Get Ready for 'A Day of Learning: Recording Your Spiritual Journey' at GCU

Lakewood, N.J., May 14, 2014 – The strengths, struggles, purpose, and possibilities that go into creating a spiritual autobiography will all be on the table when noted writer/journalist Patricia Lefevere leads "A Day of Learning: Recording Your Spiritual Journey" for Georgian Court University's McCauley Institute for Lifelong Learning (MILL) on June 10.

Using drawing, writing, and group sharing, Ms. Lefevere, whose own spiritual journey unfolded over six continents as she covered a broad range of social and economic issues for publications ranging from political magazines to religious presses—will draw upon examples from her own life to encourage participants to share meaningful episodes from theirs.

The six-hour class will take place on Tuesday, June 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on GCU's Lakewood campus. The class is $65 per MILL member and is available to non-MILL members for $90. Lunch is included. Annual MILL membership is just $25.

The class is one of more than 25 courses and programs for adults ages 50 and above offered by the MILL program in the Spring 2014 semester. Combining social interaction and learning without tests or homework, MILL offers social events for members and courses in subjects ranging from golf, T'ai Chi Chih, religious poetry, Twitter 101, and Maria Montessori.

Ms. Lefevere is perhaps best known as a longtime correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. There, her reports on critical issues throughout the developing world, which have run the gamut from prison reform to starvation wages to health care, elections, and religious tensions, are considered groundbreaking.
Ms. Lefevere has presented her spiritual journaling class around the country, including Seton Hall University, and created it after exploring the style many years ago. She was also inspired by classes she took in the discipline at New York's Union Theological Seminary.

Ms. Lefevere said that when participants write and share insights on their spiritual journeys, the group dynamics can be amazing. "You find solidarity in what comes forth," she said. "You find that not everyone's life is alike” but the “pointers and pathways” along the way resonate for everyone. “It's fun and it's stimulating."
Preregistration is required for all courses and may be done online at alumni.georgian.edu/mill. Registration forms for mailing and a complete schedule of all courses can be found at www.georgian.edu/mcauley. Room information for all MILL courses will be provided upon registration. For more information, please contact Alice Velez, MILL director of development and MILL, at 732.987.2201 or veleza@georgian.edu.
 
The McAuley Institute for Lifelong Learning at Georgian Court University
The McAuley Institute is a community education program designed for adults, ages 50 and above, who have a passion for learning and want to foster successful aging through continued education and socialization. MILL members also attend social networking events and invitation-only activities with headline guests who appear at GCU throughout the year. MILL sponsors for the 2013–2014 academic year include the Florian J. Lombardi Foundation Inc.; Creative Financial Group of New Jersey; and Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks, LLC.
 
About Georgian Court University
Founded in 1908 and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Georgian Court University is a comprehensive, coeducational university with a strong liberal arts core and an historic, special concern for women. A forward-thinking university that supports diversity and academic excellence, Georgian Court serves more than 2,200 students of all faiths and backgrounds in both undergraduate and graduate programs. The main campus is located at 900 Lakewood Avenue, Lakewood, N.J., on the picturesque former George Jay Gould estate, a National Historic Landmark. Georgian Court also serves students at New Jersey Coastal Communiversity in Wall and through multiple online certificate and degree programs.