Utah lay ecclesial minster named Creighton University's 'Outstanding Online Student'

Intermountain Catholic

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Gerri Mackey

SALT LAKE CITY — For the past seven years, Saint Vincent de Paul parishioner Gerri Mackey has immersed herself in learning about the Catholic faith, first in the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s Lay Ecclesial Ministry formation program, then in Creighton University’s Master of Arts in Ministry program.

Her dedication led her to be selected as Creighton’s 2013 "Outstanding Online Student."

Criteria for the award included outstanding academic achievement, active engagement in the online courses that supports and advances others’ learning and helps build community in the online environment, and working to benefit the poor or marginalized populations, said LuAnn Schwery, assistant dean of Creighton’s graduate school.

In the nomination letter, Mackey’s program director, Dr. Eileen Burke-Sullivan, wrote, "Her commitment to online learning, her generosity with her time and knowledge makes her an ideal online student and an ideal candidate for the award."

As part of her practicum, Mackey arranged for everything needed to have a booth promoting Creighton University at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. She also paid the fees and manned the booth for the three-day event.

"She’s been a wonderful supporter of our program," Schwery said.

The congress was an amazing experience, Mackey said. "I had the most incredible time and made so many friends."

At Creighton, she found that same sense of community, she said, and those close relationships kept her involved in the graduate program even when she underwent treatment for breast cancer.

The program requires students to meet on campus for two weeks in the summer; work during their other two semesters each year is done online. Because of her illness, Mackey took a break from the classes, but insisted on attending the second on-campus session.

"Three days after my final chemo, I went to Creighton for two weeks, and then came home and started six weeks of radiation," Mackey said. "I wasn’t going to miss the summer session, because that’s where you’re involved on a personal, face-to-face level, but the classes I figured I could put on hold for a bit. … There was no way I was going to drop this program and lose the knowledge and the access to further knowledge as well as the relationship with the people in that program. … I felt so incredibly at home and welcomed in the group."

Mackey has felt called to be involved in God’s work since she was in high school, she said. She tried to enter a convent but was told she didn’t have a vocation. Instead, she married and had four children; now divorced, she has four grandchildren.

Along the way she earned an undergraduate degree and an MBA; she now works as a graduate academic advisor at the University of Utah. At her parish she has served various roles, including director of religious education.

Although she was trained for her parish ministry, "I yearned for much more knowledge and understanding," she said, so she enrolled in the four-year Lay Ecclesial Ministry formation program. Upon being certified in 2010, she immediately began at Creighton’s Master of Arts in Ministry, which prepares students for professional ministry in the Church.

"I’m enthralled by knowledge and I love the learning," Mackey said, adding that even now she feels she has barely scratched the surface of what there is to know about the Catholic Church.

Her faith has changed along with her study, she said. ""My faith is so much more; it’s different, but it’s more in depth. I have a greater love for everything about the universal church – not just the American Catholic Church."

With that deeper faith an knowledge, "I would love to teach, at any level; I would also love to be involved in outreach ministry," Mackey said, adding that in her daily prayers, she says, "’Lord, I know that you know all things, and I know that what I think you want for me might not really be what you have planned; but whatever it might be . . . do you think we might be able to pick up the pace, please? I’m not getting any younger, you know!’"