Sinsinawa
Spectrum
A Congregation News Magazine
Dominican Leadership Looks to Future
Article courtesy of Anne Lythgoe, OP, Editor of www.domlife.org
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Sr. Toni Harris (right) facilitates a conversation with leadership and Design Team members (from left) Srs. Sharon Casey (Tacoma), Kathy Nolan (Adrian), and Fr. Dominic Izzo (St. Joseph).
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The Dominican Leadership Conference (DLC) gathered for its annual meeting in Milwaukee Oct. 9–12 to reflect on the elements of leading with creativity, consider possibilities for its future, and hear the voices of Dominicans from around the world.
“Dimensions of Leading Creatively” was the theme of the meeting, which offered new insights into the strengths needed to lead religious women and men in today’s Church and saw new directions begin to emerge for the conference itself. About 110 participants attended.
Keynote speaker Carolyn Foster led the group in a spirited conversation about the dynamics of living that offers leaders concrete pathways to creativity: spaciousness (or the ability to find the space between our fears and trust), mindfulness (which links contemplation to action), positivity (which cultivates hope), and courage (which widens the circle of compassion). The group readily embraced her principles and engaged in an energetic conversation about leading in light of them.
Another segment of the conference’s agenda was to discuss a report from the Design Team, which was mandated to develop possible structures for leaders of Dominican congregations and provinces into the years ahead. The discussions led to a decision to explore a new structure for the women’s congregations that would include both elected leaders and members.
Although this model will not include the friars, the DLC members recognized that a new structure would open the future to a Dominican Family model in which each branch (friars, sisters, laity, and nuns) could create something together. The group noted that conversations have also taken place with members of the Federation Coordinating Committee (Dominican Sisters USA) about their organization and some tentative exploration has taken place about what the future might offer.
The participants identified some essential features of a new model that they wished to preserve and asked the DLC Executive Committee to provide the resources and personnel to begin fashioning a new organization. The work of this new organization will take a few years to realize, and, in the meantime, the DLC will continue to promote its preaching mission and collaboration among leaders. The conference also affirmed and expressed its appreciation for the work of the North American Justice promoters and their recent update to the Call to Justice document.
During the visit to the Racine Dominican’s motherhouse, the members gathered to express appreciation to outgoing Communications Coordinator Anne Lythgoe, OP (Catherine de’ Ricci), who was recently elected President of her congregation. Anne served the DLC in this position for seven years. The evening highlight was a fun-loving romp with Mary Ellen O’Grady, OP, who used a DVD to locate “the rock star Anne Lythgoe.” The tribute included a letter to Anne from Master of the Order Carlos Azpiroz Costa, OP, expressing his appreciation for Anne’s contribution to communications in the Dominican Family in the United States and in the Order.