Bible Institute
Registration opens on January 5th, 2009
To register (online or manual), please go to the home page.
Program Date: Wednesday, June 17 - Saturday, June 27, 2009
Program Fee: $495.00
Geared for Deaf Adults, 18 years old and upward.
Mark Seven Bible Institute
Study Week/Retreat 2009
Welcome to the Mark Seven Bible Institute! Since 2006, MSBI has worked hard to provide a life-changing encounter with Christ in the Sacred Page. As a community of Deaf Catholics, all workshops, discussions, and liturgies are carried out in American Sign Language at Camp Mark Seven, the premiere Deaf-owned and operated recreation facility in North America.
Join Father Tom Coughlin, the founder of Camp Mark Seven and co-founder of the MSBI along with Brother Adam Zawadzki and Matthew Hysell, to study the two-volume work of St Luke the Evangelist, the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Past study week/retreats included the Gospel According to John (2006), the Gospel According to Mark (2007), and the Gospel According to Matthew (2008). This year, in keeping with our focus on the gospels, we will also pay tribute to St Paul, the “Apostle to the Nations”, whose 2000th birthday the Catholic Church celebrates this year.
Each day, we will gather to learn about Jesus Christ and about the expansion of the early Church through the eyes of St Luke the Evangelist. Questions will include—
• What was Christian life like in earliest Christianity?
• What influence did St Paul the Apostle have in preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles? What impact did he have at the ‘Apostolic Conference’?
• What are the ‘Three Missionary Journeys’?
• Why did Sts Peter and Paul have disagreements? What did they disagree on?
By the end of the week, you will know the answers to these questions. You will also discover narrative criticism, a unique tool for reading and understanding the Bible.
In addition to three daily workshops, after supper we will watch a religious documentary, have group discussions, and enjoy recreation. Before supper, we gather to celebrate the Eucharist. At the end of the week, we will go on pilgrimage to New Skete Monastery in Cambridge, NY.
Sample Schedule:
7:30 Lectio Divina (Meditative Reading of Scripture)
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Workshop I
9:45 break
10:00 Workshop II
10:45 break
11:00 Workshop III
11:45 break
11:55 Angelus in the Chapel
12:00 Lunch, followed by siesta or recreation
3:00 Workshop IV
3:45 break
4:00 Group Discussion/Activity
5:00 Holy Eucharist
5:30 Supper
7:00 Film
10:00 Office of Compline (Night Prayer)
Featured Staff
V. Revd. Thomas J. Coughlin, O.P.Miss. is the founder and Supreme Moderator of the Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate and co-founder with Matthew G. Hysell of the Mark Seven Bible Institute. Fr. Coughlin will serve as our chaplain and spiritual director as well as our liturgical presider. The first Deaf priest in the United States, Fr. Coughlin earned his B.A. in English Literature at Gallaudet College in 1974 and his M.A. in Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America in 1977. He currently resides in San Antonio, Texas, at the Motherhouse of the Congregation, where he has also been appointed to of the Catholic Deaf community at San Francisco di Paola Parish by the Metropolitan Archbishop of San Antonio, His Grace the Most Reverend +José Gomez, S.T.D.
Brother Adam Zawadzki, O.P.Miss. is a student-brother with the Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate. Brother Adam received his A.A. in American Sign Language at Vinceness University in 2001 and is currently working toward his B.A. in Religious Studies at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, after which he will begin studies toward his M.Div. at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, in preparation for ordination to the transitional diaconate and priesthood. Brother Adam has been working with the MSBI since its inception in 2006. In 2007, he was the primary speaker, presenting the Gospel According to Mark.
Matthew G. Hysell, M.A. is the co-founder of Mark Seven Bible Institute and has directed the programme since its inception in 2006. Matthew received his B.A. in philosophy from the City University of New York, Hunter College, in New York City in 2002 and recently completed his M.A. in systematic and philosophical theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. Matthew currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where he is working toward his M.Th. (Master of Theology) degree at Newman Theological College. Matthew has worked full-time in pastoral ministry since 1999, first under the direction of Fr. Coughlin until 2002, and again from 2005—2007. Now he serves at St. Mark’s Catholic Community of the Deaf as Pastoral Support.
If you have any questions about the programme, please feel free to contact Ms. Carrie Fisher at campdir@campmark7.org or Mr. Matthew Hysell at mhysell@op.dspt.edu.
