Alumni

• The Rev. Dr. Vio Joseph
• The Reverend Jeff Shu
• Dr. Margaret Scharf,OP
• Dr. Timothy S. St. Onge
• The Rev. Dr. Gwynne Wright

The Rev. Dr. Vio Joseph was born and raised in a very traditional orthodox Christian family in Kerala, India. He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1979 and holds bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and in Law from Kerala University, Kerala State, India, and a master’s degree in Theology from St. Charles Seminary, Nagpur, India. He was a member of the Bar Council of Kerala, and practiced Law for a brief period after his ordination.  

The Reverend Jeff Shu, Psy.D.  I have been an ordained Lutheran minister since 2001. After serving a Lutheran congregation in Hong Kong for nine years, I sought professional psychotherapy training in the United States. In 2010, I completed the psychoanalytic residency at Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute, New York City, passed the New York licensing exam for psychoanalysts, and obtained a Psy.D. from the Graduate Theological Foundation (2010). I taught one year of Pastoral Care and Counseling in China Lutheran Seminary in Hsinchu, Taiwan, before beginning my current work as the Director of Spirituality Division, Spiritual Director & Psychotherapist at Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre (TFSCC) in Shatin, Hong Kong, in September, 2011. My current responsibilities at TFSCC include offering retreats, classes, psychotherapy, and spiritual direction to those who seek a deeper understanding of themselves and a closer walk with the Divine. I also offer workshops on psychotherapy and spirituality, and provide consultation/supervision to spiritual directors, psychotherapists, clergy, denominational leaders, teachers and parents, etc. 

Graduate Theological Foundation’s education has positively impacted my ministry.
It gives me a credential to work, spiritually and psychologically, with a wide range of people. Bridging the gap between psychology and spirituality has always been my first passion.

++ Return to Top

Dr. Margaret Scharf,OP, was born in Perth, Australia. She was educated by the Dominican Sisters of Western Australia and entered the congregation in 1976. Since the congregation is dedicated to the ministry of education, she completed degrees in Primary Teaching and a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies, and later, a graduate degree in Intercultural Studies with a major in Aboriginal Studies. For nearly twenty years, she taught in Perth, the State’s capital, and in the outback of Geraldton Diocese on the Dominican Sisters’ Motor Mission, traveling over 700 miles each week teaching Religious education to Catholic children in rural and remote regions. After three years as Director of the Diocese of Gizo Catechetical Centre in western Solomon Islands, Dr. Scharf returned to the desert to take a position as teacher and principal of a three-teacher, all-Aboriginal Catholic primary school, for five years. 

She arrived in the United States in 1995 to complete an M.A. in Spirituality at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. In September 1996, she began an internship at the Center for Spiritual Development in Orange, a ministry of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Orange, California. Over the years, her ministry has incorporated the various roles of spiritual director, presenter, liturgist and Composer-in-Residence, music being another of her passions. As Supervisor of the Art of Spiritual Direction formation program, Dr. Scharf strengthened the connection between the Center and Loyola Marymount University/LA, so that graduates of the three-year program now complete an undergraduate Certificate degree issued by LMU. Currently, she is wearing two hats of responsibility: as the Program Development Coordinator for the center, and Vicaress of the Congregation, the latter calling her to return to Perth in September 2012 to be present to the needs of the congregation and the local church.

“Being involved with teaching in the formation program for spiritual directors led me to carry out further research and design a new program to teach much-needed supervisors for spiritual directors. This is why I chose the Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction program offered through GTF, completed in 2011. My ability to study at home, and do tutorials both locally and at Mishawaka, made it possible for me to complete my degree while in ministry. I also appreciated the choice of studying at the Centro Pro Unione in Rome. The flexibility to create a study plan that worked for me, coupled with the gracious help and support of the faculty and staff, made it possible for me to enhance the formation programs for spiritual directors and supervisors here at the Center. I am also confident that my GTF experience will impact my future ministries in Perth.”

++ Return to Top

Dr. Timothy S. St. Onge received the Doctor of Philosophy in Theology from the Graduate Theological Foundation in December, 2010, having completed his coursework at Oxford. He also holds a Master’s degree in theology earned following his graduate studies in Pastoral Ministry at Fairfield University. He is presently preparing a manuscript for publication titled COSMOSOPHIA: The Dwelling of the Divine in the Contemporary World and is collaborating with scholars on a research project designing secular contemplative practice programs. Dr. St. Onge is also a professor of religious studies at The College of New Rochelle in New York. Currently, he is engaged in individual and couples counseling, offering adult education in meditation, and giving retreats and workshops with his wife, Patricia Plouffe St. Onge, M.S.W. They are based in Southbury, Connecticut.

“The most dramatic and salient effect of my Graduate Theological Foundation educational experience was the acquisition of my Ph.D. which allowed me to apply for and attain my first college teaching position. Attending Oxford University for three summers gave me a much broader perspective from which to approach theological studies. It exposed me not only to a truly ecumenical theological ambience, but allowed me to have a firsthand experience of learning with a number of world-renowned scholars. I believe this aspect of my doctoral studies inspired me with a new love of learning and both the desire and tools to continue the pursuit of creative research and publication.”

++ Return to Top 

The Rev. Dr. Gwynne Wright spent over 20 years in corporate executive management positions at IBM and Arthur Andersen before pursuing ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church. She pursued her divinity studies at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Her experience and education have made her an agent of change. Dr. Wright has served in many positions on the Board of Trustees at Seabury-Western, currently as the Board Chair. She believes that her corporate experience and M.B.A. enable her to be effective in serving in interim ministry in many parishes and church organizations.

Dr. Wright's late husband was from England where she spends a good deal of time with her stepchildren and grandchildren. Her passion is Anglican Spirituality and English Church History, particularly the Elizabethan period. As a student at the Graduate Theological Foundation, her studies included time at Christ Church, Oxford.

“[Studying at the Foundation]…brought my sense of Anglican Spirituality to a whole new level. My studies have enabled me to connect my education with my experience and to make valuable contacts. Some of my goals were to lead pilgrimages to England, exploring Anglican history and spirituality as well as to grow as a spiritual director. I am planning my second pilgrimage to the U.K. in the fall of 2012. The Foundation’s flexibility and my studies at Oxford have enabled me ‘to work out our identity in God’ (Thomas Merton). The Foundation has been transformative in my own spiritual journey.” 

++ Return to Top