Kateri Boucher, who is pursuing an MDiv in Church Leadership, felt a call to ministry very early. “I was three when I told my mom I wanted to be a priest,” she recalls. She adds, “I would preach homilies and make [my mom] write them down.” Raised in Upstate New York, Kateri’s family attended a progressive Catholic church untethered from Roman Catholic strictures. Watching a woman priest serve communion sparked her pronouncement.
Years later, after attending a liberal arts college, Kateri jumped at a chance to work on an “urban agriculture” project in Detroit. The community she found through the Catholic Worker and an Episcopal church rekindled her sense of calling, so she moved there. Now, at United, Kateri is making her dreams a reality.
Searching for a Seminary
About four years ago, Kateri began searching for a seminary. She researched a few schools, but realized she didn’t want to leave Detroit. She had just been hired at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and hoped to continue that work. Sarah Holst (’20) recommended United.
The more she learned about United, the more it seemed like the best choice. “I wouldn’t have to sacrifice what I [wanted] to do an online program,” she remembers thinking, “and it would allow me to stay rooted in Detroit and…work at St. Peter’s.”
Transformational Teachers
During her first semester at United, Kateri took two classes with Rev. Dr. Andrew Packman, assistant professor of Theological Ethics and Formation. Class assignments and interactions, Kateri notes, really opened her mind to ways in which theology has evolved. “It is such a gift,” she declares, “to get to study with someone for whom teaching is so clearly a vocational call. I’ve rarely interacted with someone who has such a sharp mind and such a generous spirit.”
Dr. Jennifer Maidrand—visiting assistant professor of Bible, Culture, and Interpretation, supported by the Louisville Institute—taught courses that Kateri took recently. A guest poet in the Hebrew Bible class was a “really cool” highlight. And, in the Bible and Palestine-Israel class, Kateri asserts that Dr. Maidraid “led us so gracefully through really challenging conversations throughout the semester [and] basically every…assignment for this class is something applicable to the real world.”
Rev. Dr. DeWayne Davis, Kateri’s preaching professor, created another memorable experience. “His passion [for preaching],” she quips, “was palpable from miles away over a Zoom screen! He really brought it to life and held us in a beautiful way.” Through the class, Kateri notes that she learned strategies for telling “compelling stories.” She can use that at St. Peter’s, when she preaches each month.
Distance Learning
Because she wanted to balance her part-time work at St. Peter’s, service projects, and seminary, Kateri sincerely appreciates United’s distance learning program. “I remember telling people in my first semester that it’s clear that this school didn’t just start doing online classes during COVID;” they’ve had years “honing the art of hybrid classes.”
She’s also made a lot of seminary friends. It’s so easy, Kateri shares, to message someone and say, “Hey, do you want to connect out of class?” The chat feature in Zoom also makes the in-class learning process more interactive.
Formulating a Future
Kateri describes another support from United, the Dayton Scholarship, as a “total blessing and game changer.” The funding, she reveals, “has enabled me to keep working … at St. Peter’s and participate in the church’s service outreach programs.” She’s hoping to add a second MA, made possible by the scholarship.
As she looks ahead, Kateri knows changes will come. She’s started ordination and will leave St. Peter’s for a new call. In the United community, she sees “a real beauty, that we are scattered like seeds around the country and the world,” asking key questions. Still, she admits, “it was nourishing to come to United for Symposium Week; it “helped me to feel more rooted in the community.” In sum, Kateri exclaims, “I just love United so much! I’m so grateful it exists.”
Your Comments :