8/20/09

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Minutes for Council of Women Religious Meeting

August 20, 2009

Opening Prayer … Blessing on the Council and its work by Bishop Burbidge

Attendance: Bishop Burbidge, Msgr. Jerry Sherba, Srs. Barbara Marie Cady, Joanna Walsh, Mary Agnes Ryan, Margaret Gallagher, Chris Gellings, Mary Ann Czaja, Carol Loughney, Lois MacGilvray, Jeanne Morgan, Mary Jean Korejwo

Excused: Srs. Shirley Simpson, Gerry Megel

Absent: Sr. Arcadia Rivera Gutierrez.

Announcement from Bishop Burbidge: Work is beginning to establish priorities and goals for the next Diocesan Pastoral Plan; work has begun with the Department Heads at the Catholic Center; then the order of consultation will be … consultative bodies(Councils); Dean’s, deaneries. No timeline has been set for completion. Consultation with the Council of Religious could take place at the next meeting in November.

Cards from sisters leaving diocese and 2009 jubilarians were shared.

September Appreciation Day gathering…

…. Saturday, September 26, 10a.m. to 2:30p.m.

…. Cardinal Gibbons High School …chapel and cafeteria

…. More on the plan for the day will follow in another email

Bishop said that it is helpful for him to have concrete/practical suggestions – not just hopes, dreams and goals. Some way of having the sisters process ideas before the meeting with the Bishop was helpful at the overnight and might be helpful in this meeting also.

- Some way of helping sisters "mix" that day. For example: name, community, how long in Diocese, something interesting about yourself….

Sisters new/returning to diocese…..

Sr. Evelyn Craig, IHM new to diocese; living with Sr. Chris Gellings

Sr. Claudia Perez Gonzales, DSMG, new to diocese; living with Sr. Maria de Los Angeles in Greenville.

Sr. Grace Campbell, IHM returning to diocese; living in New Bern with Sr. Monique Dissen.

Fostering vocations … ideas were shared on how communities are doing this; they included: evening of prayer, websites, leader-ship camp, service projects, one-on-one with Hispanic women, outreach to African American women, the importance of "ministry of presence"; associate programs.

The "Community Relations" committee will be working with these to advance our involvement in vocation promotion. An idea Was raised to "feature" community serving in the diocese on the Diocesan website (Sr. Mary Jean is interested in pursuing this.)

The idea was raised to possibly invite Sr. Evelyn to our next meeting to share her experience of vocation promotion.

Mention of the large group of young people who go to Mount Olive every weekend with Fr.Edgar.

Standing Committees …. One member of each committee should be a member of the Council. Committee membership will be one of the topics for the September gathering.

Volunteers thus far:

Events: Gerry and Lois (Jubilee biographies for NC Catholic)

Continuing Ed and Formation: Jeanne and Carol Elections: Shirley

2010 Jubilee…

… Saturday, January 30^th; at Our Lady of Lourdes Church

… Jubilarians: 40-Sr. Mary Margaret Filan,IHM; 50 – Sr. Grace Campbell, IHM, Sr. Brigid Dunne, SSL(will not be present); Sr. Mary Jean Korejwo, SND; Sr. Helene Therese McGroarty,IHM

… Mass plan should be ready by end of September for submission to Mr. Hall. Sr. Mary Agnes coordinating Liturgy.

… reflection will be given by Sr. Mary Jean

… November meeting will finalize plans

… Possibility of name tags.

"Website Liaison" job description was approved to be added to the "ByLaws"

Maintain a relationship with our webmaster at FawnVendors

Maintain a relationship with our Diocesan webmaster

Update our webmaster on any changes, deletions, or additions needed on the website

Submit billing for payment each quarter

Maintain an accurate email list of all sisters for Council use and for the diocese

At end of each year, update directory with changes of sisters leaving the diocese and sisters coming to diocese

Keep "events page" updated on website

Collect materials for use on website from Appreciation Day, Jubilee, etc.

Reminder that "Sisters Prayer Calendar" is located on our

Website … www.raleighcouncilofreligious.org

L Flyer from Sr. Joan re Lay Ministry day: last Sunday in August

Question to the Bishop: Could we bring the LCWR display re the history of religious life in the United Sates to our diocese?

Direction Setting … lead by Sr. Lois

The Council of Women Religious

Direction Setting

August 20, 2009

The Sisters, with the help of Bishop Burbidge and Msgr. Sherba, wrote their vision statements, that is, what they hoped their membership on the Council would do for the Sisters and the diocese. These were categorized and aligned with the committee structure the council is currently putting into place:

The overall purpose for the Council of Religious is to support and advise the bishop.

Community Relations formed two prongs: Outward to the broader community and inward to support the Sisters:

Outward – to promote Sisters’ visibility and voice, highlight the value of religious life in today’s world, promote an understanding of religious life and better interface with clergy, laity, central administration to build the church.

Inward – Encourage the Sisters in the diocese, be a Spirit-filled support to the Sisters in ministry, support their "being," find some new avenues for communication and connection among Sisters, and be a conduit of information from the diocese to the Sisters.

For Events, we agreed that we did not need additional activities but needed to use the scheduled events in ways to promote the community relations we desire to strengthen. We acknowledged that the Jubilee celebration is the opportunity to strengthen visibility and understanding of religious life to a broader community while the fall event with the Bishop is the best opportunity for fostering stronger bonds of support among the Sisters and between the Sisters and the Bishop.

Education and Formation – Sisters Jeanne Morgan and Carol Loughney will develop. This committee may find ways to strengthen the connections and communication among the Sisters and address some of the other hopes the Council members articulated.

The Election committee is an internal function of the Council. The desires and hopes of the Council members may help in the recruitment of new members.

Next meeting … Thursday, November 5, 12:30-3


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