Renaissance Academy

at Chicago NFP Growth, Enrichment, Fellowship

Located at Saint Xavier University

3700 West 103rd Street

Chicago, IL 60655

Mission Statement

The Renaissance Academy at Chicago

NFP was created for those individuals of the

community, retired and semi-retired, who have

the desire to learn simply for the joy and

excitement of learning. Its primary purpose is to

provide forums for participatory group study on

topics decided on by the membership. The focus

is on member participation and peer teaching.

Aims include intellectual stimulation, cultural

enrichment, and fellowship.

Renaissance Academy in an

effort to more effectively and

efficiently process member

registration has rolled out an

online registration system. The

system is straight forward ,

easy to use and quicker than paper registration. We

had over 60 members who used the new system

for fall enrollment. For winter enrollment, a short

seminar on how to use the system will be offered.

Another new feature is that RA now has an email

address renaissancechgo@gmail.com. Members

and prospective members can use these emails to

ask questions, make comments and suggestions.

President Mary Lou Lovell welcomed returning and

new Renaissance members and thanked Committee

Members for all that they do. An entertaining photo

slide show of members in various classes and

activities played throughout afternoon.

Donatta Yates, a founding member, noted this was

her 27th year addressing orientation, emphasizing

the benefit of Life Long Learning. We now have

about 300 members, and need facilitators for 16

classes each term. She encouraged everyone to

think about how they can help, even if not a

facilitator, and get involved in the classroom.

Remember one need not be a teacher to facilitate;

use skills learned in career, or as parent, or as

homemaker,

Maureen Connolly and Peg Walsh spoke on behalf

of the Curriculum Committee and noted there will

be a meeting on October 3rd at 1pm for Potential

Facilitators. Know that there is plenty of support

available from their committee, from wonderful

students in the Media services, and from videos

available in the Renaissance Office. Why not

partner with another to facilitate a class? Six new

facilitators are needed for Winter term, which only

runs for 6 weeks. Also 10 are needed for Spring

term.

Kay Heafey previewed the upcoming Farrell

Forums. See article elsewhere in newsletter re

October 17th presentation on Endurance.

Phyllis Sheehan of Special Events noted the

Orientation was the first of parties she gets to plan

for us. Next will be The TGIT, then the Christmas

Luncheon. Phyllis said she wasn’t a teacher, but had

decided to facilitate and loves it. You will find it

easy and meet delightful people and make new

friends.

Beginning Tuesday, October 3rd

Meet ‘n Greet

Before class on Tuesdays and Thursdays

between 1:45—2:15pm

Meet new members

and catch up with old friends.

Main Diner...1st floor of the Warde Center,

Atrium area.

Please wear your name badge.

TGIT

Thank Goodness It’s Tuesday

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

4:45pm at Gilhooley’s, 3901 W.103rd St.

Prepay $20.00 per person

Buffet includes two entrees, salad, rolls,

vegetable, dessert, and a free drink.

Sign up sheets in class

FARRELL FORUM

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Butler Reception Room 11:30 A.M.

She is back by popular request! Rochelle

Pennington will present The Endurance, History’s

Greatest Shipwreck, at the Farrell Forum.

Pennington travelled to England and Scotland to

research Sir Ernest Shackleton’s epic 1914 travels

with his crew of 27. Her program will detail the

extraordinary determination of the men as they

moved fearlessly over the frozen Antarctic

expanse. Though their lives were threatened

daily, Commander Shackleton taught his crew to

mentally overcome each obstacle and persevere

against all odds.

Considered “the greatest survival story in

history,” Shackleton’s journey lives on as a model

of how ordinary people can dive headfirst into

immense adversity and emerge victorious.

Pennington’s power-point presentation will

feature dozens of authentic documents and

photographs. Pennington is an award-winning

newspaper columnist and author of ten books.

Her work has been included in several bestselling

series, including Chicken Soup for the Soul and

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.

The Farrell Forum is a speaker’s series

established in honor of the late John Farrell, a

CIA analyst in the 1970’s and Renaissance

Academy facilitator in the early 1990’s. There is

one program in each of the three terms. The

program is free and open to the public. Light

refreshments will be served.

