Creative collaboration to journey into a new region

Creative collaboration to journey into a new region

Creative collaboration to journey into a new region

Creative collaboration to journey into a new region

Creative collaboration to journey into a new region

Creative collaboration to journey into a new region

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By Jenny Beatrice, Regional Communications Director, Provinces of Central South, Mid-North America, and New York/Toronto

The new governance structure on the horizon for the future of the mission of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd has united the Congregation toward this common goal.

Our response to this Call to Action in the provinces of Central South, Mid-North America, and New York/Toronto will result in the U.S./Toronto Region – a new canonical entity that will be formed on October 20, 2025, the Eudist Feast of the Sacred Heart.

One of the core values of this regional transition process is to build and ensure equity so that all sisters and partners-in-mission in the existing three provinces have what they need to thrive, participate, and influence the process.

To ensure all voices are heard, the Circle Implementation Team – comprised of leaders and sisters leading the regional transition process – invited several sisters and partners-in-mission from across the three provinces to participate in three ad hoc advisory work groups to develop values-oriented processes and systems.

The Living Communion Work Group, comprised of sisters, develops processes and systems for ongoing formation and the meaningful engagement of sisters. This group is focused on the importance of every sister’s voice being heard – including minority and dissenting voices – and that everyone is involved in this process according to their capacity. This puts a particular emphasis on the importance of good communication on all levels.

On a practical level, the group looks at issues related to the sisters’ physical, spiritual, and social needs being met so that each one has a sense of holistic well-being. The group recognized the importance of having every sister experience a sense of belonging to the new region and the essential need for each sister to find meaningful ways of expressing mission no matter in what capacity.

The Mission Work Group, comprised of sisters and partners-in-mission, seeks to engage in high-level thought to identify and affirm diverse expressions of mission now and in the future.  The group aims to encourage creative ways to animate the mission and participation in it. The group also seeks to embed and integrate partners into the structure with systems in place that keep Good Shepherd values alive into the future. This requires sisters and partners-in-mission to be intentional about staying connected; communication and technology will be key in these efforts.

The Resource Work Group, comprised of province finance office partners-in-mission, gathers data about administrative infrastructures and makes recommendations about what is needed to combine these into a new civil corporation, which is expected to be established on January 1, 2026.

The group has been working together, collecting and compiling data, and through this, discovered that the commonalities between the provinces far outweigh the differences. Their goal is to make recommendations to the Circle Implementation Team on administrative issues.

As a result of the unique roles and gifts that each sister and partner-in-mission has brought, these work groups have been a source of creative collaboration, offering opportunities for brainstorming and problem-solving to imagine a new region that aligns with our vision and values.

The work groups recently participated in in-person orientation sessions at the offices of consultants Plante Moran in Detroit, Michigan. It was an energizing experience, during which sisters and partners-in-mission focused on visioning rather than structures. They appreciated the time together, continuing to build the strong foundations to move the work forward.

As these conversations continue, additional sisters and partners-in-mission will be invited to have their voices heard – individually, through small group reflections and conversations or community-wide engagement, surveys, Zoom calls, etc.

This journey to embrace a new future together represents more than reorganizing structure and crunching numbers. It is a call to transformation to create a universal culture of justice for all sisters, partners-in-mission, and beyond!

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