Faculty Congratulating a Graduate at the LIM Liturgy

About the Loyola Institute for Ministry

Inspired by the 2005 U.S. Catholic Bishops’ statement entitled Co-Worker’s in the Vineyard that speaks of the call of lay people to ministry in the Church as “a cause for rejoicing,” the Loyola Institute for Ministry (LIM) of Loyola University New Orleans offers programs that are Ignatian, practical, and affordable. That is, the graces of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, are woven through LIM programming. Our students gain a firm theological foundation, but they don’t stop there. We also invite them to ask the “So what?” question. So, what does this mean for my life, my faith, the Church, the world? Finally, because of Loyola’s and the Jesuit’s commitment to ministry education, we are able to offer our programming at reduced tuition rates.

Begun in 1968 as part of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, the Institute moved to Loyola in 1978 and began to offer its programs around the country and around the world through its extension (LIMEX) model in 1983. LIM began to offer online courses in 2000 and its degree fully online in 2010. Throughout its history, it has read the signs of times and responded to them faithfully.

There are two ways to participate in LIM programming, whether on campus, online or on site (extension):

  • as a degree-seeking graduate student or
  • as a continuing education certificate student (for those involved in ministry and/or education and able to do graduate-level reading).

The programs are designed to provide in-depth information and reflection for a variety of ministerial roles, including:

  • Catholic schoolteachers and administrators in search of theological vision and a sense of mission and ministry;
  • lay persons involved in full- or part-time ministry, volunteer or paid, who are seeking the inspiration and competencies to work effectively;
  • diocesan and parish ministers who are involved in various forms of church administration and ministry;
  • deacons in need of the initial intellectual, spiritual, human, and pastoral formation for ordination or ongoing formation post ordination; and
  • all the baptized, Catholic or otherwise, seeking transformative education to prepare them for ministry wherever they live or work, whether in an explicitly religious setting or not.

Welcome to the Loyola Institute for Ministry. We hope you consider joining the thousands of graduates around the country and around the world in this transformative educational opportunity.