Divine Word College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

undergraduate

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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

in Epworth, Iowa. Founded in 1964, It educates students for

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...

service in the Catholic Church as priests, brothers, sisters, and laypersons. It is owned and operated by the Society of the Divine Word (SVD).

History

Founded in 1875 in Steyl, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) sent the first Divine Word Missionary, Joseph Freinademetz to China by 1879. In 1895, Brother Wendelin Meyer 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 in 1912 at Techny, Illinois. In 1931, the Society purchased property in Epworth, Iowa, 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.

Student life

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 The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

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.

References

External links

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