View from the Pews: Parishioners Imagine a Post-COVID Church

Melodie was named executive director of the Roche Center for Catholic Education and faculty member for the Lynch School of Education and Human Development in 2019. Prior to coming to Boston College, Melodie served as an assistant professor and academic director of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program for the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame. She also has served as president of Nativity Jesuit Academy and director of mission effectiveness for the NativityMiguel Network of Schools in Washington, DC. Melodie presents nationally on topics such as Catholic School Governance and Effective Board Management, Strategic Planning, Development and Enrollment Management Strategies, and Making Schools Culturally Competent for New and Existing Latino Families. Her published work includes Seven Steps to Strategic Planning for Catholic School Leaders (2020) and Responding to the Call for Educational Justice: Transformative Catholic-Led Initiatives in Urban Education (2018). Melodie has a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and master's degrees in educational administration from Marquette University and education from Mount Mary College.

Adrián Alberto Herrera is an Associate Director for the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He has served as consultant to the National Advisory Committee on Adult Religious Education, formerly known as NACARE. He has written articles for several publications and developed materials for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis for Catechetical Sunday 2010. Author of Oraciones y Reflexiones Dominicales para Católicos 2017 by LTP, Catechetical Leadership 2017 by Loyola Press, Un año lleno de gracia:2018 by Loyola Press.

Adrián served as one of the six animators for the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership FCH “Forum on Catechesis with Hispanics”. He has been a catechist, youth Minister and Director of Religious Education. Obtained BS in Microbiology and Chemistry from The University of Texas at El Paso and his MA in Pastoral Studies from the School of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary.

Rose Mary Donahue grew up in a close-knit Irish Catholic neighborhood in Syracuse, New York, and she attended the small parish school from grades K-12. She received a B.A. in Sociology from Le Moyne College, and earned an M.Ed. from Boston College in elementary and special education while working in the President’s Office. She has served as Assistant to the President for 40+ years, working on a variety of projects and initiatives, including the establishment of the Church in the 21 st Century Center.

Rose Mary has also been active in parish life, serving on the Parish Councils of both Saint Ignatius Church and Saint John the Evangelist in Wellesley, MA, where she also served as a Eucharistic Minister. From 2008-2013, she was a member of the Saint John’s Pastoral Planning Group, established to help coordinate planning for the future of the parish and to raise awareness of the inevitable changes to come, particularly as the Archdiocese of Boston studied the possible reorganization of parishes. She currently serves on the Saint John-Saint Paul Collaborative Pastoral Council.

Rose Mary’s community involvements include membership on the Wellesley Planning Board, and its Fuller Brook Park Coordinating Committee, Town Government Study Committee and Advisory Committee. She is also a current Town Meeting Member.

Taiga Guterres is the assistant director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies for marketing and programming, where he promotes the Institute's publications, events, and mission through print and online advertisement.  He also serves as the project manager for the Ever to Excel program.  Taiga has over 10 years of experience working with the Society of Jesus and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Theology & Ministry and an M.S.W. from Boston College.  His research interests include the cross-section of culture and spirituality, the history and spirituality of Pedro Arrupe, and Ignatian leadership.