Divine Word College is a private undergraduate

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

run by the Society of the Divine Word in Epworth,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. It was founded by the

Divine Word Missionaries The Society of the Divine Word ( la, Societas Verbi Divini), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Ri ...

in 1964. It educates students for

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

service in the Catholic Church as priests, brothers, sisters, and laypersons. It is owned and operated by the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). The college offers three baccalaureate degrees as well as English classes as a second language (ESL) to other Catholic religious missionaries and those aspiring to Catholic lay ministries. During their final semester of undergraduate studies at Divine Word College, young men who choose to continue with the SVD may apply for the Society's one-year novitiate program at the Chicago Province Headquarters in Techny, Illinois. These men may then apply to profess first vows as members of the Society near the end of the novitiate program and continue with seminary studies at the Chicago Theologate.

History

Founded in 1875 in Steyl, the

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, the Roman Catholic order The Society of the Divine Word (SVD) sent the first Divine Word Missionary, Fr.

Joseph Freinademetz Joseph Freinademetz, S.V.D., () (April 15, 1852 - January 28, 1908) was a Ladin Roman Catholic priest and missionary in China. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church. Early life Freinademetz was born the fourth among the 13 child ...

, SVD, to China by 1879. In 1895, Brother Wendelin Meyer, SVD, went to America. By 1909, the Society had established the first seminary in the United States with the mission of training priest and brother candidates for service in foreign missions. The Society of the Divine Word originally established a Divine Word Seminary, a four-year liberal arts college, in 1912 at

Techny, Illinois Techny is a neighborhood of Northbrook, Illinois, United States. Once a separate community, it was annexed by Northbrook in 1989. The North American headquarters of the Divine Word Missionaries has been located in Techny since 1896. The area's n ...

. In 1931, the Society purchased property in

Epworth, Iowa Epworth is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,023 at the 2020 census, up from 1,428 in 2000. History Epworth was platted in 1855. It was named from ...

, where it established St. Paul's Mission House, an SVD high school seminary. In 1964, Divine Word College replaced the high school seminary and has since served as the principal site of SVD undergraduate seminary education in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Divine Word Missionaries Order Men's universities and colleges in the United States Catholic seminaries in the United States Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque Educational institutions established in 1931 Catholic universities and colleges in Iowa 1931 establishments in Iowa Educational institutions established in 1964 1964 establishments in Iowa