Cindy Karis FCRH ‘77: Pastor and Former ESL Teacher

Cindy Karis FCRH ‘77

By Peter Krause

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Peter Krause: Thank you, Cindy, for taking the time to talk with Fordham English News today.

Cindy Karis: I’m happy to do it.

PK: What year were you at Fordham and what did you study?

CK: I began in the fall of 1973 and I finished my studies in the winter of 1976. There was no graduation then, so I graduated with my class in 1977. I was an English major because I loved literature. I loved poetry, philosophy, and theology, which is why I was drawn to Fordham. I had a thirst for knowledge. Fordham is the only college that I ever applied to. I’m of a generation whose parents sometimes thought that women should not be educated. They thought you were just going to college to get married. My parents thought I should go to hairdressing school instead so I could have a “real skill.”

Even though I was a commuter student, I was able to be involved in three vital and fulfilling areas of campus life. For four years I was part of a dance troupe under the leadership of Lois Chiarello, who was a wonderful teacher. We practiced Modern, Ballet, and Jazz every week. At the end of the year we would put on a show in one of the big theaters. It would often be interpretive dance. We would choreograph the pieces ourselves and then perform them for the entire campus. It was meaningful to perform in front of our professors, our families, and whoever else would come!

I was also part of the French Club, which was led by Dr. Sylvia Vagianos. Eventually, I was able to travel to France with the Franco-American exchange group. It was a six week tour of the country in the summer between my junior and senior years. We started in Paris and zigzagged through the country down to Nice. For two of those weeks I lived with a family in a village called Billom in central France, southeast of Clermont-Ferrand. It was a life-changing experience. I have actually remained friends with the daughter, Gaby, over all of these years. We exchange Christmas cards. I actually just heard from her yesterday for Mother’s Day. She and her husband stayed with us for three weeks when we lived in New Jersey. Plus--are you ready for this?--she named her third daughter Cindy! It’s been a blessing to continue this friendship over many, many years and across thousands of miles.

The third area of campus life that I was involved in has to do with service. I was active in reading textbooks that were not available in Braille to blind students.

PK: This is a fantastic reminder for us that extracurricular pursuits, from languages to friendships, may stick with us for our entire lives. That is not to be discounted.

CK: Experiences like those I’ve described can really enrich your life. Being “book smart” is always important, but what has helped me just as much through my life and career is being “people smart,” which I partially attribute to relationships and opportunities started at Fordham.

PK: After Fordham, what did your early career look like?

CK: While I was at Fordham, I worked part time at Sears, Roebuck, and Co. selling maintenance agreements over the phone. I had to pay my way through college. It was not nearly as expensive as it is now, but it cost a lot. My family did not have the wherewithal to pay, so I worked.

After Fordham, I entered a management training program at Sears. I started in January of 1977, right after my final exams. I became an assistant buyer at Sears in their coat division. My Fordham degree helped me to be a problem-solver in that industry. The job might not have necessarily been what I would have chosen, but I did need to earn a living.

I was on my own at that time. I worked at 50th and Broadway on the 30th floor. I was at Sears for approximately ten years before my husband and I were transferred to Springfield, Illinois. Eventually, I left Sears and went to work for the Southeast Asian Consortium, which taught English as a second language to refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. This was towards the end of the Vietnam War. I also ended up teaching driver's education to the same community on the side! My skills as an English major absolutely helped me in being a teacher.

I also remained active in my church. I felt a calling to serve in the vocation of ministry. So, when my husband and I were transferred to Louisville, Kentucky I studied full time for my Master’s of Divinity degree at the Presbyterian Seminary there. That degree doesn’t make you divine, by the way! [Laughs]

PK: But it does make you a master!

CK: Yes, it does.

PK: Tell us more about how your career developed from there.

CK: I was called to serve as a pastor in Roseland, New Jersey, which is just outside of Newark. I was a Solo Pastor there for five or six years. After that, I received a call to be an Associate Pastor, which took me to Woodbury in southern New Jersey, where I stayed for seven and a half years. Finally, I was called to serve in the Midwest again, here in Naperville, Illinois, where I’ve been for the last twenty four years.

PK: Could you say more about how your training as an English major has influenced your career as a pastor?

CK: Writing skills are extremely important in my role as a pastor. I write sermons, prayers, letters of recommendation, and I do an incredible amount of program planning for our church. Having the ability to think things through is vital. It is necessary to understand both a person’s sequential life experiences and their theology, and then be able to speak and write about those things in a way that a general audience can understand. Caring and problem-solving go hand-in-hand, and I certainly credit studying literature from various cultures, as well as philosophy and theology courses, with helping me develop those skills.

The English department challenged me to put thoughts, feelings, and stories down on paper, and I continue to do that. When I speak in public, I almost always write down what I’ll say ahead of time because it helps me structure my thoughts. When it comes to sermons, people no longer want to sit for twenty or thirty minutes and listen to you go on and on. It is more meaningful if I can provide a story or share a connection in thirteen or fifteen minutes.

The church is a not-for-profit organization, and sometimes folks enter the church with an idealized idea of how things work. The reality is that it has its ups and downs just like any other large, complex entity. It’s similar to business or education. One has to develop patience and humility. Something in particular that I think Fordham taught me is to develop a quiet strength of mind and strength of heart.

PK: Could you provide any general advice to English majors who are currently thinking about what they will do after they graduate?

CK: Be open. Your first job, or even your first career, right out of school will very likely not be your forever job. You just need to get your foot in the door and learn how organizations, administrations, etc. work. I would also say to be open to adaptive change. Be bendable like a willow. If you don’t bend you may break.

Also, continue to read literature and to be transformed by literature. On that note, let me recommend a book: Entering the Passion of Jesus, by Amy-Jill Levine (Abingdon, 2018). Regarding social justice issues, I also just finished Decolonizing Wealth: Indigeonous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance, by Edgar Villanueva (Penguin, 2018). That is an excellent book that has to do with social justice ministry and philanthropic organizations.

PK: By way of closing, let me ask: What are you working on now, either in your own life or at the church?

CK: The projects I’m working on now are twofold: personal and professional, as always. The first includes creating a timeline of my responsibilities as pastor to pass along to whoever will replace me when I retire.

I also continually teach Bible study. I do that weekly. I engage with the community in a few other ways as well, including providing premarital counseling for young couples who wish to be married. I also visit homebound parishioners to provide Communion and a brief service of worship. If they like, I even sing to them!

I’m passionate about the connections that I get to make on a daily and weekly basis. It’s a privilege to walk with families in the midst of birth, death, and everything in between. To witness God working in peoples’ lives is a vocation that is, for me, second to none. I’m working on a memoir about how I’ve seen God work in my life. I’ll leave that for my daughter and for future generations. It includes memories as well as poetry and hymns that resonate in my soul. I really love the hymn “How Great Thou Art”. I also quite admire the poetry of Howard Thurman. The poetry of e.e. cummings and Robert Frost always speak to me as well.

Old books of literature and poetry feel like old friends when you pick them up years later. I’m 65 this year, and I can tell you: you always need your old friends.

PK: Thanks so much, Cindy, for taking the time to speak with us.

CK: Of course. I want to thank the Fordham community too. I feel so blessed to be a part of it.