November 5, 2019
Dear Friend,
The sights and sounds of our 2019 Congress are freshly imprinted in our memories. How we were challenged by our presenters as they explored our theme, “Being Signs of Courageous Hope”! The Congress Planning Committee was certainly prescient when they selected this theme over a year ago. Our world is in great need of prophetic signs of hope.
In addition to Congress, this past year has also been filled with both programs and planning. Twenty five religious men and women participated in the cohorts of ForMission, a two-year, non-residential program that prepares formators. In the Life Commitment Program last summer, 18 newer religious gathered for eight days to discern God’s call to profess perpetual vows in their congregations. Both of these signature RFC programs are updated annually in response to current needs and maintain strong enrollment.
These intensive programs are complemented with webinars and publications that are offered more frequently to broader audiences. This past year we significantly expanded our website resources and reorganized them for convenient retrieval.
Guided by our strategic 2017-2020 plan, we restructured our Regions into Member Areas this past year. Preceded by several studies and sessions with member input, a committee was formed to examine this data and recommend a new local membership structure to the RFC Board. Once approved, the vetting process took place this past winter and spring as Associate Director Ryan Hoffmann and I visited each of the 13 geographical hubs of our members. This proved to be an invaluable opportunity to receive input as well as share updates with many varied gatherings of RFC members.
We seek your financial support of these new Member Areas in this year’s appeal. In particular, we plan to establish a fund to assist Member Areas to offer programs on the local level. Any Member Area that plans to host a speaker or other type of program would be eligible to apply for an award from the National Office to fund it. As we inaugurate our new Member Area structure, we are eager to support it with financial resources to engage current and new members at the local level. We are committed to supporting the Member Areas, especially through resources for local programs.
Please help us through this appeal to strengthen our new local membership structure and facilitate programming for formators on the local level.
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Your generosity to this appeal is an investment in the ongoing formation of formators who, in turn, are supporting, nurturing, and forming the next generation of religious women and men as well as meeting the ongoing formation needs of all members. Together may we all be signs of courageous hope for the world.
Gratefully,
Ellen Dauwer, SC
Executive Director