Carpathian English Summer School, now in fourth year, seeks volunteers (05/17/98)

Carpathian English Summer School, now in fourth year, seeks volunteers

CHICAGO - The Rev. Sviatoslav Shevchuk has been selected as the new director of the Carpathian English Summer School (CESS) in Ukriane. The program, jointly sponsored by the Lviv Theological Academy and the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation (UCEF) of Chicago, is in its fourth year, and the CESS annually attracts 20 volunteers from North America, Australia and Britain to come to Ukraine and teach Ukrainian students. This year's program will take place July 8-31.

A native of Stryi, the Rev. Shevchuk is currently studying moral theology in Rome and has been a staff member of two previous summer programs. Last summer he studied English in the United States and visited parishes in North Carolina and California. As director of the CESS, he succeeds the Rev. Michael Kwiatkowski, who is now the chancellor of the Patriarchal Curia of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Lviv.

Staryi Kropevnyk and Korostiv are among the previous sites chosen for the CESS. The volunteer teaching staff, a majority of whom are not of Ukrainian descent, create a dynamic immersion environment. Classes are limited to seven to 10 students. The curriculum consists of Bible study and grammar exercises, as well as more student-based activities like discussion groups and short plays. Afternoon elective workshops and evening activities round out the day.

Impressed by student achievement and faculty coordination, the Rev. Steven Worsely of North Carolina said, "The program was excellent, and the results were evident in the enthusiasm of the students."

The program is also a spiritual retreat for staff and students. Each day for a month participants eat together, live together, and pray together. Keith Streifel, an American seminarian now studying in Rome, reminisced that "it was as if we had tucked the camp in with a blanket of prayer. We were able to witness these young people so willing to trust God, able to experience the generous spirits of both the students and the faculty, and able to discover the rich, Eastern spirituality of the Ukrainian Catholic Church."

Daily liturgy, midday prayer and vespers are a vital component of the program. The Rev. Roman Galadza of Bramton, Ontario, is now in his third year as liturgical director.

Since there is virtually no theological literature in the Ukrainian language, the program was established to facilitate research, translation projects and lectures of the international faculty of the Lviv Theological Academy. It is run in cooperation with the academy's Theological Summer Institute, where the Rev. Petro Galadza of the Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky Institute in Ottawa continues as director.

To volunteer for the CESS or other UCEF projects, contact: Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622, (773) 235-8462, UCEFCHGO@aol.com