Dominican Alliance Leadership
Meets in Houston
by Joan Scanlon, OP Executive Director of the Dominican Alliance
Sr. Sue Brodeur (front left) converses with DA leadership in Houston.
The Dominican Alliance (DA) leadership meeting was held in Houston, March 7–9, 2008. The Houston Dominicans have been celebrating their 125th anniversary during this past year, and we were fortunate to be able to celebrate with them.
The theme of the meeting was “The Alliance at the Crossroads.” Now that the cluster request (seven Dominican congregations asking to be united as one) has been officially approved by Rome, the new Union congregation will officially begin on April 12, 2009. This reconfiguration will change the membership of the DA leadership. At present, there are 13 congregations and 56 leaders in the DA; after the reconfiguration, there will be seven congregations and possibly 31 leaders.
Mary Ellen O’Grady, OP, executive director of the Dominican Leadership Conference (DLC), in her yearly visit with DA leadership gave a presentation describing the Dominican Family in the United States. She discussed the collaboration taking place among the women’s congregations and the changes that will be occurring in the near future. Members of the transition team for the new cluster congregation gave an update on their progress and plans for the intercongregational meetings and their first Chapter in April 2009. This information provided the background for a deeper reflection on the future of the DA.
The leadership spent time reflecting and sharing their perspectives on the future of the DA. The consensus was that the DA has been and will continue to be a viable resource and support for collaboration. The landscape of the DA may change, but its identity and purpose will remain strong.
Pat Casey, OP (Houston), liaison to the DA tenth-anniversary celebration committee, gave a report on the celebration. The feedback from the celebration was positive, and all agreed that the gathering generated energy and enthusiasm for the future. One of the goals of the tenth anniversary was to engage the membership in setting future directions for the DA. Everyone was invited to give her recommendations, and they were ritually gathered at the end of the weekend. The recommendations were then collated and brought to the leadership. A major part of the weekend was spent reviewing and prioritizing the recommendations. These will be further refined and become a part of the goal setting for the next five years.
On Saturday evening, we celebrated the Eucharist with the Houston community and continued the celebration with Texas barbecue. There was time for relaxing and conversation.
The prayer on Sunday morning was a reflection on the Gospel of the raising of Lazarus and the ways in which we preach through our ministry of leadership. We concluded our meeting by receiving committee reports and a synthesis of the recommendations from the tenth anniversary celebration. The next meeting of the DA leadership will be held in Grand Rapids, MI, in July.