Thank you, everybody!

Our hope-filled, joyful experience of The Crossing Place is the gift of so many - of each of the committees that worked so hard to make this a hospitable, beautiful time, of each Sister and Associate who brought energy, truth, and openness to the spirit into our gatherings, of our gifted facilitators and all the Chapter staff.

Thanks to all, but most especially Thank you! to Sheila, to Terry and to the Chapter Planning Committee and Subcommittee for leading us as we made the crossing to our new life as One Congregation!

Our Gifted Musicians

Our gifted musicians, Mary Ann Mulzet, Annie Welch, Carmel Little, Mary Therese Breuning, Charlotte Davenport and Maureen Brennan kept us tuned and prayerful. A CD of songs written for the Chapterby Annie, Carmel, Mary Therese and Rosalie McQuaide will soon be available.

Peace Presence at the Great Lawn

Who could have prepared us, the non-natives in this part of the U.S. for the setting of our Peace Presence on August 6th? We were to be at the Great Lawn for this service which would honor our commitment to Care for the Earth and remember the atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Instead of standing on a grassy lawn, we were seated in a tiered arena in front of a platform framed between two lowsized square turrets. In the framed background we had an ever changing ocean view with sail boats, speed boats and even a far-away tanker passing through.

Alexandra Kovats, Terry Moran and Annie Welch led us through songs, prayers, readings, poetry and a litany of peacemaking, all of which were exceptionally relevant and truly touching. Cindy Zipf of Clean Ocean Action spoke movingly of the imperative to protect the great and beautiful oceans of the world. We sang “We shall overcome” to the wonderment of Boardwalk passersby and completed our liturgy by singing “Peace before us” as we looked at the peaceful and endangered ocean.

Becoming a Discerning Congregation

On Thursday morning, Facilitator Joyce DeShano led us in a wonderful reflection on what it means to become a discerning congregation. A condensed version of her presentation will be shared as a DVD in the September CSG process, along with written materials.

Joyce shared that our nomination and election process will require a mind shift in light of our Chapter decision to become a Congregation without provinces. “It’s no longer just about the women you know best,” she said. Drawing from her personal experience with her Congregation’s
merger, she suggested that we try to avoid thinking in terms of “my province” when surfacing names for potential leaders. “That’s hard to shift.”

Communal discernment is both an attitude and a process. Joyce listed three attitudes required for communal discernment: radical receptivity, openness to the spirit, and deep trust. As a process, communal discernment is a choice among goods, never about winners and losers, and always about a CALL.

She encouraged us to call ourselves to create a discerning congregation for the next six months. “This responsibility applies to everyone, Sisters and Associates,” she said, “not just delegates and nominees.” There was a great deal of discussion at tables and in the larger group about how to
go home and communicate the spirit and experience of the Chapter to those unable to attend.

In the afternoon, we began to consider what qualities might be needed for leadership in the next six years. “Keep in mind,” Joyce said, “the qualities you need now may be quite different than what you’ve needed in the past.” She invited us to consider qualities in four categories: relationships, organization, vision, and team building.

On Friday, we will review the drafts of the Chapter Act documents on nonviolence and care for creation. We will also review the nomination and election process that we will use over the next 6 months through our CSGs. There will also be an opportunity to begin surfacing names of
potential nominees.

Francena Dodd, Bridgetta Rooney and Eileen Bryne
work on the next steps.

Terry Reflects

Reflecting on these two intense weeks of Chapter, Assistant Congregation Leader Terry Donohue is surprised, delighted and overwhelmed by our unanimous decision to become a Congregation without Provinces. After six years in office and two years of intense planning for the Chapter Terry says, “I’ve found such energy, such life in us.”

The connections among us are powerful, she says, and the best part of her ministry has been getting to be at home with each of us in each place of the Congregation, learning the passions and people, being touched by how we listen to one another, speak our truth, and are heard.

Terry and Sheila have created a remarkable partnership in ministry that makes use of their very different skills and styles. Terry likes to focus on the details and the doing, to get started on her list of tasks and carry it through. Sheila is more open-ended, tuned to the big picture, likely to come in with an unexpected question or new idea. As we have all learned, the partnership works beautifully. “I’ve learned so much from Sheila,” Terry said, “about flexibility, about
patience, about being a leader.”

The biggest challenge for her as Assistant Congregation Leader was to figure out what she should be doing. “There’s no job description,” she said, “so it has been an experience of learning - learning to trust, learning to listen, learning to let go of what I planned and be open to the moment.”

Terry is still focused on the work to be done before May; when all is completed, she’s considering taking some time to volunteer at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, to help protect this endangered species. She is also hoping to study non-violence, and she would love to spend time with Sisters and Associates in our One Congregation.

Wherever the future takes you, Terry, we are so grateful for your thoughtfulness, warmth and friendship, for all those note cards, as well as for all the tasks you’ve completed so very well and with such openness to the Spirit!