The Forum
Parish Summer Institute William A. Schumacher
A conversation lasting far into an April night has led to a most exciting and, we feel, significant experiment in adult religious education at the parochial level. The origin, planning, execution and effects of our St. Cyprian Summer Institute of Theology can point the way for other parallel programs in the future. During the fall and winter months of 1964, more than 11,000 lay commentators were trained in our Archdiocesan Liturgy Training Program. Reflecting on the experiences they had shared, a few members of our parish liturgy team, together with their wives and two teachers in our CCD High School of Religion, began searching with me for structures which could continue and enrich this program of adult education which began last fall for an ad hoc purpose, but which had also given them an impetus to share the Good News with others. An idea began to take shape in a few informal conversations for a summer program in the parish which would attract a substantial number of people, which would be intense and varied, and which would present a real intellectual and spiritual challenge to the participants. This thinking began to crystallize about May l into a program for action. 321