Board and Leadership Formation Day
The Peace Ministries Board and Congregation Leadership Team recently participated in a joint day of formation. The February 26 event continued themes that were the focus of last year’s board formation and the Ministry Leader Fall Formation Day. It also introduced new themes of synodality and synodal leadership.
The group gathered in Cusack Hall in St. Michael Villa for the daylong reflection. They began with an opening prayer and listened to presentations from Maureen Donohue, Sister Susan Francois and Sister Sheena George. They reviewed the major themes addressed in 2023—Change of Era, Two Loop Theory, Bridge Building and Critical Yeast.
The keynote speaker was Sister Teresa Maya, CCVI, a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio. She has served as congregational leader and president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). Sister Tere presented during the board’s 2019 Formation Day and began by revisiting themes from that presentation on sponsorship.
The late morning and afternoon then focused on synodality. According to the Vatican, “Synodality denotes the particular style that qualifies the life and mission of the Church, expressing her nature as the People of God journeying together and gathering in assembly, summoned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel. Synodality ought to be expressed in the Church’s ordinary way of living and working.”
Expanding on a talk given by Cardinal Robert W. McElroy at the Religious Formation Conference’s semiannual Congress, in which he broke down the ten distinguishing marks of a synodal church by Pope Francis, Sister Tere introduced the concept of synodal leadership. Synodal leaders are grounded in mission, community, listening, humility, inclusivity and empowering the voices of all.
“Synodality is concerned with nurturing a spiritual culture rather than specific hierarchy outcomes,” she said.
She asked all present to reflect on how this method is related to their role as sponsors of the ministries. Throughout the day, there were opportunities for table discussion and large group sharing.
Sister Tere also discussed synodal spiritual conversation, which focuses on the quality of one’s capacity to listen as well as the quality of the words spoken. This means paying attention to the spiritual movements in oneself and the other person during the conversation, which requires being attentive to more than simply the words expressed.
The group had the opportunity to practice this concept. They divided into two groups and discussed the question “How will synodal culture help ‘make the future (of Peace Ministries) possible?’” Each person had the chance to speak while the others focused on listening with intent.
The day ended with discussing what more is needed. Common themes were time, patience, listening and discernment.
Peace Ministries intends to continue visiting this theme throughout the year. As Sister Tere said, “Hope is an active word. To wait in hope is to do something.”