Sheil Catholic Center

When the Sheil Catholic Center celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1989, a group of talented and dedicated associates researched and wrote a history of the first 50 years. We are reprinting that history here.

Staffing and Budget

The story of Sheil from its start, but especially since it moved to its new quarters, has been one of healthy growth. From the economic and administrative standpoints, however, the soaring inflation of the '70s and the worsening shortage of priests have had a severe impact of the center. Back in the mid-'60s at its older home, in the days when Northwestern tuition was below $2,000, Sheil's annual operating costs were under $15,000. At the new and expanded center, those costs more than doubled. And as annual expenses climbed to the six figure level, Sheil experienced recurring budget deficits. Rising utility costs in particular, as well as needed major building repairs, pushed expenses consistently beyond income. Without emergency aid from the archdiocese in recent years, it would have been unable to sustain its activities and meet its budget, now at the $270,000 level. And as archdiocese faces its own increasing deficits, the financial horizons look darker and darker.

For five years, beginning in 1968, Sheil enjoyed the luxury of two full-time chaplains, but in 1973, when Father Mueller was reassigned to the faculty of the Niles College seminary of Loyola University, no priest was available to replace him.

As in the old Sheil, valuable help came from the succession of priests who as students resided at the center, and for a few years Father Mueller was able to help out with the Mass schedule on a part-time basis. But the arrangement left many of Sheil's ever-growing pastoral and administrative needs unmet.

One solution was to establish a new position for someone to take over the center's strictly administrative duties, and in 1974 Mrs. Ann Ferguson was hired as administrative coordinator, a post she ably held until 1983.

By then, however, Father Krump had undergone major heart surgery, making it more difficult than ever to meet all of Sheil's pastoral needs. The administrative coordinator's position was then redefined to include religious counseling as well, and since 1983 Mrs. Mary Kincaid has served in that expanded role as Sheil's associate director. She and her husband, Bob, members of the Sheil community since 1970, were leading participants in many programs, including Pre-Cana conferences and the catechumenate. The Archdiocese of Chicago officially appointed her to the campus ministry at Sheil in September of 1984.

During Father John's prolonged convalescence, one of the Chicago priests who helped with the Sunday services was Father William Carrol, Professor of Scripture at Loyola University's Institute of Pastoral Studies and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, who had been Newman Club chaplain at Northeastern Illinois University. A mutual attraction quickly grew between the Sheil community and Father Carroll, and in March 1986 he was appointed co-director. The community found itself graced with yet another chaplain who offered that rare combination of personal warmth, scholarly learning and remarkable sense of humor that had become part of the special Sheil tradition.

For the next few years Sheil flourished under its three directors. But late in 1988 disaster struck when father Carroll had to undergo a surgery for a brain tumor. Then followed a prolonged convalescence, but in the spring of 1989, to Sheil's great joy, Father Carroll came back to celebrate Mass once again.

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