HOME

Our Story


Once upon a time ...

The idea of a Catholic Bible Study for Santa Barbara was conceived in 1978 by a group of lay persons and supported by some religious and clergy. At the time the only resource for Catholics who wanted to study the Bible was a Protestant Bible Study. Actually Word and Life was the only formal adult education program for Catholics in Santa Barbara.

For 21 years Word and Life served the Santa Barbara parishes offering a daytime Bible Study and, for many years, a nighttime study as well. Originally known as Word and Life Catholic Bible Study, our name was changed several years later to Word and Life Bible Study so that, in a spirit of inclusivity (catholicity), we might encourage persons of other faith traditions to join us.

After diligently studying and reflecting on the Scriptures and the first 2000 years of the tradition, Word and Life is now looking toward the next two thousand years of our developing Catholic Christian tradition. A recent name change reflected this new direction. We became Word and Life Study Fellowship. More recently still we decided that the simple phrase Word and Life best describes who we are.

In each new age, from the time of the early church, questions have arisen that have called for new understandings of Jesus. Every age has sought to answer the question, "Who Do You Say That I Am?" and has had to grapple with a variety of answers measured in accord with long held doctrines and dogmas.

Word and Life has studied themes such as the understanding of Jesus' humanity and divinity over the centuries; the way in which evolution and science has informed our understanding of creation, incarnation and redemption; the way psychology and literature inform our understanding of Jesus and our faith. Word and Life faced a painful study of the sexual abuse crisis in the Church and its root causes and also the role of women and the feminine in the world and in the Church.

We have grown as a community at Word and Life, learning to accept our own diversity and make room for differences of opinion, to critically reflect on our faith and take adult responsibility for it, to be collaborative in decision making, to be accountable for the many and diverse needs of the community, and to be an outreach to others in the Christian community through our friendship and faith-sharing with the First Congregational Church of Santa Barbara.

Our mission statement acknowledges that we are a "sacred dwelling place for all those who hunger and thirst for the experience of a personal God, active and present in the ordinariness of everyday life." While the Roman Catholic tradition is our starting point, we "welcome and value the understanding of God experienced in other traditions. It is in this true catholic sense that the community seeks a deeper understanding and more effective proclamation of the Gospel in furthering the mission of the church: unity in the midst of a diverse, pluralistic, and multicultural world."

Organizational Notes

Our typical meetings consist of study, prayer, a speaker's presentation, fellowship and dialogue. The usual sequence of events on Thursday mornings is:

10:00 a.m. Opening song, prayer, announcements
10:15 a.m. Presentation of lesson by speaker
11:00 a.m. Refreshment and fellowship
11:15 a.m. Interactive dialogue with speaker
11:55 a.m. Closing Song, and 12:00 noon dismissal

Word and Life is proud of its extensive and varied list of qualified speakers, including religious, clergy, and lay men and women. Our speakers past and present have included (in alphabetical order):

Special guest speakers over the last several years have been Michael Morwood (Tomorrow's Catholic), Fr. Michael Crosby (Rethinking Celibacy; Reclaiming the Church), Fr. Cletus Wessels (Jesus in the New Universe Story), Paul Lakeland, Ph.D. (The Liberation of the Laity), Eugene Kennedy, Ph.D. (The Unhealed Wound: The Church and Human Sexuality), and Michael Dowd (EarthSpirit).

Word and Life has had many hundreds of participants over its 27-year history. Even now, with the many other wonderful adult education programs in parishes, we still register 70 or more for every study. We began our inter-parish ministry at Our Lady of Sorrows, Dolores Center. When the hall underwent remodeling we moved to San Roque Parish Hall, and when that hall underwent remodeling we moved to our current location at Holy Cross Parish Hall, where Fr. Ludo De Clippel has welcomed us for many years now. We are fortunate to be one among many educational resources in the Catholic community in Santa Barbara and recognize, support and value all the other programs.

