Sinsinawa
Spectrum
A Congregation News Magazine
Sister Colleen Integrates Mission into Health Care
by June Wilkerson, OP
Sr. Colleen Settles shares remarks with the Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND) organization to help the economically poor get food, clothing, schooling, and medical and dental aid.
As an Edgewood College freshman, Colleen Settles, OP, was strongly influenced by Jeannette Feldballe, OP (deceased), who introduced her to the works of Teilhard de Chardin, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, and others. Long before Al Gore called all of us to an awareness of our destructive approach to the universe, Colleen had been awakened to these dangers.
After graduation from Edgewood College with a major in biology, Colleen’s continuing academic background included a master of arts in religious studies from Loyola University, Chicago; doctor of ministry, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago; and clinical pastoral education, Minneapolis. Her initial ministry included school and parish work at Blessed Sacrament in Madison, WI; youth ministry in Minneapolis; and chaplaincy in South Bend, IN, and Mission Hills, CA.
Currently Colleen works as chief mission integration officer for Providence Health and Services in southern California. This includes working with five hospitals in the area. She defines mission integration as a process whereby leadership and all employees of an organization come to understand the deep story behind a set of words called the mission statement. That deep story, bringing alive the Gospel story in today’s environment, then permeates the actions and decisions of the entire ministry and is seen as the very reason for its existence. The mission and values which flow from it are then no longer words but become alive and visible to those within the organization as well as each person who is touched by the ministry―patients, families, physicians, and the community.
Colleen is excited and motivated by her opportunity to walk with the young leaders of the organization as they explore their own spiritual selves and take on the challenge of leading a ministry, not just a business. The majority of the men and women who are coming into leadership roles within Catholic health care today are wonderfully motivated to meet the health care challenges of today. Most come with this desire and find a rich soil within Catholic health care to make a difference in the world. Yet many are fairly unfamiliar with the deep story of Catholic health care passed on for generations by Sisters.
As Colleen stated, “During these years of transition, I am experiencing a shift from, ‘I can help the Sisters with their ministry,’ to, ‘We are responsible for the ministry,’ following the heritage left to us by our founding Sisters.”
The deep cuts in health care services being made in the California state budget are of great concern to Colleen. The Healthy Families funding is being cut, leaving thousands of children with no health care options. Cuts in MediCal rates (known as Medicaid in other states) will make it practically impossible for those on this plan to find primary care providers willing to take this form of payment. Colleen reflects, “Within Catholic health care, we will continue to fund excellent educational outreach programs for this vulnerable population, but I fear the overall health of our community will decline despite our best efforts.
“What gives me hope about Catholic health care today is the ministry leadership formation programs,” Colleen said. “Today I find excellent health care leaders, some with no previous experience of Catholic health care, committed to participating in ministry leadership formation programs. They are not only committed to participating but eagerly embracing their role of purveyors of a culture and heritage that is being handed over to them―both to preserve it and to help it thrive.”
Currently Colleen is giving symposiums on ecology called “Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream,” created by the Pachamama Alliance in cooperation with the Achwar indigenous people of Equador. It is an attempt to help others join in the work described here by Thomas Berry: “The great work of our time is moving the human community from the present situation as a destructive presence on the planet to a benign or mutually enhancing presence. It’s that simple.”