Intrigued by Paul's job title beyond the "SJ," I asked him to tell us more about being the Vice President for Mission and Identity for Loyola Press. I tossed a bunch of dimensions at him: "Philosophically/theologically/practically speaking, what does that mean?" Here's his answer and I want to highlight Other6.com. Paul calls it a "ministerial website." I view it as yet another opportunity to deepen faith and more consciously live out our baptismal call.Meredith,
I’d love to give a smart-aleck response to your rather complicated question, but it deserves a (fairly) serious answer. Very few companies have “Mission & Identity” officers but, then, we’re not like most other companies because we are a not-for-profit Jesuit ministry.
It drives our Sales & Marketing folks slightly crazy when I remind them that our Jesuit owners prefer to see people draw closer to God than for us to bring in millions of dollars. (Of course, they prefer it if we can do both!)
About 90 people are employed at the Press and that includes two Jesuits. Having said that, it is the most thorough and intentional Jesuit work I have ever encountered because our (lay) leadership has drunk endless gallons of Ignatian Kool Aid and is totally committed to our mission.
A member of the managerial team, my formal brief calls for me to work on our “ministerial websites” (IgnatianSpirituality.com and Other6.com). I am responsible for New Employee Orientations, arrange for on-going formation of our staff on Ignatian topics, help lead a small group through the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises, and am local coordinator of those participating in a national Ignatian formation program. I am also asked to represent the “Jesuit face” of Loyola Press in various settings.
A good deal of my work, however, goes on behind the scenes – I respond to customers who are upset by something an author has said or written, I persuade authors that their carefully-chosen titles will doom their books’ sales potential, and I visit diocesan offices to learn how the Press might better serve its customers.
Loyola Press wants to help people develop a deeper friendship with God. I love that mission and am thrilled to work here. I’m not at all sure that my response has been sufficiently philosophical or theological, but I hope it has been practical enough.
Paul
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Today, you can find what I have to say about using social media to build faith and community at People for Others.
