Addie Lorraine Walker, SSND, directs new initiative for African American Pastoral Leadership

Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, will launch an entirely new initiative this fall. The Sankofa Institute for African American Pastoral Leadership, under the direction of Sister Addie Lorraine Walker, SSND, PhD, will provide professional training for pastoral ministers who wish to minister among African Americans, regardless of denominational affiliation.

The Sankofa Institute provides an opportunity for men and women in South Texas to receive academic training for pastoral ministry close to home and earn master’s or doctoral degrees approved by the Association of Theological Schools. Protestant as well as Catholics have earned degrees at Oblate for many years; now, for the first time, students will have an option to choose courses with a focus on African American studies.

“This is a very exciting development for Oblate School of Theology as well as for the students who will enroll in the Sankofa Institute,” said Sister Addie Lorraine Walker.

Walker joined the OST faculty last year and developed the curriculum. She previously had been associated with the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans and was anxious to see an educational program for ministry among African Americans in Texas.

This program was recently featured in a full-page article in Today’s Catholic, the newspaper for the Archdiocese on San Antonio. Click here to read the article.

To find out more about the Sankofa Institute for African American Pastoral Leadership, click here to go to their website.