Left, the newly elected Council poses at Assembly: from left, Sisters Marla Gipson, Margo Young, Edna Hess, Patty Kremer and Ann Clark; Sister Mary Lou Schmersal photo. Middle, the Installation ceremony at Salem Heights: from left, Sisters Ann, Marla, Margo, Patty and Edna and Father Jeffrey Kirch; right, Sisters Edna Hess and Joyce Lehman during the Installation ceremony; Michelle Bodine photos.
In June, the Congregation completed its 2019 Assembly, electing a new leadership team and setting directives for the future of the Congregation. Sister Edna Hess was elected president and Sister Patty Kremer vice president. The new Councilors are Sisters Ann Clark, Marla Gipson and Margo Young.
“Our assembly was a graced moment of gathering, discerning and setting directions for being in mission for the next four years,” said outgoing president Sister Joyce Lehman. “The five Sisters who were elected to lead us in fulfilling the Assembly directives are generous in letting go of their present ministries to embrace this new ministry of Congregational leadership.”
The new leadership team was formally installed at a Mass and celebration Aug. 4 at Salem Heights, the community’s central house in Dayton. The team will serve a term of four years.
Father Jeffrey Kirch, CPPS, presided at the installation Mass, with Father Barry Fischer, CPPS, as homilist and Father Don Thieman, CPPS, as concelebrant.
“We gather together this morning in a broken world, in a world that has been marred by violence,” Father Kirch said at the beginning of the Mass, which took place just hours after a mass shooting in Dayton’s Oregon District took the lives of 10 people including the perpetrator. “As disciples of Christ, we are called to be ambassadors of reconciliation.”
In the homily, Father Fischer emphasized that the world needs Precious Blood spirituality more than ever and said the Congregation’s leadership team is blessed with “many riches and treasures” to share that spirituality.
“We live in changing times in the church, in society — challenging times. We don’t have a clear blueprint of where all this is going. … But we do believe and trust in the future,” he said. “There is a whole cloud of witnesses who have gone before you who can be your strength as you journey forward.”
– Story by Mary Knapke
2019 Assembly Directives
We evolve in our understanding of Precious Blood spirituality.
-
- We endeavor to recognize and confront injustices in our world in light of the Paschal Mystery.
- We explore new approaches to sharing our spirituality among God’s people.
- We plan for ways to ensure that our charism extends beyond our physical presence.
As advocates of Gospel nonviolence, we cherish life in all of its manifestations.
-
- In response to the cry of the Blood and in connection with others, we address issues such as migration, racism, lack of education, the death penalty and criminal justice reform.
- We continue and expand our efforts regarding care of our endangered earth.
God’s redeeming love permeates our beings and our relationships.
-
- As a Community we seek to identify tendencies to violence within and among ourselves and to reconcile with one another as well as to be a leaven of reconciliation in our fractured world.
- We commit ourselves to embrace our intercultural reality.
- Joy and enthusiasm characterize our relationships.