October 2020

Embarking on our Spirit Journey

by Elise D. García, OP - LCWR President

As summer ends and schools reopen, LCWR enters a new year following our annual culminating gathering at the August assembly. Like so many other things in this age of pandemic, the 2020 assembly was like none other in our 64-year history. More than 1000 gathered in virtual space, experiencing both the bane (technology glitches) and the gift (safe togetherness) of that medium.

At the assembly, we shared three distinct but interrelated initiatives that LCWR is centering on as we enter this new year:

• A Spirit Call within a Call—committing to a five-year journey to address systemic racism and white privilege in ourselves, our institutes, conference, church, and nation.
• A National Discernment on the Emerging Future of Religious Life—taking a “long loving look” at our dramatically changing demographic realities in a national conversation with one another.
• A Designated Fund for the Future of Religious Life—dedicating resources to invest in the future of vowed religious life.  (to continue reading, download PDF below)