IN FOCUS: From Gown to Town

In the backyard of almost every college is a town or city, and Woodstock is turning its theological investigations toward the District of Columbia with a new thrust called "Theology in the City."

Leading the way is Raymond B. Kemp, who directs Woodstock's program Preaching the Just Word and has spent decades in urban ministry as a Washington, D.C., archdiocesan priest. Last May, Kemp initiated the effort with a forum titled "Educating D.C. Children: Perspectives from the Field."

Held at Washington Jesuit Academy, a tuition-free middle school, the forum brought together teachers and administrators from different educational sectors. "If all politics is local, then all community politics begins with the school board," said Kemp, himself a former D.C. school board member, explaining that the experiences of those who educate the disadvantaged are a natural entry point for urban-theological explorations.

About 120 people attended the forum, which aimed to build relationships among three pillars of inner city education: public, parochial, and charter schools. The five panelists that evening included Woodstock board member John Butler of Archbishop Carroll High School.

"What I'm trying to do is to make those kinds of linkages," said Kemp, adding that the conversation has continued in more intimate settings since the public forum.