The Board of Directors of the Jesuit Retreat House in Parma, Ohio announces the selection of Richard Krivanka, former director of the Pastoral Planning Office of the Diocese of Cleveland, as the next Executive Director of the Jesuit Retreat House effective, July 1, 2014.
Krivanka replaces Sister Mary Ann Flannery, S.C., who has served six years in the position and is retiring.
The Retreat House has doubled its staff since 2008 and increased the types of programs offered to meet the demands of an expanding growth of interest in spiritual development locally and nationally. New departments include development, marketing and communications, and lay leadership which directs persons through the spirituality inspired by St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) to lead others in their quest for spiritual growth. The Jesuit Retreat House is the center for Ignatian spirituality in Northeast Ohio.
Krivanka will be taking over at a time when the Retreat House is planning a much-needed building and renovation project to accommodate the increasing number of groups for conferences and retreats.
“I have known Rick for many years, “said Flannery, “and I am sure he will do whatever is necessary to continue our forward thrust. We are working together to assure a smooth transition in this very challenging ministry,” she added.
The Executive Director is CEO and President of the ministry, according to the Directives of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) which governs most of the 25 Jesuit retreat houses in the country. The Retreat House in Parma holds the distinction of being the first retreat house in the country having been founded in 1898. The Society of Jesus of the Chicago-Detroit Province owns the retreat house.
“It is a challenge to be at once a person of pastoral sensibility and an administrator of an institution,” said Father James Riley, S.J., former executive director of the retreat house and current board member. “These two traits are admirably demonstrated by Rick Krivanka, and he will be an outstanding leader of the ministry at the Jesuit Retreat House of Cleveland,” he added.
Rick Krivanka served as director of the Pastoral Planning Office for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland for over 32 years beginning in 1979. Prior to that time he served as a volunteer and part-time staff person with the office beginning in 1970.
He provided consultation, facilitation and project management services to the diocese, religious communities, parishes and other organizations related to planning, organizational development, pastoral councils, research, leadership and spiritual formation, team building and staff development, stewardship and community building.
Rick had a central leadership and staffing role in major diocesan initiatives such as Vibrant Parish Life, The Church in the City, Our Vision and Goals andthe Diocesan Sesquicentennial Celebration. He has done extensive work to support parish, inter-parish and diocesan leadership efforts to deepen collaboration in ministry.
He has worked with applications of Appreciative Inquiry for over 20 years with parishes, schools, dioceses, religious communities and diocesan priest convocations. He has also been influential in introducing this approach within the Catholic Church on a national level. This work has a profound connection with Ignatian spirituality.
Since May of 2012, Rick has served as an independent consultant in the areas noted above locally and nationally as well as with health care and non-profit organizations. He has worked in the MetroHealth System for projects regarding leadership formation, departmental mission and core values, and building organizational culture to provide outstanding patient experience.
Services have also been provided across the country including in the Dioceses of Hawaii, Scranton, Galveston-Houston, Pensacola, Cleveland and Youngstown; St. John Seminary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Sisters of Notre Dame, Catholic Social Action Commissions of Summit County and Lorain County, College of St. Elizabeth Spirituality Convocation (NJ), Akron Area Association of Churches, Conference of Religious Leadership (CORL) / Women with Spirit Now Convocation and Intergenerational Conference, and Collinwood Neighborhood Catholic Ministries.
Rick has a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an M.S. in Organizational Development and Analysis from Case Western Reserve University.
He presently serves on the boards of the Conference for Pastoral Planning and Council Development (CPPCD), the Coalition with Young Adults (CYA), the Center for Eucharistic Evangelizing of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Northeast Ohio Organizational Development Connection (ODC).
In 1995, Rick received the Lumen Gentium Award from the Conference for Pastoral Planning and Council Development in recognition of outstanding leadership and contributions in support of pastoral planning within the Catholic Church.
Rick and his wife Barbara live in South Euclid and are the parents of four young adults – a daughter and three sons.
Located in Parma on State Road, the Jesuit Retreat House sits on 57 acres of idyllic woods and meadows. It offers 57 private bedrooms, a library, larger conference room, dining room, and a chapel. Its core mission is the spirituality developed in the fifteenth century by the founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius Loyola. It also welcomes programs of renewal in other faiths and other Catholic spiritualities.
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