For 21 years, Father James Sheehan has been BCC’s chaplain. But he also has been cultivating a second career as a writer. Now, thanks to a scholarship from the Encore Transitional Program at Manhattan’s Union Theological Seminary, that other side of Father Sheehan will have a chance to blossom.

“The program prepares people for life after their main career. The fundamental idea is that we are more than our jobs.” One evening a week, from January to May, he will meet with a dozen other mature adults reflecting on the next phase of their journey.

“I have been writing more during COVID-19. Writing is cathartic. My first book, The Father Who Did Not Know My Name, was based on my father’s Alzheimer’s. It’s in its second edition.”

For the Encore program, Father Sheehan will be working on The Unfinished Table: Women Who have Affected My Life. “The book examines what images of God women present and what qualities they could bring to the table that the Catholic Church presently does not have.”

Father Sheehan hopes to learn about book distribution in the new world of Amazon and e-book publishing. “If I was in college I would need someone to teach me how to write well. Now I need someone to teach me how to sell well!”