“Making Time for God,” the Sister Bea Jeffries, SBS, Black Catholic Formation Program, is a 10-course program developed by the archdiocesan Office for Black Catholics in collaboration with St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Sessions begin Feb. 3.
The program focuses on how Black Catholics know, worship and walk with God in their daily lives.
All classes in the program are offered at four Black Catholic parishes in Philadelphia, including St. Athanasius in West Oak Lane, St. Cyprian and St. Ignatius of Loyola in West Philadelphia and St. Malachy in North Philadelphia.
The program is named after Sister Bea Jeffries (1946-2006), a Black religious sister who served the community, especially people of color.
Stacy Williams, director of the archdiocesan Office of Black Catholics, met Sister Bea when Williams was a young adult.
“She was always teaching the faith,” Williams said of Sister Bea, who was a member of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious order founded by St. Katharine Drexel in 1891. Sister Bea joined the Bucks County-based religious community at the age of 18.
She began teaching at St. Ignatius of Loyola School in West Philadelphia in 1976. In the mid-1980s, she served in administration at her alma mater, Xavier University in Louisiana, and then returned to Philadelphia to serve as vice president of her order.
“Every time I experienced her ministry, I learned something new about being Black and Catholic,” said Williams. “She inspired me to learn more and develop a relationship with Christ and the Church.”
The formation program that bears Sister Bea’s name aims to do the same for Black Catholics in the archdiocese by delivering catechesis in Catholic theology, tracing Black Catholic history, and exploring Black Catholic spirituality and evangelization.
“Though this is a program developed for Black Catholics, everyone is welcome,” Williams said.
Each course meets weekly for eight weeks on Thursday or Friday evenings with each class lasting 90 minutes.
Course presenters serve in various roles in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Janet Cosby, director of religious education at St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish in Philadelphia, will present the course “Person of Jesus.” She has a master’s degree in theology from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
Williams will present on the history of Black saints and Black Catholics who are on the road to sainthood.
Darin Williams, musician and director of religious education at Holy Cross Parish in Philadelphia, will present on music and movement in the Black community.
Gloria Mosley, a teacher at West Catholic Preparatory High School, will present on prayer. Mosley has a master’s degree in moral theology.
Dr. Antoinette Reaves, who has a doctoral degree in ministry and teaches at the Catechetical Institute at St. Charles Seminary, will present “The Gifts Black Catholics Bring to the Catholic Church.”
These five courses are offered in the February/March session, and more courses will be offered later this year, according to Williams.
Registration is free and currently open at www.scs.edu or at www.officeforblackcatholicsadphila.org
“St. Charles Seminary was very instrumental in bringing this formation program to fruition,” said Williams. She credits Dr. Carmina Chapp, dean of the School of Theological Studies at St. Charles, with “welcoming and encouraging its development.”
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