History

Founded to Educate

The Brother David Darst Center was founded in August, 2002, by Br. Denis Murphy, a De La Salle Christian Brother, in collaboration with Thomas and Claudia Thomas with significant contributions from Mercy Sisters Pat Murphy and JoAnn Persch. The Darst Center and its mission were developed in response to the growing need for youth and young adults to be educated on issues of social justice and inspired to be intentional about their own just living.

In the fall of 2002, the Darst Center received recognition as an Illinois non-profit corporation, establishing its 501c3 federal and Illinois state tax-exempt status. At the same time, a Board of Directors was organized, comprised of Christian Brothers, Mercy Sisters and lay members. This Board has consistently served as support of for Darst Center's development.

Continuing Efforts

The Center's efforts during its first year were primarily extended to facility improvements and program development. Once established, the Darst Center held its first immersion retreat in February 2003, under the direction of Br. Denis Murphy and Tom Thomas, the first Darst Center Directors.

During the summer of 2005, the Board of Directors hired Mindy Rueden as the first Executive Director and partnered with the Amate House Archdiocesan Volunteer Program to provide a second full-time staff presence. Immersion retreats continued to be the primary program, with workshops, speaking engagements and publications serving as supplemental methods of education.

In 2016, Keith Donovan was hired as the second Executive Director and led the Darst Center to an average of 60 groups per year with about 1000 participants. Staff grew in size as well, hiring additional full-time and long-term volunteers to serve the needs of the growing Center. March of 2020 then changed the landscape of our work. The Covid-19 pandemic required a swift shift in programming to offer virtual workshops until such a time that in-person retreats could once again be held.

Opening New Doors

In late 2021, the Archdiocese sold the building which had housed the Darst Center for nearly two decades to a developer and the Darst Center utilized temporary space in the Marquette Park neighborhood for a year to assure that the mission could continue. Searching for a new facility that could meet the needs of the growing Center, the Darst Center moved to its current home near Midway Airport in January of 2023. Built to serve the needs of the Marian Fathers as a formation house, the beautiful building and campus lay quiet for the last decade, hosting occasional retreats while the Marians searched for the right folks to take over the property. For more information about our current facility, click here.

Center Founder

Brother Denis had a B.A. in social sciences and a M.A. in education from St. Mary's University. He also was awarded a Masters in Social Work from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Masters in religious education from Loyola University in Chicago.

David Darst

David Darst, a Christian Brother and a teacher at Bishop Rummel High School in Omaha, was challenged by his students to recognize the momentous civil and social events that were transforming US society in the 1960s.

Catonsville Nine

Br. David Darst was a high school teacher in St. Louis when he became involved with a group that would come to be known as the Catonsville Nine. Br. David taught against the immorality of the Vietnam War to his students, who, in turn, urged him to take action.