Deglman Center

Welcome to the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality!

The Spiritual Exercise of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the spirituality that flows from them inspire our animation of our Jesuit, Catholic mission as an institution and as individuals. At the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality, we educate students, faculty, staff and friends of Creighton University, supporting their personal growth. We do this by sharing the gifts of the Spiritual Exercises and Ignatian Spirituality through spiritual direction, retreats and workshops.

Father Larry Gillick, SJ “Glimpses”

About the Deglman Center

The Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality was created at Creighton University in February 1990. A generous alumni benefactor, along with some joint funding from the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus and the University allowed the center to be established. The goal of the center’s benefactor was to perpetuate the spirituality that the Rev. Francis Deglman, SJ, exemplified and imparted to students during his 28 years at Creighton, beginning in 1927. The center is named in memory of him.

From the beginning, the center’s mission has been the promotion of spirituality among students and other members of the campus community—with a focus on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The center continues to provide spiritual direction, retreats, spirituality workshops and related services to students, faculty and staff.

The Rev. Gary Brophy, SJ, was named the inaugural director, and he served until his death. The Rev. Robert Leiweke, SJ, served as interim director until the Rev. Larry Gillick, SJ, was officially instated in August 1991. He has been serving faithfully ever since.

Contact the Deglman Center

A Message from the Director

While Creighton University is known as a Jesuit Mission, it is in fact a mission of the men and women, staff, faculty and students who are here to experience the spirit of St. Ignatius. The Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality is established to promote, explain and encourage the Ignatian identity of this mission of education.

I have the wonderful opportunity to write and speak of the spirituality which underlies all that we do here. I am privileged to visit in groups and individually with those who desire to grow more deeply in their own spiritual lives.

Ignatius had a vision that became a mission and that was to lead people out, which is the root meaning of “education.” This center is dedicated to leading people out of their darkness about who they are in God’s eyes and who Jesus has blessed them to be. Spirituality is not a self-enhancement nor self-improvement indulgence. Prayer and reflection moves us beyond ourselves to the embracing of Jesus’ sisters and brothers. The Deglman Center supports Creighton's identity as an Ignatian Mission.

– Fr. Larry Gillick, SJ

Offerings

The Deglman Center facilitates a variety of learning opportunities at Creighton, including spiritual direction, retreats, courses, presentations and workshops. Options include:

The Deglman Initiative for Faculty and Staff

Each semester, the Deglman Center of Ignatian Spirituality offers the opportunity for groups of faculty and groups of staff to experience the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. These groups meet once a week for seventy-five minutes in what we call the Deglman Initiative. Groups meet for a full semester.

Theology 471 – The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

This course offers both an academic and a practical, personal experience of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Students experience the process of the Spiritual Exercises and learn the major emphases of Ignatian spirituality. They reflect, individually and together, on the invitation and the impact of the Exercises upon their lives, including their invitation to work for justice. They experience various forms of prayer.

Students write a series of short papers, some analyzing experiences in the Exercises; some reflecting on their experience of prayer, service, and work for justice; one analyzing the thinking of the Exercises by contrast with views from two contemporary academic fields; and one final integrating essay offering what students have learned from making the Exercises in the light of what they know of one culture and what they have learned in their major discipline.