Statement of Principles

The Cultural Center will promote the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Catholic faith as the path to human flourishing. It has three fundamental goals.

1. The cultural center will assist families in the transmission of the faith to their children. The Catholic family is the irreplaceable locus for the handing down of the faith, and the first mission of the cultural center is to supplement and support family education and catechesis both within the parish and in the wider Catholic community.

2. The cultural center will form a community of disciples who will bring Jesus Christ to others. It will host theological, practical, and artistic instruction in the form of lectures, workshops, and other activities, immersing the faithful in the Catholic tradition in all of its richness and vitality. This instruction will equip the participants to share the faith with others, to live in solidarity with those in need, and to contribute to the common good.

3. The cultural center will bridge the gap between the church and the secular world through beauty and the arts. Though many people may close their hearts to church teachings, transcendent beauty may still enter. Drawing on the beauty experienced in the liturgy, the cultural center will be a home for the arts, especially but not exclusively the sacred arts. It will offer an encounter with the beautiful that is open to the faithful and to all people of good will.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JOB DESCRIPTION

Created at the request of the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, the Catholic Cultural Center to be located at St. Gregory the Great Church in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood will advance the truth, goodness and beauty of the Catholic Faith. It will use sacred art and music and Catholic social thought to form disciples and offer opportunities for evangelization.
As envisioned, this Cultural Center anticipates including the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (with additional instruction in music and fine arts) for the young and workshops in sacred art and chant for adults to encounter Christ through beauty, which will be the basis of a spiritual life for the Cultural Center.

As its founding director, one should be a strategic leader who can create a plan for the Center and execute its implementation. As ambassador and spokesperson for the Center, the director should have the skills necessary to convey this vision to religious and lay leaders, funders, volunteers and Catholic institutions and parishes. The director should also possess sufficient managerial skill to create an organization culture, build a team and work with finances.
Of greatest importance, the director must be a faithful Catholic with an appreciation of sacred art, devoted to the Church’s spirituality and thought, and have passion for the Center’s mission.

The director’s status will be as an employee of Mary, Mother of God Parish (under whose auspices St. Gregory the Great and its Cultural Center operate) and will report to the Pastor. It is anticipated that the Center will be incorporated as a separate, stand-alone charitable institution with its own bylaws and independent board of directors.

Salary and benefits are negotiable and initially come under the Archdiocese of Chicago’s policies and practices. On-campus housing is available as part of the compensation package.

For additional information about applying for the position, please contact Maggie Flynn, Administrative Assistant at mflynn@saintita.org

https://legacy.archchicago.org/Employment/Parishes?id=1281