NBCSA President Kareem Smith reports on the Executive Board meeting held in Chicago, conveys gratitude for his year as president, and congratulates the newly elected Executive Board. The NBCSA invites seminarians of African descent to gather at Theological College during the March for Life in Washington, DC. Desmond Drummer, editor, discusses Executive Board elections in light of developments in the NBCSA over the past two years.
P ASTORES D ABO V OBIS THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NATIONAL BLACK CATHOLIC SEMINARIANS ASSOCIATION “I will give you shepherds…” NOV/DEC 2011 Vol. 2 No. 6 Jeremiah 3:15 THESE PAST FEW MONTHS SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF THE NBCSA presented me with many grace- filled opportunities. One such opportunity was a number of weeks ago in Chicago, where the Executive Board and a few members met to discuss the future of our organization. I came to the realization that the NBCSA has a most important role in our formation. It is our duty to ensure that the NBCSA is positioned to continue serving seminarians and the broader Church in the years to come. At our meeting in Chicago the Executive Board reviewed a set of bylaws prepared by Lorenzo Herman, SJ. We also began a discussion about developing a website for the NBCSA. Our weekend in Chicago came to a rewarding conclusion at the parish of Saint Benedict the Afri- can-West, where we joined that faith community in prayer at Sunday Mass. The priest advisor for the NBCSA, Redemptorist Father Maurice Nutt, was the celebrant and homilist. It gives me great joy to see the increased participation of seminarians in the NBCSA. This year the Executive Board was committed to reaching out to all seminarians who share the com- mon interest of ministry in Black Catholic communities. It has been a year filled with great ex- periences, a year filled with blessings. I welcome the newly elected Executive Board. I am confident that the next leadership team will continue to foster the common goal of the NBCSA. I congratulate President-elect Dwayne Davis for his good work this year serving as vice president. I also wish to congratulate Vice President-elect Robert Boxie, III, as well as Michael Trail and Doug Hunter, who were reelected to serve as secretary and treasurer, respectively. I have greatly enjoyed my time as president and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. Let us remember to pray for one another! Ω MAY GOD BLESS YOU TODAY, TOMORROW AND ALWAYS! Onward in Brotherhood A Message from the President Kareem R. Smith President
Transcript
PASTORES DABO VOBISTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE NATIONAL BLACK CATHOLIC SEMINARIANS ASSOCIATION
“I
willgive
youshepherds…
”NOV/DEC
2011Vol. 2No. 6
Jeremiah
3:15
THESE PAST FEW MONTHS SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF THE NBCSA presented me with many grace-filled opportunities. One such opportunity was a number of weeks ago in Chicago, where the Executive Board and a few members met to discuss the future of our organization. I came to the realization that the NBCSA has a most important role in our formation. It is our duty to ensure that the NBCSA is positioned to continue serving seminarians and the broader Church in the years to come.
At our meeting in Chicago the Executive Board reviewed a set of bylaws prepared by Lorenzo Herman, SJ. We also began a discussion about developing a website for the NBCSA. Our weekend in Chicago came to a rewarding conclusion at the parish of Saint Benedict the Afri-can-West, where we joined that faith community in prayer at Sunday Mass. The priest advisor for the NBCSA, Redemptorist Father Maurice Nutt, was the celebrant and homilist.
It gives me great joy to see the increased participation of seminarians in the NBCSA. This year the Executive Board was committed to reaching out to all seminarians who share the com-mon interest of ministry in Black Catholic communities. It has been a year filled with great ex-periences, a year filled with blessings.
I welcome the newly elected Executive Board. I am confident that the next leadership team will continue to foster the common goal of the NBCSA. I congratulate President-elect Dwayne Davis for his good work this year serving as vice president. I also wish to congratulate Vice President-elect Robert Boxie, III, as well as Michael Trail and Doug Hunter, who were reelected to serve as secretary and treasurer, respectively.
I have greatly enjoyed my time as president and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. Let us remember to pray for one another! Ω
PASTORES DABO VOBIS is published bimonthly and is available to subscribers,
free of charge, by electronic mail.ISSN 2159-1806
To receive a subscription or to offercomments and story ideas, send an
email to the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association.
The NBCSA is an affiliate of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus
Seminarians who will be in Washington with their dio-ceses or seminaries for the 2012 March for Life are en-couraged to gather for fellow-ship on Sunday, January 22 at Theological College, the Na-tional Seminary of the Catholic University of America.
