The Board of Overseers welcomes a new member, a returning member and an emeritus member to the advisory board for Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, St. Meinrad, IN.
The board advises President-Rector Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB, on matters related to the school’s programs and performance and addresses strategic questions related to the future of the school. Each member serves a three-year term.
Joining the board are Fr. Gary Kastl, Mary Schaffner and Charles Gardner.
Fr. Gary Kastl was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Tulsa in 2007. He serves as pastor at St. Anne Catholic Church in Broken Bow, OK. He also serves as a leadership consultant with Catholic Leadership Institute and a member of the Personnel Board and the Presbyteral Council for the Diocese of Tulsa.
In 2003, Fr. Kastl graduated from Conception Seminary College in Conception, MO. He graduated from Saint Meinrad School of Theology with a Master of Divinity in 2007. This is his first year on the Board of Overseers.
Mary Schaffner is the associate director of Spirituality Ministries at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis, IN. She has previous experience as a religion teacher, high school campus minister, young adult minister, director of religious education, pastoral associate and director of adult faith formation.
She has served on the vocations committee for the Sisters of St. Benedict in Beech Grove, IN; was a past member of Saint Meinrad’s “One Bread, One Cup” advisory board and is a member of the spiritual direction team of St. Luke Institute in Louisville, KY.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University and a Master’s in Theological Studies from Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. She also has a graduate certificate in spiritual direction and directed retreats from Creighton University’s Christian Spirituality Program.
She and her husband, John, have five adult children and are members of St. Pius X Parish. She is beginning her second term as a member of the Board of Overseers.
Charles Gardner is a native of Indianapolis. He graduated from Saint Meinrad College in 1969 and attended one year at Saint Meinrad School of Theology.
He received a Master of Music degree from Butler University in 1976. In 2013, he retired from 42 years of service to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as liturgical music director and director for spiritual life and worship.
He continues to serve as an instructor at Marian University, a substitute organist, and a member of Vox Sacra, the archdiocesan schola cantorum. He is on the leadership team for Central Indiana Bread for the World and is active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
He and his wife, Dianne, have three adult children and are members of Nativity Parish in Indianapolis.
He joined the Board of Overseers in 1989. In 2017, the board elected him as an emeritus member.
