The 15 members of the Northeast Sponsor Council gathered in Parsippany, New Jersey, from April 2-4, with other Sponsor Council members from across the Institute for the first conference for Mercy Sponsor Councils.
The idea for this event originated when three Directors of Sponsorship - Sisters Lorraine LaVigne (Northeast), Margaret Taylor (Mid-Atlantic), and Georgine Scarpino (NyPPaW), and Associate Director for Sponsorship Nancy Parent Bancroft (Northeast) - decided to gather their respective Sponsor Council members to share, reflect, educate and collaborate during this two-day meeting. They also invited Sponsor Council members from the West Midwest and South Central Communities to attend the conference.
Participants from the Northeast Community included Sister Lorraine LaVigne, Nancy Bancroft, other Sponsor Council members, and leadership representatives, Sisters Eileen Dooling, Maureen McElroy and Michele Aronica.
Sister Judith Carey (Northeast), vice-president for mission integration at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut, served as the facilitator and as a presenter. She shared her knowledge and expertise about the role of governance in mission integration. "It is critical that the Sisters of Mercy, through their Sponsor Council, ensure that their living mission and core values permeate each ministry that they sponsor," said Judith.
Other presenters included Sister Mary Trainer, Ph. D., (Mid-Atlantic), director of Cranaleith Spiritual Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Martha Conroy, director of sponsorship education and ministry formation, Catholic Health East; Sister Corinne Raven (West Midwest), director of Network for Mercy Education; and Marguerite Stapleton, former vice-president for mission effectiveness, St. Mary's Health System, Lewiston, Maine.
Sister Pat McDermott (ILT) explained the affirmation of sponsorship at the 2005 Institute Chapter, and Sister Linda Werthman (ILT) discussed some of the future challenges that affect sponsorship, such as the current economic reality and decline in the number of vocations.
"Sponsored ministries are like grown children," says Cynthia Murray Beliveau, member of the Northeast's Sponsor Council and mother of four. Paraphrasing Khalil Gibran, the writer of The Prophet, Cynthia says, "The sisters gave the ministries their roots, now it is time for the sisters to give the ministries their wings and to open up a whole new world of working with Sponsor Councils who will help ensure their mission." By Debbi Della Porta, Director of Communications (Mid-Atlantic)