Professor Pamela Klick, as Director of the Ludden

Speech and Language Clinic, thanked the RA

membership at a luncheon for their generous donation

to further their mission of providing clinical

experiences for students and serving those with

communicative disorders. The Clinic enables them to

diagnose and treat clients with autism, apraxia,

developmental delay, cognitive impairments, cleft

palate, stroke, cerebral palsy and brain injury from

infancy to adulthood . The clinic is named for Sister

Mary Antonine Ludden R.S.M. who founded it in

1959. Stop by and see the plaque that is displayed as a

recognition of RA’s involvement and support of the

University.

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman

By Robert K. Massie

Thursday, October 19, 2017 11:30 a.m.

Oak Lawn Library, Mike Hastings,

Facilitator

“Once upon a time, there was a minor German

princess named Sophia. In 1744, at the age of 14,

she was taken by her ambitious mother —removed

from her family, her religion and her country — to

a foreign land with a single goal: marry a prince

and bear him an heir.

Once in Russia, she changed her name, learned

the language, and went on to become the world’s

richest and most powerful woman ruler of its then

largest empire. She is remembered as Catherine

the Great.”

Amazon book review

Renaissance Academy at Chicago NFP

2017—2018 Officers & Board

President Mary Lou Lovell

Vice-President Grace Ann Kartheiser

Secretary Jane Junis

Treasurer Mary P. Cavanaugh

Information Systems Eileen M. Holderbaum

Consultant Donatta Yates

SXU Liaison Julie Davis

2016-2017 Committees

Care Therese Burns*

Bridget Ford Judy Sandburg

Communications

Kathleen Fassl Joan M. Kelly

Curriculum

Dan Byrne* Maureen Connolly

Cleo Lampos Peg Walsh

Farrell Forum

Kay Heafey* Eleanor P. Delaplane

Membership Jim Durkin*

Mary Anne Gaynor Mary Howley

Pat Kelso Marilyn Klein

Newsletter

Peggy Dosch* Barbara Gyarmathy

Peg Paliakas Maureen O’Connor

Office Managers

Patricia Clair Linda Sherwood

Marcia Janas Anne Steele*

Special Events

Veronica Carberry Marilyn O’Brien

Phyllis Sheahan* Mary Wersells

*Committee Chairperson or Co-Chair

REV. MILLIE MYREN

Renaissance Academy’s

Person to Know, Fall 2017

Inspired by missionaries who

were friends of my grandparents,

as a young girl I wanted to be a

missionary nurse. That vision

faded in college where it was

proved that science was not my

thing!

However, my early devotion to faith and religion

never waned and while attending both a Christian

high school and college I gained much biblical

knowledge early on. Following grad school at the U

of C, I married my college sweetheart, Art, spending

our first 5 years in Seattle, and returning to Chicago in

1962 to start our family. I was lucky to be a stay-at-

home mom for 16 years but we were both active as

church youth group leaders and I taught many a Bible

lesson on Sunday mornings.

My work career began later than some, with Rev. Bill

Nelson, a church member who was the Executive

Minister for the Chicago Baptist Association which

included a region of about 60 churches from the

Wisconsin line to Park Forest and west to Fox River.

In 1980 I became Bill’s administrative assistant, and

he ultimately became my mentor. In 1982, in Mt.

Prospect, I preached my first sermon. I was a

laywoman and it was “Women’s Sunday,” a day when

women were allowed to take part in the service in

ways denied to them on other Sundays. That began a

series of opportunities to preach in other Baptist

churches and many Beverly-Morgan Park community

churches.

Dr. Bill Cober became my second mentor when Rev.

Bill Nelson left. In the interim of Rev. Nelson’s

leaving and Dr. Cober’s starting, I was asked to serve

as Interim Executive Minister for six months, again an

opportunity to keep learning. Dr. Cober retired in

1993, and after a series of unpredictable

circumstances, I surprisingly was asked to take on Dr.

