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Growing in Wisdom
Jennifer Bartholomew, Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology

ABSTR AC T Inspired by the phrase “Growing In Wisdom,” which 
was part of a phrase in the Atla organizational ends from 2016 to 
2020, this Listen and Learn presentation looks at a project that was 
to partner library staff with faculty to promote information liter-
acy as it related to integrating work in theological education. What 
role does wisdom play in denominational guidelines and accredit-
ing standards? Integrating Work in Theological Education, edited by 
Kathleen A. Cahalan, Edward Foley, and Gordon S. Mikoski (2017), 
describes the importance of both theory and practice in preparing 
students for ministry. What is the role of the library in integrating 
work? How can the library be a partner with faculty in theological 
education?

Good Afternoon. Thank you for joining me for this Listen and Learn 
session on “Growing in Wisdom.” I am presenting from Milwaukee 
County, Wisconsin, where I live and work on traditional Potawatomi, 
Ho-Chunk, and Menominee homelands along the southwest shores 
of Michigami (Big Lake), part of North America’s largest system of 
freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee, and Kinnick-
innic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishi-
naabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida, and Mohican nations remain 
present.

This project grew out of a desire to have the library become a 
more active partner with faculty in theological education and a book 
of essays on Integrating Work in Theological Education. How can we 
more fully serve our students and faculty? 

From 2016 to 2020, the following quote was Atla organizational 
end 3.0: “Students, scholars, and religious leaders skillfully use infor-
mation resources to create knowledge, grow in wisdom, and share 
the results of their research.” This end was created with transfor-
mation in mind. How does theological education, and how does our 
library, help people to grow in wisdom?

When I think about wisdom in theological education and in the 
context of the library, I look to the teaching of our sacred texts, the 



Listen and Learn Sessions  187

guidance our faith offers, the mission statement of my school, and 
standards from our accrediting bodies.

My particular context is a Catholic seminary, run by the Priests 
of the Sacred Heart for our own seminarians. We educate seminar-
ians for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The Program for Priestly 
Formation, fifth edition—the guide used for Catholic theological 
education in the United States (www.usccb.org/upload/program-
priestly-formation-fifth-edition.pdf)—mentions the importance of 
wisdom, especially practical wisdom, as it relates to preaching the 
Gospel, and for continued attention to “formation,” which values 
life-long learning.

The new ATS standard for libraries (www.ats.edu/accrediting/over-
view-accrediting/redevelopment-ats-commission-standards-and-
procedures) calls for theological schools to “be communities of 
faith and learning, grounded in the historical resources of the tradi-
tion, the scholarship of the academic disciplines and the wisdom of 
communities of practice . . .” They go on to say that theological librar-
ies are curated collections and instructional centers with librarians 
guiding research and organizing access to appropriate resources. 
Libraries and librarians partner with faculty in student learning 
and formation to serve schools’ educational missions and to equip 
students to be effective and ethical users of information resources.

Through conversations with our academic dean, I know that one 
way wisdom is fostered at Sacred Heart is through integrative think-
ing. The word integrate or integrative is mentioned 25 times in the 

POLL 1

http://www.usccb.org/upload/program-priestly-formation-fifth-edition.pdf
http://www.usccb.org/upload/program-priestly-formation-fifth-edition.pdf
http://www.ats.edu/accrediting/overview-accrediting/redevelopment-ats-commission-standards-and-procedures
http://www.ats.edu/accrediting/overview-accrediting/redevelopment-ats-commission-standards-and-procedures
http://www.ats.edu/accrediting/overview-accrediting/redevelopment-ats-commission-standards-and-procedures


188  AT L A 2020 PROCEEDINGS

ATS standards that were in place until June 2020. Our current curric-
ulum addresses integrative thinking in several ways, depending 
upon the degree program and pathway. For MDiv students, this 
occurs in a three-semester sequence. Students first write a summary-
level reflection paper on a ministerial incident. The next semester, 
they work on a longer case study of a ministerial incident. During 
their final semester, they present the case study to a small group of 
faculty and students. The students seek to understand the incident 
more deeply through a look at resources in scripture, church history, 
systematic theology, and pastoral care. As they research and reflect, 
they understand their motivations and responses more clearly. This 
process gives them the tools to respond more effectively the next 
time they are faced with a challenge.

I came across this book on integration soon after it was published—
Integrating Work in Theological Education, edited by Kathleen A. 
Cahalan, Edward Foley, and Gordon S. Mikoski (Eugene, OR: Pick-
wick Publications, 2017). The twenty essays on schools, curriculums, 
courses, and frameworks by authors from a variety of Christian 
denominations has informed, influenced, and inspired me. The 
issues raised point to the challenge and complexity of preparation 
for ministry. You can’t learn how to minister without the presence 
and support of a community. The library is part of the community 
and can be a valued partner for students and faculty.

Edward Foley, of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, says inte-
gration is the combination of head, hand, and heart, when ortho-
doxy (right believing), orthopraxy (right acting), and orthopathy 
(right feeling) come together (Cahalan 2017, 5). Chris Scharen and 

POLL 2



Listen and Learn Sessions  189

Eileen Campbell, who partnered on “Learning Pastoral Imagina-
tion: A Five-Year Report on How New Ministers Learn in Practice,” 
say that “integrative and embodied learning happened when these 
three characteristics were present: an experience of the clash of 
abstract, decontextualized knowledge with lived situations, a sense 
of overwhelming which comes from dealing with multiple variables 
in these situations, and a sense of responsibility for the risk entailed 
in choosing a course of action” (Cahalan 2017, 5–6).

