SPIRITUAL BIOGRAPHY
My journey with the
Association has been and continues to be very special.
In 1972, I was returning to Toronto from Tucson,
Arizona, by car and happened to pass through Pecos, New
Mexico, where a vibrant Benedictine community was
earning the name "the unofficial charismatic center in
the USA".
It
was here that I had my first contact with the
Association of Christian Therapists (ACT) through Sister
Betty Igo, Franciscan Sister of the Poor. I felt at
home with her as well as 15 Mexican friars who were also
visiting the Monastery. One day as we were sitting by a
roaring fire, Sr. Betty led me into a prayer for the
healing of my inner child and I have never been the same
since!
In my chats with her, I
learned about the Institute for Christian Healing in
Narberth, PA, directed by ACT member Bill Carr Ph.D.,
RIP, and Doug Schoeninger, Ph.D. Little did I realize
then how later God would call both Sister Betty and I to
serve the Body of Christ in the Philadelphia / New
Jersey area at the Institute for Christian
Healing.
It was here at the Institute
that I learned so much about the multifaceted world of
healing. I saw 16 clients a week and began to be part of
a wonderful team of eight professional ACT members who
began to teach me Sister Betty’s “Principles of Inner
Healing.” It was also here that I completed my Graduate
Theological Union dissertation, "Reconciliation, the
Purpose of Spirit- directed Psychotherapy," in which my
own experience and education was distilled into a
doctoral thesis in the area of "Healing in the Name of
Jesus."
For some 25 years, I and Sr.
Betty and Dr. Hank and his lovely wife Pat Kankowski RN,
MFT and Fr. Ralph Weishauer OFM, all ACT members,
continued to offer one or two annual Inner
Healing workshops at Mission San Luis Rey, CA. During
those many years, I witnessed the power of Jesus to heal
in many cases with people from all walks of life with
all kinds of physical, mental, emotional, relational and
spiritual problems.
Both the experience at
Narberth, PA, with the wonderful team of ACT members,
and the constant flow of inner healing workshops helped
me to grow emotionally and spiritually and broaden how I
saw Jesus transforming lives.
When I experienced conflict
that came from the living of my Religious Life as a
Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, I always found a
sanctuary within the ACT community at regional and
international conferences. ACT became a place where I
as a priest, friar, and psychologist, could be
ministered to - thanks be to God! - and I could return
to my community living with a strengthened heart and
spirit!
Articles written by ACT
members over the years have been such an anchor for me
as I have served in hospital ministry, campus ministry
at Berkeley and Howard University, Washington. DC., and
most of all at Trinity College of Graduate Studies,
Anaheim, California. In 1987 ACT member and Social
Worker Dr. Eleanor Whipple asked me to come on board and
be the Academic Dean of the college she had founded in
1970. I served in that capacity for 17 years. During
that time the enrollment increased by 76% and the first
ACT student Chapter was born. More than 700 students
graduated with their Masters degrees in Marriage,
Family, and Child Therapy and many continued to pursue
their licensure. The mission of ACT to promote the
Lordship of Jesus in the helping professions was united
with the Mission of Trinity to train Marriage, Family
and Child Counselors in a professional, charismatic,
dialogical and ecumenical way. We are proud of our
graduates many of whom are now ACT members.
After I finished my term as
president of ACT, 2000-2003, I was dubbed "Ambassador of
ACT Abroad. " Through the financial support of ACT
member Fr. Javier Jinojosa of Monterrey, Mexico, I was
able to build up ACT membership in Mexico and with him
opened new chapters of ACT in Kenya and India. Truly
through ACT I had my heart's desire met - to become a
"missionary" with the heart of Jesus.
ACT member Bishop Martin
Kivuva of Machakos, Kenya has readily embraced the ACT
vision and continues to be supportive in our attempts to
reach out to larger rhythms in the Church. I have
written about my experiences in Kenya on my own web
site:
http://www.junipero-serra-franciscan.org
At the present moment I am a
happy tethered donkey at a parish St. Paschal Baylon in
Thousand Oaks, California, where I am able to bring the
ACT Vision and Mission to the large parish of 6500
families, the largest elementary school in the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles and to the local Los Robles
Hospital.
I am most grateful to ACT
for being a sanctuary and a learning, teaching
environment. I will continue to be am ambassador for
ACT where God calls me home and abroad
I have earnestly served ACT
as a Board Member. At the Alabama ACT Conference, I was
elected President for a period of almost three years
(2000- 2003); the Board of Directors instituted many
changes for the good. During that time ACT underwent a
renewal process which has strengthened our understanding
of our Vision and Mission with a special emphasis on our
ecumenical outreach and the prayer and passion of Jesus,
"that they all may be one!" The infrastructure of ACT
was re-formed at that time and the by-laws were
updated.
This year 2011 is my Golden
Jubilee Year of my consecrated Religious Life as a
Franciscan Friar of the Atonement. I am grateful to God
for so many people who have helped me be the person that
God is still growing me to be.
When I was first ordained,
my best friend sang “Bridge over Troubled Waters” and
this song has been a clarion call for my life and
ministry both in the parish where I serve and the
community to which I belong.
And I thank God for all the
passion of the members of ACT now and throughout the
years. Our revised Identity Statement of how we live out
our Mission says it all. It can be found on this
website. I welcome all of you to join ACT today. If
you are ready to serve the world with your unique gifts;
if you are called to begin a new project or career that
is deeply fulfilling and would make a difference to
others; if you want to grow spiritually with great
healing liturgies at our conferences; I again invite you
to join us!
Our commitments to the
Hearts of Jesus and Mary continue to hold our compassion
for a wounded yet blessed creation through ongoing
educational renewal in our professions, deep prayer
times, and just plain ole fun being with each other and
the constant support we offer to one another in giving
Glory to God.
Fr. Joe Scerbo, S.A.
M.A., M.T.S, Ph.D.
If interested in seeing
experiences of Catholic traditions in Inner Healing
please see the following article: Sister Betty Igo, SFP,
MS, Med, “Principles of Inner Healing,” Journal of
Christian Healing, vol. 23, no. 2 (Fall/Winter,
2007), 7 pp. in
www.ACTheals.org.
Click here to
download this article.
For more information, please contact:
Clergy and
Religious Chair
Sister Betty Igo, SFP, M Ed, MS
