About Us : University of Dayton, Ohio

About Us

Group shot of the IPI team Founded in 1995, the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives (IPI) was built on decades of earlier work, merged from other historical UD centers. This merge resulted in an all-encompassing vision: to create global partners within the Catholic Church and to educate disciples through dialogue, service and faith formation.

We achieve these efforts through our five goals of education and formation, applied pastoral research, consulting, networking and publication and multimedia production.

The Institute for Pastoral Initiatives is funded by a grant from the Marianist Foundation, contributions from the University of Dayton, outside funding agencies, and staff income from workshops, lectures, seminars, consultations and publications.

Our Mission

Four people meeting at a table Catholic in tradition and global in mission, the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives nurtures a living Catholic faith, rooted in our Catholic Marianist charism and vision, through innovative programs and initiatives of faith and leadership formation grounded in applied pastoral research.

In concert with the Church's call towards the "New Evangelization" in a rapidly changing world, we strive to prophetically face the evolving challenges for proclaiming the Good News. Being on a permanent mission calls for us to embrace authentic listening and dialogue as a means for reading signs of the times and discerning the direction and path of our unfolding mission into the future.

We are constantly engaging and collaborating with various entities of the University and our diocesan partnerships to address the emerging needs and issues of the Church by: Sr. Angela at a media recording

Researching trends and new developments in pastoral and catechetical ministries.
Educating through online courses, workshops, seminars, and publications.
Consulting with local, national, and international communities for pastoral communications, catechetical, and ministry planning.
Convening forums to explore new ways of being the Church.
Providing pastoral and catechetical resources for diocesan and lay ecclesial leaders.

Our History

The Institute for Pastoral Initiatives emerged from several historical UD movements and had several different titles since the 1970s to address the emerging needs of the Church. Highlights of our evolution and development include:

1971: The Marianist Institute for Christian Renewal (MICR) was established by the Marianists to be a bridge between the University and the Catholic Church in dialogue and pastoral service.
1974: MICR changed its name to the Center for Christian Renewal (CCR) and developed several ministerial offices underneath it, including the Office for Moral and Religious Education (MORES), which aimed for UD and its surrounding community to “become an important resource within the Church.”
1979: Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski was hired at UD and began working for MORES. She worked her way up to become the Director.
1983: Sr. Angela Ann transitioned to become the Director of an adjacent office to MORES, called the Center for Religious Telecommunications (CRT), which aimed to explore new methodologies for applying new communication technologies for education, catechesis, and lay leadership formation within the Church.
1987: The CRT changes its name to the Center for Religious Communications (CRC) to reflect a clearer understanding of the depth of the Center’s communication and ministry initiatives.
1994: The various centers associated with theology, education, and ministry at UD were combined into an entity called the Institute for Theology, Education, and Ministry (ITEM).
1995: ITEM is renamed to the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives (IPI) to finally ensure a collaborative ministry, one that has a strong stewardship of resources and envisions new pastoral initiatives by consistently reading the signs of the times…led by its first Executive Director, Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski.
2000: After years of development, the Virtual learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF) was created under the IPI with diocesan partnerships.
2007: Spanish courses were added to the VLCFF.
2019: Arabic courses were added to the VLCFF.