Fewer than 300 in number, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth nonetheless have a big footprint, operating in nine states and Peru. Their mission: to provide education, health care, social services and pastoral ministry. The organization includes the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, which operates Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., and St. John Hospital in Leavenworth. They recently designated Sister Maureen Hall, who celebrates her 50th anniversary in the order this year, as community director. If the sisters had a CEO—or a Chief Ecclesiastical Officer, if you will—she would be in the corner office. Here’s what she had to say about the challenges, and opportunities, she sees in that role.
Q. How have your experiences in the classroom as a teacher, in parish roles and in leadership of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth religious community prepared you for these new responsibilities?
A. If I could choose one ministry that helped prepare me most for all of the others, it would be that of being a teacher. As a teacher, you are called to be aware of the culture and milieu of your students. You get to know families and the ups and downs of their lives. You need to study and be a leading learner and a learning leader. You are expected to communicate and to share appropriate content, but more importantly, in the settings where I have served, I have had the privilege to express my faith and to create an environment where the students learned about and shared their faith journeys. This was indeed a call and a privilege.
Most of my teaching was in the seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms, and teachers will tell you that if you can teach students of that age group, you can do just about anything!
Q. What shapes your world view as a leader and inspires your community in its various ministries?
A. We just recently refined and restated our SCL Mission Statement. As I reflect on these words, I believe they truly capture the heart of who we are and influence why, how and where we serve as SCLs. Our Mission Statement: “Impelled by the love of Christ, we, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, offer every loving service in our power to meet the critical needs of God’s people.” Our Mission Statement speaks to all of the ministries in which I have served. It’s the reason behind our Community response in the mid-1960s to the call by Pope John XXIII to serve in foreign missions and why we continue to serve in Peru. This Mission is why our Sisters advocate for justice, continue classroom teaching, work with and for persons who are economically poor and underserved, and sponsor a health-care ministry.
Q. What challenges do you face as an organization, spread across such a wide area?
A. With 283 SCLs in multiple states and Peru, we do face a challenge in gathering together as a Community in one place for meetings or celebrations. However, because community is so important to who we are as SCLs, we work constantly at many ways to achieve connectedness. For example, we have regional meetings twice annually in geographic locations where we have concentrations of SCLs. We use these meetings for information-sharing, spiritual enrichment, obtaining input, education and staying connected with one another. We are increasing our use of technology to remain in touch also—Skyping via Internet and video with our Sisters in Peru and sharing daily, weekly and monthly electronic communications with our Sisters.
Q. What do you consider the biggest challenge facing the SCLs today?
A. Changing demographics are the biggest challenge we face today. Similar to other religious congregations, we have many older members in our Community, and we are not having as many young women enter as we did in the past.
