Childhood, Youth, Manhood, Old Age, Thomas Cole, 1842, National Gallery of Art
It all began with a picture study. There we were, myself and eight other diocesan leaders from every corner of the country, engaging in a great discussion about Thomas Cole’s four-part painting series, The Voyage of Life. Although not new to the renewal of Catholic liberal education, I was a brand-new diocesan leader, eager to learn and fully aware of all the things I did not know.
As I listened to my fellow participants and program moderators share their wise yet humble thoughts about the painting, and about Catholic education in general, I knew that I was surrounded by incredible mission-driven and faith-filled leaders and that this program – Institute for Catholic Liberal Education Diocesan Leaders Academy (DLA) – would provide the formation I needed as a driver of renewal at the diocesan level. What followed from this opening exercise on our beginning of the year retreat, hosted at the beautiful Augustine Institute in St. Louis, was a remarkable 10-month immersion into the Church’s incredible vision of Catholic school leadership.
It is easy to get bogged down in the weeds as a leader, buried by a never ending to-do list and the long line of people who demand time and attention. While it is true that our cohort’s bi-monthly gatherings provided well-needed respite from the rigors of the work, it is more true that these meetings filled our toolboxes in a profound way, giving us both the philosophical underpinnings and the practical methodologies that are necessary for leading renewal well.
Guided by the wisdom of experienced diocesan leaders Abriana Chilelli and Danny Flynn, along with periodic guest speakers, our group dove into such topics as the Church’s charter for education, how to work in communion with the Bishop, the role of school pastors, implementing curriculum from a Catholic worldview, forming teachers well, aligning accreditation, licensing, and state standards with renewal priorities, helping students with disabilities to flourish, and how to best manage the change renewal in the Catholic liberal tradition can bring.
So much depth, so much beauty, and so much practicality – all of it grounded in the wisdom of the Church and the truth of why we educate in our Catholic schools: to bring students into an encounter with the Lord so that they can more fully love and serve Him, both in this life and the next. Life is truly a voyage, as our cohort discussed in our first picture study, and the Diocesan Leaders Academy has definitely been an integral element of my own leadership journey, a journey now forever touched by the friendship, wisdom, and collaboration of my eight DLA colleagues and our facilitators.
Learn more about the Diocesan Leaders Academy.