Cober’s role. Ironically, it was also the time to do a

study to devise an updated plan for the Region. Out

of that study came the strong mandate that I should

now be named the Executive Minister, becoming one

of four women out of 32 Executive Ministers in the

national denomination and the only layperson.

Several years later I was ordained on an experimental

basis, three years of work for one year of seminary,

thus equaling nine years. I had to defend my fitness

for ordination and write the theological papers the

same as a seminary graduate. I was ordained at the

Morgan Park Baptist Church in October 1998. It was

the most moving experience of my life and changed

how I would live my life in ministry.

I retired in 2000 and have continued to preach in

churches, give chapel and memorial service homilies,

perform weddings and funerals, and most importantly

to me, serve as the interim pastor of my church.

My life in ministry, although not as I originally

envisioned, had come to be. Little by little my

lifelong experiences had prepared me for the tasks

that came late in my life. My joy is to preach and

teach and I’ll do so as long as God give me strength.

What makes me happy? Seeing my children

and grandchildren doing well and enjoying life.

What am I currently reading? The

Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield; Shantung

Compound by Langdon Gilkey; Settle for More by

Megyn Kelly.

A song from my childhood: Most songs

were from Sunday school – “Jesus Loves Me,” “Jesus

Wants Me for a Sunbeam,” and “This Little Light of

Mine.”

Most treasured possession: A seascape oil

painting which was given to my father on one of the

anniversary milestones in his 59-year career as

Minister of Music at the Morgan Park Baptist Church.

I helped choose it from Simmerling’s Gallery and

inherited it on my mother’s death.

What I value most in a friend: Constancy.

What historical person would you like to

meet? Good grief! One that comes to mind is Emily

Dickinson. I did a paper on her recently and I find her

fascinating.

What is your most marked characteristic?

I don’t know if my self-assessment would come up

with this but I was recently told by a friend that I was

the most grounded person he had ever met.

What has been your greatest extravagance?

Our trailer home at Green Lake was probably the

greatest extravagance that Art and I spent money on.

It was a costly investment both in original price and

yearly upkeep. But it was worth every dollar in return

in terms of pleasure and the life we lived there in the

summers. The money from the sale of that trailer

went into the bank recently – a necessary but sad loss.

How did I grow after retirement? When I

served as the Interim Pastor at the Morgan Park

Baptist Church for 19 months. It was a totally new

experience for me preaching every week and

overseeing the needs of a congregation.

A time of transition: January 17, 2017

marked my most recent time of transition when Art

was taken from Saint Xavier’s to Metro South

Hospital where he passed away from a massive bleed

in the brain. I am still transitioning daily. I know that

many reading this have shared the same experience in

either similar or different ways and are walking the

same path.

How have you grown in the past month? I

have had to endure many health issues – tests,

hospitalizations, etc. You know the routine. It has

taken a growth in spirit and soul to face the realities of

less than perfect health which has been my lifelong

experience. I have also grown in the confidence to

manage the monetary affairs of life – selling and

buying cars, advertising and selling my trailer and the

remaining task of selling a set of 44 handbells which

belonged to my father.

What am I passionate about? As a minister,

I am passionate about my faith and a faithful

proclamation of the Christian gospel. I have been

preaching for 35 years now and my passion has been

to be true to God’s word as I am able to perceive it.

And THAT is our passionate and dear Millie Myren.

(Thanks, Barbara Gyarmathy, for doing a great

interview and editing it to fit our newsletter!

September 26 Fall Term Begins

October 3 Potential Facilitator Mtg.

2:00pm TBD

October 10 Board Meeting

11:30am Cougar Den

October 17 Farrell Forum

11:30am Butler Room

October 19 Book Club

11:30am Oak Lawn Library

Facilitator Meeting

12:30pm Cougar Den

October 24 TGIT

4:45pm Gilhooley’s

November 14 Cougar Den

10:30am Exec. Board Meeting

11:30am Board Meeting

November 16 Fall Term Ends

December 12 Orland Chateau

11:00am Board Meeting

Noon Christmas Luncheon

January 16 Winter Term (Ends Feb. 22)

March 13 Spring Term (Ends May 3)

Spring Survey of RA Members

About Facilitating a Class

JoAnn Gruca and Cathy Morrin developed, tested,

and then conducted the survey at the Spring Luncheon.

