Center for Family Life

Through the Center for Family Life, Benedictine College is forming students and mentor couples who will strengthen suffering families and form strong families, believing with St. John Paul II that “The future of humanity passes by way of the family.”

Center Stories & Media

Events

Formation, Extension, Profession

Formation

• John Paul II Fellows will be trained to accompany wounded families, help restore healthy relationships, and be ambassadors for the fundamental building block of society.
• The Center prepares students to live the teaching of the Church in a winsome and counter-cultural manner
• John Paul II Fellows will be offered a Poland trip, mentoring/service, and a path to a life of family ministry.
• Center speakers on issues of family life and community development will be available to the entire campus.

Extension

• The Center extends the mission of the College into the Atchison community by supporting struggling families.
• The Center serves to build up relationships with the Atchison community through its mentorship program and offers hands-on experience mentoring Atchison youth and families.

Profession

• The Center’s programs are sustainable, replicable, and transferable, providing invaluable experience.
• The Center’s mentoring program will strengthen ties to the local community and provide transferable skills.
• John Paul II Fellows will have access to world-class speakers and partner organizations including the Archdiocese of Kansas City-Kansas.

Director

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Dr. Tory Baucum, director, served for 30 years as an Anglican Pastor, seminary and university professor. In this past decade he and Elizabeth, his wife, worked ecumenically and closely with the Catholic Church, especially with the Italian movement Mistero Grande and its founder Don Renzo Bonetti. The Baucums spoke at the Vatican’s 2015 World Meeting of the Family in Philadelphia. Beginning in 2018, Tory’s friends, Fr. Paul Scalia and Fr. Dominic Legge O.P., prepared Tory and his wife for acceptance into the Catholic Church. Archbishop Naumann received them into the Church Easter of 2020. Since then, Tory has served in the Archdiocese of Kansas City-Kansas.