Previous Topics Studied

1978-79 Gospel of Matthew
1979-80 Gospel of John
1980-81 Gospel of Luke
1981-82 Acts of the Apostles
1982-83 Romans, and I and II Corinthinas
1983-84 Hebrews, and Revelation
1984-85 Matthew (Little Rock Scripture Study Series = LRSS)
1985-86 Genesis and Exodus (LRSS)
1986-87 Gospel of Mark, Samuel I and II (LRSS)
1987-88 Isaiah and Jeremiah (LRSS)
1988-89 Gospel of John
1989-90 Gospel of Luke (LRSS)
1990-91 Acts of the Apostles (LRSS)
1991-92 Galatians and Romans (LRSS)
1992-93 Genesis (LRSS)
1993-94 Exodus (LRSS)
1994-95 Gospel of Matthew (LRSS)
1995-96 Gospel of John (LRSS)
1996-97 Psalms (LRSS)
1997-98 Isaiah (LRSS)
1998-99 Overview of the Bible (Scriptures from Scratch), and Women in the Bible (Women in the New Testament, by Irene Nowell, OSB, Liturgical Press, 1997)
1999-2000 The Apocalypse and the Third Millennium, by George T. Montague, SM (Servant Publications, 1998), and
Consider Jesus, by Elizabeth Johnson (Crossroad, 1991)
2000-2001 God of Evolution, by Fr. Denis Edwards (Paulist Press, 1999), and
The Good News According to Luke, by Richard Rohr, OFM (Crossroad, 1997)
2001-2002 Tomorrow's Catholic, by Michael Morwood (Twenty-third Publications, 1997), and
And Now I See: A Theology of Transformation, by Fr. Robert Barron (Crossroad, 1998)
2002-2003 The Unhealed Wound: The Church and Human Sexuality, by Eugene Kennedy (St. Martin's Press, 2001), and
Heart of Flesh: A Feminist Spirituality for Women and Men, by Joan Chittister (Erdmans Publishing, 1998)
2003-2004 Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, by Marcus Borg (Harper, 1994), and
Jesus in the New Universe Story, by Fr. Cletus Wessels (Orbis, 2003)
2004-2005 Homosexuality in the Church: Both Sides of the Debate, edited by Jeffrey Siker, Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, and
Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution, edited by André Trocmé and Charles Moore (Orbis, 2004)
2005-2006 A Biblical Spirituality of Exile: "Theirs" and "Ours", a series of lectures based on relevant Biblical passages, by Daniel Smith-Christopher, Ph.D., Professor of Theological Studies and Director of Peace Studies at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
Spirituality of the Beatitudes: Matthew's Vision for the Church in an Unjust World, by Michael Crosby, OFM, Cap. (Orbis, 2005)
2006-2007 Religion in Exile: A Spiritual Homecoming , by Diarmuid O'Murchu (New York: Crossroad, 2000). The author, a priest and social psychologist living in London, lectures internationally.
Radical Optimism: Practical Spirituality in an Uncertain World, by Beatrice Bruteau (Sentient Publications, 2002)
2007-2008 Imaging Life After Death: A Love That Moves the Sun and Stars, by Kathleen Fischer (New York: Paulist Press, 2004)
Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom, by Albert Nolan (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2006)
2008-2009 The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith, by Marcus J. Borg (HarperCollins, 2003))
The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem, by Marcus J. Borg & John Dominic Crossan (HarperOne, 2007)
2009-2010 "The Emerging Church," viewing and discussion of selected video clips by leading authorities such as Richard Rohr, Ken Wilber, Thomas Keating, and others
Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, by Richard Rohr (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2008)


Summer Studies

  1. The Holy Longing, Ronald Rolheiser (Doubleday, 1999)
  2. Catholic Means Universal, David Richo, Ph.D. (Crossroad, 2000)
  3. Mary Within, David Richo, Ph.D. (Crossroad, 2001)
  4. In the Stillness You Will Know, Barbara Fiand (Crossroad, 2002)
  5. Introduction to the Enneagram with Kathryn Grant
  6. A reading and discussion of Elaine Pagels' Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (Vintage paperback)

Sponsored and Co-sponsored Events

September 19, 2002 — "Faith Between the Times" an Evening with Michael Morwood.

February 19, 2003 — "Why Women's Wisdom is Destined to Transform Our World.Soon!!" An Evening with Michael Dowd.

March 27, 2003 — "Spirituality Within Reach," a three-part Lenten series with David Richo, Ph.D.

September 25, 2003 — "A Kairos Moment for the Catholic Church," an evening with Fr. Michael Crosby, OFM, Cap

April 22 - May 6, 2004 — "How to be an Adult.in the Church," a three-part series with David Richo, Ph.D.

April 26, 2004 — "Being Adults in the Church: A Lay Spirituality of Accountability," an evening with Paul Lakeland, Ph.D.

April 7-21, 2005 — "The Human Face of Jesus and the Church," a three-part series with David Richo, Ph.D.

May 4-18, 2006 — "A Spirituality of Heart," a three-part series with David Richo, Ph.D.

May 10-24, 2007 — "Do This in Memory of Me: Eucharistic Spirituality in a Time of Crisis," a three-part series with David Richo, Ph.D.

May 1-15, 2008 — "The Holy Spirit: The Mysterious Closeness of God," a three-part series with David Richo, Ph.D.

June 17, 2008 — "Catholicism at the Crossroads: The Shape of the Church and Its Future Prospects," and "Being Catholic, Being American: The Church and U.S. Culture," a day with Paul Lakeland, Ph.D., co-sponsored by VOTF Santa Barbara.

Leadership

The following persons have been Coordinators of Word and Life since its inception in 1978:

    Gini Cashman, Founder, 1978

    Louise Rapp, 1978-1991

    Renee Malloy, 1994-1998

    Dorothy Fitch, 1994-1998

    Clare Montana, Ph.D., 1998

    Alice MacDonald, M.A., 1986-1994, and 1998 - 2008


Alice MacDonald - Word and Life's Coordinator, 1982-2008

Alice MacDonald served as a coordinator of the Word and Life community between 1986 and 1994. She then took several years off to pursue a graduate degree in Theology from Loyola Marymount University, which she received in 1998. Her most recent term as Coordinator started in 1998 and ended in 2008. "I have come full circle in this ministry," she declared in the Spring of 2007. With gratitude for her recent decade of good and faithful service, the Advisory Team used the 2007-08 year to discern the type of leadership that the community might welcome starting in the summer of 2008.

Alice was a founding member of Santa Barbara's popular and well-attended Institute for Adult Spirituality, which held two series a year at the Franciscan Renewal Center of Mission Santa Barbara until it was disbanded in 2006.

Alice and her husband Bill have been married for over forty years and have three adult children. They have been members of St. Raphael's Parish for most of that time; Alice has served St. Raphael's Parish as a teacher in the Religious Education Program and as a lector and Eucharistic Minister.