Parishioners of St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church;
In vita et in opera ego sum omnia in!
I would like to introduce myself to you, the parishioners and community of St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church. My name is Ian Wood, and I am the new Coordinator of Mission and Outreach for St. Andre Bessette. A native of Portland, I have arrived here by way of Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, where I had lived since 2008 until arriving back home here in Portland last summer, in July 2022. During my absence from Portland, I went to college at the University of New Mexico [UNM] where I earned two undergraduate degrees, one in Earth & Planetary Sciences with a focus on Pedology [Soil Science] and the other in Religious Studies with a focus on Catholicism. Additionally, I earned a Graduate Certificate in Peace & Justice Studies with a focus on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights [ESC Rights] and I am now completing a graduate degree at St. Norbert College, a Master’s in Theology, where my work is focused in Liberation Theologies, specifically Feminist and Ecology.
While in Albuquerque and after graduating from UNM, I had successfully applied to the Catholic Social Teaching internship program for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB], working in the Catholic Campaign for Human Development [CCHD] and was assigned to the Ministry for Social Justice and Respect Life in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. In this role I assisted in ministry outreach on issues related to community building and financial empowerment as directed by the Archbishop of Santa Fe and the USCCB. After my internship had ended, I transitioned to an educational ministry of the Order of Preachers, Ordo Praedicatorum [OP], called the Dominican Ecclesial Institute [DEI], in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. As the Chief Administrator I oversaw all operational, fund raising, and capacity growing facets of a religious educational ministry operating in the Dominican Province of St. Albert the Great. This included the magazine, DISCOURSE, the radio station KDEI, the annual Lumen Gentium Award’s, DEI Dialogues, DEI Missions, DEI Retreats, and the outreach to young adults, Theology on Tap.
In addition to my passion for academic studies and religious work, I am very enthusiastic about giving back to my community; by giving my time, and efforts to assist others in need. To that end I was a member of the Albuquerque Peace & Justice Center, and I have been a volunteer with Catholic Charities since 2010 where I have volunteered to assist and feed the homeless and work with refugees. Finally, I am greatly concerned with ethics, policy, wealth disparities and their increase, economic injustice, racism, intolerance, policies of exclusion, poverty alleviation, social justice, ecological degradation and environmental justice.
And so now, I am here, as fellow parishioner in community with you and as employee in service to the Church and the mission of St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church, proclaiming Christ’s healing compassion in downtown Portland through prayer and service. Now that I’ve introduced myself to you, please say hello to me, I want to know you!
In Christ,
Ian Wood Coordinator of Mission and Outreach St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church