A D VA NCI NG T HE MI SSION
Welcome to
Our House
Hospitality at Sacred Heart Major Seminary
THE MISSION OF SACRED HEART MAJOR SEMINARY (SHMS) is to educate the faithful, seminarians, and lay
people, but hospitality is part of the experience on the grounds of SHMS, thanks to the work of the Archdiocese of Detroit
(AOD) led by John Duncan, director of Sacred Heart Major Seminary/Cathedral Campus facilities Administration. The
Archdiocese owns the property and takes care of the buildings and grounds, allowing SHMS to focus on its ministry.
Mary Kay McPartlin
Duncan has worked for the AOD for
27 years, with 26 years at SHMS. He and
his dedicated staff of six keep the build-
ing and grounds of the property running
smoothly. In the last year there have been
700-800 events on the grounds with
10,000 people coming through.
“We are quite a busy place,” said Dun-
can. “Some of these events are very small
and some of them are very large. Our mis-
sion is to create an environment where
they can present their programming. It’s
a fine line with how busy you can make
this place and have the seminary function
as it needs to be.”
His staff has the pleasure of working
with several contract services to keep
SHMS humming along smoothly. The
food service cooks for meetings and pro-
vides breakfast, lunch and dinner for 130
seminarians and a faculty of 15, not to
mention is responsible for the Catholic
Schools lunch program. Other services
are security, housekeeping, landscaping
and snow removal.
His staff assists groups and organiza-
tions with the meeting space available at
SHMS as well as working with the AOD
and SHMS IT departments to make sure
technology needs are met. “We make sure
everyone has a space and a telephone and
internet that works,” Duncan said. “We
are primarily for use by the seminary and
by the AOD, primarily central services.
Early on it was deemed important that
we have a connection with the neighbor-
hood.”
The list of regular clients is a long one
and varied, from the nearby neighbor-
hood groups, Detroit Area Agency on Ag-
ing, Henry Ford Hospital, Youthworks,
Life Remodeled, Red Cross, American
Heart Association. The stipulation is that
to utilize the facilities groups must be ver-
ified non-profit organizations that follow
Catholic doctrine.
Within the AOD, the list of groups
We work hard. We have our
hearts in the right spot. We treat
people as we would like to be
treated, with respect.”
who come to SHMS for meetings or fel-
lowship is also a diverse one and includes
AOD parishes, Black Catholic ministry,
Hispanic ministry, CYO, and many dif-
ferent groups relating to Unleash the
Gospel.
The goal for Unleash the Gospel is to
expand the ministry of the online courses.
The AOD utilizes the facilities at SHMS
for events including faculty symposiums,
central staff meetings and retreats.
“We have been involved on the ground
floor with all the different meetings,”
said Duncan. “The Archbishop has met
with the priests at least three times in the
last two years. We are intimately involved
in all of that.”
Beginning in 2015 Duncan and his
team now host more than 30 priests year-
ly from all over the United States as well
as other countries for the Licentiate in
Sacred Theology (STL) degree. The pro-
gram is an online study that requires a six-
week summer residency at SHMS.
“It’s never a dull moment around
here,” Duncan said. “It’s a unique build-
ing. We work hard. We have our hearts
in the right spot. We treat people as we
would like to be treated, with respect.”
shms.edu
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