On Sunday evening, immedi-ately following the Vigil Mass at the Basilica of the Na-tional Shrine of the Immacu-late Conception, seminarians are asked to meet at the Our
Mother of Africa Chapel (pictured above) in the lower level of the basilica. Members of the NBCSA will then proceed to walk together to Theological College, which is located directly across from the basilica on Michigan Avenue.
Washington seminarian Robert Boxie, III, the NBCSA’s re-gional representative for the Atlantic region, is the principal or-ganizer for this activity. Contact the NBCSA for more informa-tion. Ω
GATHERING IN WASHINGTON, D.C.SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012 THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
PHOT
O: B
asili
ca o
f the
Nat
iona
l Shr
ine o
f the
Imm
acul
ate C
once
ptio
n
BLACK CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS
The Black Catholic Theological Sympo-sium (BCTS), the only interdisciplinary as-sociation of Roman Catholics of African descent in the United States, elected new leadership at its 2011 meeting held in Octo-ber.
C. Vanessa White, DMin of Catholic Theo-logical Union begins a three-year term as convener of BCTS.
The other leaders are Kathleen Dorsey Bellow, DMin(Associate Convener), Sr. Shawnee Daniels-Sykes, SSND, PhD (Secretary), and Robert Bartlett, PhD (Treasurer). Rev. Bryan Massingale, STD is the past convener. Ω
www.bcts.org
C. Vanessa White
Desmond Drummer | Archdiocese of Atlanta
Leaders Emerge from Milestone Elections Process A NEW EXECUTIVE BOARD FOR 2012
PRESIDENT
Dwayne DavisDiocese of BrooklynSeminary of the
Immaculate Conception Huntington, NY
VICE PRESIDENT
Robert Boxie, IIIArchdiocese of Washington
Theological CollegeWashington, DC
TREASURER
Doug HunterArchdiocese of Indianapolis
St. Meinrad Seminary& School of Theology
St. Meinrad , IN
SECRETARY
Michael TrailArchdiocese of Chicago
St. Joseph College SeminaryChicago, IL
OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association (NBCSA) has become a renewed agent of unity, commu-nication, and collaboration among seminarians of African descent in the United States. The new Executive Board, which will assume re-sponsibilities on Monday, January 16, 2012, is poised to foster contin-ued development in this regard.
In the first issue of PASTORES DABO VOBIS (Jan/Feb 2010) then-president Christopher Rhodes (Louisville) announced a renewal of vision and purpose for the NBCSA. Thankfully, the bold vision of Christopher Rhodes was embraced by seminarians and other sup-porters, especially Valerie Washington of the National Black Catholic Congress. 2010 was a year of laying a foundation for necessary devel-opment.
The 2011 Executive Board, under the leadership of Kareem Smith (New York), introduced additional organizational enhancements which have doubled the number of registered seminarians. With over sixty percent of registered seminarians casting ballots, this year’s elec-tions process had the highest participation rate the NBCSA has ex-perienced in recent memory. The milestone elections process to iden-tify leaders for 2012 is a testament to the potency of the renewal which began in 2010. Ω
Brooklyn seminarian Dwayne Davis served as vice president in 2011. He has been elected to
lead the NBCSA in 2012.
INDIANAPOLIS
Prayer for the Cause of
Father Augustus Tolton
To report any spiritual or physical fa-vors granted through prayer in Father Tolton’s name, please write:
...af
ter
my
own
hear
t.”
O God, we give you thanks for your servant and priest, Father Augustus Tolton,
who labored among us in times of contradiction,times that were both beautiful and paradoxical.
His ministry helped lay the foundation for a truly Catholic gathering in faith in our time.
We stand in the shadow of his ministry.May his life continue to inspire us
and imbue us with that confidence and hopethat will forge a new evangelization for the Church we love.
Father in Heaven,Father Tolton’s suffering service sheds light upon our sorrows;
we see them through the prism of your Son’s passion and death.If it be your Will, O God, glorify your servant, Father Tolton,by granting the favor I now request through his intercession
(mention your request)so that all may know the goodness of this priest
whose memory looms large in the Church he loved.
Complete what you have begun in us that we might work for the fulfillment of your kingdom.
Not to us the glory, but glory to you O God, through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord;
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are our God, living and reigning forever and ever.
Amen.
Office of the CardinalArchdiocese of Chicago835 North Rush StreetChicago, Illinois 60611
