Mid Atlantic Community Fall 2012 Consultative Gatherings Abbreviated - PDF document

Mid ‐ Atlantic Community Fall 2012 Consultative Gatherings Abbreviated Script and Power Point The Leadership Team presented the topics at the Fall Consultative Gatherings. The following text is presented in the same manner as if we were presenting to you at the meeting with a few minor edits. We look forward to engaging with you in conversation on our Consultative Gathering Conference Calls (11/20 and 11/26) after you have reviewed this material. Introduction and Overview As we gather today, we do so aware that more than just a few of our sisters, associates and colleagues have been affected by Hurricane Sandy. Some have experienced loss of electric power, and others have experienced damage to their homes and ministry sites. Our hearts go out to all of them and to others we do not know but who have lost so much. All of us grieve the losses experienced by so many throughout the Mid ‐ Atlantic. There are two main parts to the agenda which address two of our Community planning themes: • Mission and Ministry into the Future ( which included a brief presentation given by 2 members of the Sponsor Council) and • Well ‐‐ being and Wholistic Life Development (In addition the Leadership Team also gave a presentation on legal and financial matters. Due to the sensitivity of this material, it is not included in this script but it will be addressed during the conference calls.) Mid-Atlantic Planning Themes • Stewardship • Vibrant Community Life • Mission and Ministry for the Future • Wellbeing and Wholistic Life Development Since September, 2011, the Leadership Team has been involved in a planning process to shape the work of our term. Last spring, at the Consultative Gatherings, you provided invaluable ideas and insight around our five planning themes. After the Gatherings, we revised our Planning Document on the basis of your input. Today we now move forward the work on two of those planning themes – but before we do, we would like to share with you some thoughts that emerged for the team related to our planning at the recent Institute Leadership Conference (ILC) meeting in Belmont, North Carolina. 1

Institute Leadership Conference Perspectives Document Leadership Perspectives on a Sustainable Future for Mercy A Story of Realities, Choices, and Visions The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Mid-Atlantic Community | The Leadership Team has recently returned from our Fall Institute Leadership Conference, the gathering of all the Teams of the Institute, better known as the ILC. The ILC is continuing to work on and be guided by our Leadership Perspectives on a Sustainable Future for Mercy document which was shared with you and discussed in our Conversation Circles this past spring. At this recent ILC meeting, the Institute Leadership Team drew out six main themes which emerged from both this Perspectives Document and the 5 th Institute Chapter using the wording of the Chapter Declaration. After some sharing and discussion, each of the leadership teams in the Institute committed to focus its work over the next five years on these six themes. • Passion for Service • Vibrant Community Life • Critical Concerns • Liberating and Redistributing Human and Financial Resources • Sustaining the Mercy Charism • Governance Last Spring at our Consultative Gatherings, we presented our Mid-Atlantic Community planning themes to you. Because those themes flowed from the Chapter Declaration and the Perspectives Document, they are very much in sync with the six themes listed by the Institute Leadership Team. They are really one and the same, although we might name some of the components differently. Therefore, to better reflect and stress the connection to the Institute themes we would like to adjust the names of some of our Planning Themes. Institute/Mid-Atlantic Planning Themes 1. Passion for Service Mission/Ministry into the Future 2. Vibrant Community Life Vibrant Community Life Wellbeing /Wholistic Life Development 3. Critical Concerns Prophetic Voice 4. Liberating/Redistributing Human/Financial Resources Stewardship 5. Sustaining the Mercy Charism Embrace the present and emerging future of prophetic religious life, and support new forms of Mercy Life. 6. Governance Governance Mid-Atlantic Community | This slide shows both the Institute Themes (red) and our Mid-Atlantic themes (blue). For future planning we will be renaming our Mid-Atlantic themes according to the Institute wording. The Institute theme of Passion for Service, is what we called Mission and Ministry into the Future. 2

Our theme of Vibrant Community Life will remain the same and we will incorporate our theme of Wellbeing and Wholistic Life Development under this heading. CRITICAL CONCERNS we named as Prophetic Voice. LIBERATING & REDISTRIBUTING HUMAN & FINANCIAL RESOURCES we simply named as Stewardship. In our Mid ‐ Atlantic Community Planning Document we named this theme of Sustaining the Mercy Charism as two objectives under Vibrant Community Life: • Embrace the present and emerging future of prophetic religious life and • Support new forms of Mercy life Now we will be incorporating those two objectives under the new theme: Sustaining the Mercy Charism. And finally, our theme of Governance will remain the same. The desire is that by using the same terminology for its work, each Community will recognize that it is part of a greater whole. Institute Member Engagement Institute Member Engagement 2012-13 Relationship with Hierarchical Church 2013-14 Vibrant Community Life 2014-15 New Membership 6 7 Mid-Atlantic Community | Mid-Atlantic Community | In addition, we want to draw your attention to an announcement that recently appeared in the Institute e ‐ newsletter Mercy Now . This announcement was about the engagement of membership on some of the topics in the Leadership Perspectives Document. In Mercy Now you were introduced to a three ‐ year Institute ‐ wide reflection process titled “Women of Mercy, Women of Hope”. We will be engaging in three contemplative conversations around sustaining the Mercy Charism. The themes are: 2012 ‐ 2013 Our Membership in and relationship to the Church –Hopefully you have already marked your calendars for the Theological presentation on Ecclesiology to be held at Merion on January 5 and in Watchung on January 6 th . 2013 ‐ 2014 Vibrant Community Life 2014 ‐ 2015 New Membership 3

Now for the main presentation of the morning: Community Planning Theme of Passion for Service Ministry Priority The Mid-Atlantic Community affirms as a Ministry Priority for the next five years, a focus on the economically poor, particularly women and children. 9 Mid-Atlantic Community | We recall that at our second Mid ‐ Atlantic Community Assembly held in April, 2011, we developed both a Vision Statement of our common mission as well as our Ministry Priority, which affirms a focus on those who are economically poor, especially women and children. Since September 2007, Margaret Taylor, RSM, our Director of Sponsorship, has been working with the Mid ‐ Atlantic Community Leadership Team to put structures in place that will assist in the oversight of our sponsored works. One of these structures is the Sponsor Council, which plays a key role in determining how our sponsored ministries are applying the Criteria and Vision for Ministry. Our hope is that by the end of this presentation, you will have a much clearer idea of the purpose of, and ways in which, the Sponsor Council functions. Passion for Service Objective 1 - to ensure that mission and a sense of call are integral in all aspects of the Mid-Atlantic Community. 1 1 Mid-Atlantic Community | One of our goals for this presentation is to update you on the theme of Passion for Service which we had been calling Mission and Ministry. After our Spring Consultative Gatherings the team listed objectives and action steps based on your input. In response to one of the concerns you raised, we have named as the first objective: “to ensure that mission and a sense of call are integral in all aspects of the Mid ‐ Atlantic Community”. We have made quite a bit of progress on our first objective, which we’d like to share with you today. Our continued collaboration with the laity shows the importance of education on the Mercy charism and the importance of a strong sponsorship relationship. Since September, two more of our sponsored works are being led by our lay colleagues. 4