons, deepening of spirituality, and honing of ministerial skills.
Location
The Ministry Institute is situated adjacent to Gonzaga University on a lovely 100-acre riverfront campus. Gonzaga University was founded and is sponsored by the Jesuits. The Ministry Institute works collaboratively with Gonzaga University’s Religious Studies Department and the Diocese of Spokane. Downtown Spokane is within a walking distance of 10 – 20 minutes or you can travel by public transit: bus or cab.
When you arrive, whether by plane, train, or bus, we will arrange to meet and transport you to The Ministry Institute. For more information on the Spokane
