Province Chapter postponed

COVID-19 health experts continue to emphasize the need for people the world over to shelter in place and avoid gatherings of more than 5-10 people. These recommendations have prompted Mid-North America Province leadership to postpone the Province Chapter until further notice. The Chapter was to have taken place in St. Louis from April 22 – 28, 2020.

Province Chapter purpose

Sisters of the Good Shepherd convene a Province Chapter every six years for three important reasons:

  1. to address the life and ministry of each province
  2. to set the direction for the next six years
  3. to choose leadership to implement that direction

Province Chapters are also forums to prepare for Congregational

Chapter. The 31st Congregational Chapter is set to take place from June 11 – July 2, 2021, at the Motherhouse in Angers, France.

Congregational Chapter

Preparation for the Congregational Chapter includes each province electing delegates to two international meetings that precede the Chapter: the Congregational Assembly of Contemplative Sisters (CACS) and the Inter-Continental Assembly (ICA). This year the ICAs have been re-configured to bring provinces together from their geographic area. The meetings will take place by video conferencing.

Each province is assigned to one of eight virtual ICAs. The ICA for Mid-North America is set to run from September 21-25, 2020, with New York/Toronto, Central South, and Montreal provinces. 

CACS, originally scheduled for August 2020, will be rescheduled prior to the Congregational Chapter in 2021.

A world transformed

Maureen Jenkins, facilitator for the Mid-North America Province Chapter, reflected on COVID-19 and postponing the Province Chapter. 

Maureen said, “If nothing else, it must be said that you are postponing the Province Chapter as part of participating in a global event of shared suffering that will transform our futures across the world in ways that we have yet to understand. 

“We will return to Chapter from a new perspective, to a world transformed, calling for care in ways that are yet to be revealed.”

Read more stories about the Province of Mid-North America in our newsletter Items of Interest.

Jeanette McDermott

Jeanette McDermott

Jeanette is the Communications Coordinator for Sisters of the Good Shepherd Province of Mid-North America. She is a career photojournalist who has served in various capacities of print, broadcast, and corporate communications. Jeanette is devoted to creation and is particularly focused on saving pollinators and other wildlife species and their habitat. She is an ethical vegan and created the website veganstoryteller.com