Of the 201 RA members attending the Luncheon, 126

responses were returned. Those who had facilitated in

the past (34 members) mentioned many benefits

including social connections, stimulating exchanges,

learning from others, sharing ideas, contributing to the

RA. The social rewards were most frequently

mentioned with comments such as: “interaction,” and

“meeting new friends.” Intellectual rewards were

described as “learning from others,” “sharing ideas and

perspectives,” “having a stimulating exchange with

students,” and “encouraged to engage in research.”

Personal benefit to the facilitators included “a sense of

accomplishment,” “improving my organizational

skills,” “a feeling of belonging,” and “the

encouragement of the students that buoyed me up.”

Their recommendations for future classes included co-

facilitators for the classes and more assistance with

technical equipment in the classrooms.

We encourage all RA members to consider

facilitating a class. RA leaders are working to

implement many of the suggestions made, and we

strongly believe that the benefits of facilitating

outweigh the challenges. RA has succeeded over 25

years because of those who volunteered their time and

talents to our program. Let us continue!

HAVE YOU EVER WANTED

TO BE A FACILITATOR?

If you are thinking about being a facilitator for

the Renaissance Academy, there will be a work-

shop on Tuesday, October 3rd at 1:00 in the Cou-

gar Den. ( Located on the 1st floor of the Shan-

non Center.)

The Curriculum Committee will meet with po-

tential volunteers to answer question about being

a facilitator. Dan Byrne, Maureen Connolly, Peg

Walsh and Cleo Lampos will answer such ques-

tions as:

How do I pick a topic for a class?

Can I team up with another RA member to

facilitate a class?

How do I plan a lesson?

What kinds of technology is available?

How do I get copies made for class use?

Current and past facilitators are encouraged to

attend the workshop to share their experiences.

A Fall Facilitators meeting will be held on Octo-

ber 19th in the Shannon Center for all facilitators

in order to plan for the Winter and Spring terms.

We need facilitators for both terms in order to

offer a full schedule of classes.

If you have any questions about facilitating,

please contact Dan Byrne (708) 857-7018 or any

member of the Curriculum Committee.

FYI: Happenings Around Town

Southwest Symphony Southwestsymphony.com

(708) 802-0686

Maestro’s Favorites

Sunday, Oct. 1, 4:00

Ozinga Auditorium, Trinity College

Symphonic Pops: with Helen Welch

Sunday, Nov. 12, 400

Ozinga Auditorium, Trinity College

Holiday Destinations:

Sunday, Dec. 3, 4:00

St. George Church

6701 W. 175th Street, Tinley Park

Sunday, Dec. 10, 4:00

St. Jude Church

241 W. 2nd Ave., New Lenox

Moraine Valley College:

Dorothy Menker Theater Morainevalley.edu

(708) 974-5500

Flip Fabrique—Catch Me

Spectacular Acrobatics

Sat. Oct. 7, 7:30

The Fourth Light Prospect

Multi-media Show

Sat. Oct. 21, 7:30

Sirens of the 60’s

Female Artists of the 60’s

Sat. Nov. 18, 7:30

Mother Superior’s Ho-Ho-Holy Night

Interactive Play

Sun. Dec. 10, 3:00

Mary Pat Anders

Paul Anders

Sandy Badke

Roberta Bessett

Linda Bond

Caroly Casson

James Condon

Nora Cummings

Marilyn Curran

Linda Denberry

Betty Diggins

Lois Grimaud

Charlette Hein

Janet Kuska

Constance Leininger

Ensign Leininger

Kathleen Lucas

Lucy Machniak

Kay McNamara

Kathleen Meuris

Donna Mulchrone

Donna Nowacki

Maureen Owens

Janet Quinn

Connie Ratzel

Mary Scannell

Maureen Shields

Susan Smith

Colleen Sullivan

Geraldine Tansey

Renaissance Academy

is pleased

to welcome the following

new members for the

2017 – 2018 school year: