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Congregation of St. Joseph
Chapter 2007
Generous Promises
We the Congregation of St. Joseph, living out of our common tradition,
witness to God’s love transforming us and our world.
Our congregation is rooted in our commitment to our Mission and Charism, the Values/Characteristics and Purpose Statements, the Evolving Design for the Congregation of St. Joseph, and the Provisional Constitution. We commit ourselves to build and deepen our relationships as sisters and associates, and to be faithful to our spiritual practice of sharing the “State of the Heart” and “Order of the House,” in order to respond to the unmet needs of our time.
Recognizing that we are called to incarnate our mission and charism in our world in fidelity to God’s call in the Gospel, we commit ourselves to these Generous Promises for the next six years:
We, the Congregation of St. Joseph, promise to recognize the reality that Earth is dying, to claim our oneness with Earth and to take steps now to strengthen, heal and renew the face of Earth.
We, the Congregation of St. Joseph, promise to network with others across the world to bring about a shift in the global culture from institutionalized power and privilege to a culture of inclusivity and mutuality.
We, the Congregation of St. Joseph, promise to be mutually responsible and accountable for leadership in the congregation.
Sisters of St. Joseph elect new leadership team
More than 400 women from Sisters of St. Joseph congregations in Cleveland, Ohio; LaGrange Park, Ill.; Nazareth, Mich.; Medaille, with centers in Baton Rouge, La., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Crookston, Minn.; Tipton, Ind.; Wheeling, W.Va.; and Wichita, Kan., met in Chicago April 10-14 to conduct their first chapter meeting as the Congregation of St. Joseph. More than 500 lay associates also attended.
A new seven-member leadership team was elected in Chicago which will take office August 6. Sister Nancy Conway of the Cleveland congregation was elected president. Other members of the leadership team are Sisters Marguerite O’Brien and Kathleen Durkin of Wheeling, Pat Bergen of LaGrange Park, Jeanne Masterson of Cincinnati, Marie Hogan of Nazareth and Jeanne Cmolik of Cleveland.
In addition to electing the new leadership team, the chapter formulated “generous promises”—what in the Wichita congregation were called chapter calls—that will set the direction of the congregation for the next six years.
Fifty-four sisters from the Wichita congregation and 10 from its Japan region attended the meeting. They brought back many glowing descriptions of this landmark event in the history of the congregation.
“There isn’t anything that could have been better,” said Sister Helene, president of the Wichita congregation. “It was so amazing how the Spirit worked.”
Dr. Carol Zinn, SSJ, and Margaret Wheatley, both noted lecturers, addressed the group. Both stressed the importance of this moment in history in creating the new congregation; a congregation that has the potential to break out of the chains of monastic forms of religious life to be active, apostolic religious women.
When asked about her hopes or concerns about reconfiguration, Sister Helene expressed optimism for the new congregation.
“The intention of reconfiguration is to bring about a renewed spirit and energy. If it doesn’t make any difference, I’d think we’d failed. But I am confident it will make a difference.”