A total of 4 people have joined the advisory board for the Seminary and School of Theology at St. Meinrad.
New member Father Bret Lingle, emeritus member Barbara Mitchel and returning members Linda Budney and Deacon Fran Olmsted will serve on the Board of Overseers. The board’s main purpose is to advise President-Rector Father Denis Robinson OSB on issues regarding the school’s programs and performance. They also address strategic questions relating to the future of the school. Each of the board members is set to serve a 3 year term.
Father Lingle was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sioux City, IA, in 2007. He serves as director of worship, vice chancellor, episcopal master of ceremonies, assistant to the diocesan bishop and director of the propagation of faith for the Diocese of Sioux City.
Fr. Lingle received a bachelor’s degree from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary and Saint Mary’s University in 2003 and graduated from Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology with a Master of Divinity degree in 2007.He was the past administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Spencer, IA.
Linda McDonald Budney, JCL serves as an advocate on the Washington, D.C. Archdiocesan Tribunal. She has been an adjunct instructor for Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, teaching canon law in the Graduate Theology and Permanent Deacon Formation programs.
Deacon Frank Olmsted teaches theology and is assistant service project director at De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, MO. He also served 24 years as pastoral director and is in his 42nd year of teaching. He was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1999.
Finally, Barbara Mitchel is a former secondary school teacher and owner/operator of Williams Creek Ceramics. She is now retired. She served on the Board of Overseers for 12 years, before completing her service in 2014.
