The Journey
Toward Unity

“I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation. Not mediation, negotiation, problem-solving, debate, or public meetings. Simple, truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we listen well.” Turning to One Another by Margaret Wheatley


The story of change, any change, begins this way. The story of our reconfiguration journey is rooted in this type of conversation. By getting to know each other, by sharing our hearts and our hopes, we are building relationships that will enable us to bridge differences and create a future together.

This spring and summer, our sisters and associates are involved in another series of dialogues. Over 600 of us will be attending one of the “Drawn by a Dream” gatherings that will be held throughout our region. The group that is coming to Paul VI Pastoral Center in Wheeling is from Baton Rouge and Cleveland, Wichita and Nazareth, St. Paul and Chicago. Likewise, the Wheeling sisters are planning trips to other centers of our new congregation.

In July, when many of us will gather at the Sisters of St. Joseph Federation National Event in Milwaukee, we will once again have the opportunity to meet and visit with one another. It will be an exciting experience to recognize our new sisters by identifying the “star” symbol that will be on their name badge. The “star” has become an important icon for us. At one of our first intercongregational gatherings, our conversations led to identifying 14 pages of characteristics and descriptors that we wanted to see in our new congregation. Eventually, these re-emerged in a 7-point star that captures our core values: Spirit-led, relationships, social/eco-justice, prayer contemplation, unity; diversity, harmony with all creation, and embracing the future.

We are learning to listen to one another, and through these times of sharing we are, as Margaret Wheatley says, “cultivating the conditions for change – personal change, community and organizational change, planetary change.”