Ninety congregational leaders, all Dominican sisters and leaders of the Dominican Sisters Conference (DSC), held their first gathering at Sacred Heart Convent Sept. 30-Oct. 3 in Springfield.
The DSC is a collaborative organization formed through the merger of the Dominican Leadership Conference and the Federation of Dominican Sisters USA. In order to understand how DSC works, it is important to have some history of the two organizations that led to the new conference, said Sister Rose Marie Riley, OP, the prioress of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield and the North American coordinator for Dominican Sisters International.
The Dominican Leadership Conference was a networking organization for elected leaders of Dominican congregations and provinces in the United States that was founded in 1935. The Federation of Dominican Sisters USA was a much newer networking organization — founded about 10 years ago — which included sisters who were not elected leaders. It was a grassroots organization that was meant to strengthen relationships and enhance communication among the Dominican Sisters of different congregations.
A few years ago, members of both groups worked together to form DSC, whose purpose is to be an instrument that helps the Dominican sisters maintain the mission of holy preaching, to sustain relationships and to work collaboratively with the friars, nuns and Dominican laity.
"So a couple of years ago there was an approval of a new conference," noted Sister Mary Sue Kennedy, OP executive director of DSC, adding that there are about 5,000 Dominican sisters in the United States. "It came as a result of bringing together two entities. The one entity was the Dominican Leadership Conference. There was another organization called the Federation of Dominican Sisters USA and that was primarily run by the membership.
"They came together to become one entity and that was the Dominican Sisters Conference. In the course of the design there would be a conference each year and the first year it would be a conference of the elected leaders of the congregation," Sister Mary Sue said.
"That's what this was. There were 90 women in attendance, the majority of who were elected leaders. But we also had two women from Dominican Sisters International (Sister Fabiola Velasquez, OP, and Sister Toni Harris, OP). And during the course of the time we looked at what's happened, we had a speaker and within all of that a great discussion took place.
"I would say that probably a major part was the dialogue that happened and the discussion," Sister Mary Sue said. "From there on a lot of it was business as to the direction that this will go and is in the process of going. It is very much an evolving conference."
The leadership is giving input, Sister Mary Sue said. "Next year we have the convocation and that's when we hope to bring together a greater population of Dominican sisters. As we look at our purpose, we see a couple of different things.
"One is the relational aspect that we come together to learn each other, to know each other and we do that in order to strengthen who we are in mission together. We are about a holy preaching and that will come about in a much stronger way if we have a stronger relationship. And that holy preaching is following the mission of Jesus and (St.) Dominic.
"We also hope to extend those relationships to the broader Dominican family in the United States, which would be the friars, the sisters, the Dominican laity, the associates and beyond that to create and strengthen relationships to the global Dominican family," Sister Mary Sue said.
"I think one of the things — the evolution — of why a conference like this is so necessary is the history of religious life in general, but especially in the United States has been different congregations or orders ... have each had their own charism and their own sense of ministry," said Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP, who was a member of the DSC planning committee. "We recognize that there are things we can do together that we really cannot do separately.
"A conference like this allows us to have more of a 'one voice' as Dominican women who are called into ministry by speaking a truth that comes from God — and that can engage us into a political arena, a church arena, a local arena. Our sense of mission is as broad as people's needs move us."
Dominican sisters remain involved in education and healthcare, two areas that Sister Rebecca Ann said are "still extremely critical." "But we really are more responding to the various needs of the signs of the times," she said.
Dawn Boyer, director of communications for the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, said she believes good things will happen through DSC. "Building upon the gifts of its many participants, the DSC has the potential to be a powerhouse network of prayer, faith and love — firmly grounded in the Dominican charism and tended to carefully and thoughtfully by U.S. Dominican congregations," she said. "Exciting opportunities are sure to develop as this new organization takes root and grows."
Although the DSC leaders met this year, a convocation for all members will be held in northern Chicago suburb of Wheeling in 2012, while 2013 is dedicated for regional meetings.