Sr. Theresa F. Koernke, IHM

 

Chair & Associate Professor-Department of Word and Worship

BA Marygrove College of Detroit, Michigan
MA University of Detroit, English and American Literature
MA University of Detroit, New Testament and Systematic Theology
PhD University of Notre Dame, Systematic Theology, Liturgical Studies

Biography

Theresa F. Koernke is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Michigan in the Archdiocese of Detroit. She holds a doctorate in Systematic Theology from the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana where she studied with one of the foremost scholars, Rev. Edward J. Kilmartin, SJ, in the area of systematic theology of the liturgies of the sacraments. Sr. Koernke joined the Union faculty in 1993. Prior to this, she held various posts at the University of Notre Dame, Mercyhurst College and the Athenaeum of Ohio.

Sr. Koernke has written extensively in the area of the liturgical reforms of Vatican II and liturgical spirituality. She is at present working on three publications "The Eucharistic Sacrifice in the Third Eucharistic Prayer of the Roman Missal of Paul VI", "The Cross of Christ and the Feminist Struggle," and "On Touching the Body of Christ."

Professional Activities

Sr. Koernke lectures in North America and presents workshops and retreats in the area of liturgical reform and Eucharistic spirituality, and has taught graduate courses at the University of Notre Dame and St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN. By appointment of the Catholic Bishops in the USA, she is a member of the ecumenical Faith and Order Commission of The National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA, and is Vicar for Theological Affairs for the Romanian Byzantine Catholic Diocese of St. George Martyr in North America. She is a member of the Tri-IHM/Oblate Sisters Board of Governors, and is dedicated to the spiritual-liturgical renewal in Religious Life. Sr. Koernke is a member of The American Academy of Religion, The Catholic Theological Society of America, and The North American Academy of Liturgy.

Selected Publications

“Toward an Ethics of Liturgical Behavior” Worship 66(1992): 25-38

“The Many Presences of Christ: Recovering the Tradition, Renewing the Churches” in The Many Presences of Christ (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1999).

"Disclosing Liturgical Conflict" Worship 79:3 (May 2005): 222-237 (An interpretation of attempts to control liturgical renewal)

"Eucharist, Spirit, Dangerous Memory" New Theology Review 20:1 (Feb 2007): 38-41.