About Us

- About Us
  
  The Institute for Ministry Formation (IMF) is an extension of Saint Vincent Seminary’s commitment to the formation and education of priests, laity, and religious. The Christian life is about service, and service is ministry! Using new technology and traditional methods for learning and gathering, the IMF gathers this community, grows and supports their faith, and helps guide their response to God’s call by forming their hearts and minds.
- History
  
  In the early autumn of 1846, the parish of St. Vincent near the town of Greensburg received a Benedictine monk by the name of Fr. Boniface Wimmer. That same year, Fr. Boniface was allowed to use this place to build what would become Saint Vincent Archabbey and establish the fourth oldest Catholic seminary in the United States. Though the Pope officially established the seminary only in 1855, the education of seminarians for the priesthood commenced just days after Fr. Boniface arrived with his monks in 1846. The goal of the monastery and seminary was to educate and foster German-speaking priests and religious who could then minister to the growing number of German immigrants arriving in the New World.
  
  Though the seminary’s mission has changed over time, the importance of forming others to go out and address the spiritual needs of the wider world has not been forgotten.
  
  Nearly 175 years after Boniface Wimmer established the seminary at St. Vincent, another monk, Fr. Boniface Hicks, O.S.B., established the Institute for Ministry Formation—an extension of the seminary’s call to form priests, laity, and religious to be missionaries to those God places in their lives. Fr. Boniface Hicks, O.S.B., and Fr. Thomas Acklin, O.S.B., taught the first IMF course on Spiritual Direction in 2019, and the IMF has been growing ever since.
  
  As of today, our academic offerings include certificates in Spiritual Direction, Catechetics, and Catholic Theology, as well as the advanced Master of Arts in Ministry degree. We are committed to the continual expansion of our programs to meet the evolving needs of the Church.