There are multiple frameworks for integrating work. Some of the 
elements involved are: bridging the gulf between areas of theologi-
cal study (Bible, ethics, theology) and other disciplines (pastoral care, 
neuroscience), making connections between bodies of knowledge, 
and finding ways to overcome the divide between theory and prac-
tice (Cahalan 2017, 3–4). 

As students begin integrative work, how can the theological 
library provide support? We provide access to digital and print 
resources. We offer programming. Our services include teaching a 
course on research and writing and providing research and technol-
ogy assistance. We can do more if we partner with faculty. Informa-
tion literacy has created a way for librarians to foster integrative 
thinking skills through curriculum development and instruction. The 
ALA’s Information Literacy Framework (www.ala.org/acrl/standards/
ilframework) offers many opportunities for students to acquire new 
skills as they progress in their studies. We support student learn-
ing in many ways, but we do not teach information literacy skills 
often enough. My hope for this project was to partner with faculty, 
choose an assignment, and teach skills that would enhance integra-
tive learning. 

This year I started small, having conversations with a few of our 
professors. The most fruitful project was working with our homilet-
ics professor—a Catholic deacon with 25 years of preaching experi-
ence. We looked at the syllabus, listened to student ferverinos (a short 
reflection on a gospel reading), gave feedback, and created a rubric 
that captured elements of the literacy framework that best pertain 
to the complexity of preaching. Then, in March, Covid-19 disrupted 
the semester. Time for special projects and meetings disappeared 
as we transitioned to online learning. The library staff was asked to 
help the faculty transition their classes and then provide support 
for initiatives led by the academic dean for the rest of the semester. 
Next fall, we will use a hybrid model that allows us to be either in the 

http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework


190  AT L A 2020 PROCEEDINGS

classroom or online—a potential toggle response, depending on how 
Covid-19 is trending. I still have great hopes for this project. I hope 
that, in the next year, once we are more comfortable with online and 
hybrid learning, we can continue.

In his April column, our current Atla board president, Stephen 
Sweeney, reminded us of the role of libraries as community hubs 
and also of the important difference between physical distancing 
and social distancing in this time of pandemic. What does this mean 
for theological education? How will we adapt?

What networks do you belong to that have helped you to grow in 
wisdom? Your seminary or school of theology, church, small groups 
of friends? A group that has influenced me is non-academic. The 
Jewels are a group of about a dozen women who represent Christian, 
Muslim, Bahá’í, and Jewish faiths. We meet monthly to discuss a wide 
variety of issues. Over the past year, we’ve talked about many issues 
from a faith perspective. We share our traditions’ teaching and we 
learn about others—what we hold in common, how we differ.

Mary Plaster (www.maryplaster.com), an artist from Duluth, 
Minnesota and a proponent of Sacred Art Activism, wrote an icon of 
Sophia (Lady Wisdom)—a figure from Judaic and Christian traditions. 
In Plaster’s view, wisdom is not static; wisdom is specific to time and 
place. “I depicted Lady Wisdom seated in the context of the entire 
Cosmos, beckoning us to inclusive and sustainable decision-making 
that gently cooperates with global community. Ageless, androgynous, 
indigenous and totally unconcerned with material wealth and hier-
archy, She insists on a new way of thinking that can potentially turn 
the world as we know it upside down.” 

Robert Kegan, cognitive psychologist, says, “To create new under-
standings, existing structures of knowledge must be dismantled, 
reconceived, and disembarked and new configurations estab-
lished . . .Learning entails integrating and disintegrating momentums 
as part of the creative dynamic of human development, knowing, 
and learning” (Cahalan 2017, 9).

This quote speaks to current events (e.g., the Covid-19 pandemic, 
antiracism protests) and the continuing work we are called to. Does 
theological education lead to integrative thinking, lead to wisdom? 
Will this make a difference? I’d like to share, in closing, these words 
from Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, writing about the Diocese of 
Washington where she was called nine years ago. “Still, we are all 
being called to a deeper commitment now. There is much discern-

http://www.maryplaster.com


Listen and Learn Sessions  191

ing, prayerful work to be done. Thanks to all who are rising to 
meet this moment with faith, hope, and love” (Budde, “Called to Go 
Deeper,” June 4, 2020, www.edow.org/about/bishop-mariann/writ-
ings/2020/06/04/called-go-deeper).

For those of us who are committed to theological education and 
libraries, this discerning work is ours too. We are a unique entity: 
part collections, part service—a dynamic agglomeration of instruc-
tion, assistance, and programming; a meeting place for community, 
where connections can be made, where new voices can be heard, 
where deep listening and engagement can happen. You are wise and 
your work is important. Let us find new ways to engage, serve, and 
transform.

POLL 3

http://www.edow.org/about/bishop-mariann/writings/2020/06/04/called-go-deeper
http://www.edow.org/about/bishop-mariann/writings/2020/06/04/called-go-deeper

