2010 Catalog cover - The Athenaeum Of Ohio

evaluation of the progress of the program could be
made. A new class was admitted in 1977 and in
every year since that time.
Work proceeded on the approval of accreditation
for a Master’s degree program through the LPMP.
In 1977 the Association of Theological Schools
gave preliminary accreditation for a Master of Arts
in Religion degree now known as the Master of Arts
in Pastoral Ministry degree. In the fall of 1978 the
first six graduates of the LPMP received certificates
in lay ministry; five received Master’s degrees at
the same time.
In 1979 the Lay Pastoral Ministry Program was
designated by the Board of Trustees as a separate
division of the Athenaeum, in a position parallel to
that of Mount St. Mary’s and St. Gregory’s
Seminaries.
During that same year, the Policy and Review
Board began exploring the possibility for the
formation of a separate non-degree Certificate
option to respond to the growing number of those
lay persons seeking ministry training who could not
participate in a Master’s program. In 1981 classes
for students participating in a separate non-degree
Certificate option began in Dayton.
The Certificate program has operated at various
locations throughout the Archdiocese since that time.
Program centers have included St. Dominic in
Delhi, St. Ann in Groesbeck, St. Richard Center
and St. Therese, the Little Flower in North College
Hill, St. Vivian in Finneytown, Notre Dame High
School in Reading, Ohio, Our Lady of Sorrows,
Monroe, Ohio, the Maria Stein Retreat Center,
Maria Stein, Ohio, St. Charles Seminary in
Carthagena, Ohio, Our Lady of Mercy Parish, St.
Mary Center, and St. Peter’s in Dayton, Ohio, St.
Joseph in Springfield, Ohio, the Archdiocesan
offices in Sidney, Ohio, St. Christopher, Vandalia, as
well as the main campus in Mt. Washington. For
information on current learning sites, contact the
LPMP office.
In 1984 the Office of Permanent Diaconate chose to
require completion of either the Master of Arts in
Pastoral Ministry or the non-degree Certificate
option of LPMP (or its equivalent) as prerequisite
for application for Permanent Deacon formation.
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