A major event that occurs every four years in the life of the Congregation and determines the direction its members will take in the following months and years is called a General Assembly.

The General Assembly for 2015 will begin today, April 7, at the Marriott Hotel in Tarrytown, NY, and will include, for the first time, both the Chapter of Affairs and the Chapter of Elections. The Assembly will end on Sunday, April 12.

The General Assembly began in April, 2014, when Sisters chose delegates who will participate in both the pre-Assembly meetings and the Assembly itself. Sisters who are not delegates and SC Associates are invited to join in pre-Assembly work and attend the Assembly as nonvoting observers. They also support the efforts of the delegates by prayer.

The current Steering Committee, elected by the delegates, “envisions a different kind of Assembly, less focused on business tasks and more on a communal discernment that will be deeply transformative.” (Letter from Steering Committee, August, 2014)

The 2015 Assembly Steering Committee has been meeting since June 22, 2014. Left side from left: Sisters Jane Iannucelli, Margaret O’Brien, and Mary Ellen McGovern. Right side from right: Sr. Kathleen McCluskey, CSJ, Assembly Facilitator, Sisters Elizabeth Vermaelen and Elaine Owens, and Anne Gray, Steering Committee Secretary.

The committee chose the theme Hearts on Fire to describe where the energy for moving forward is located. The agenda will include input on the topics chosen by members of the Congregation in a series of focus groups held in early fall, 2014: Mission Now, Leadership and Governance, Membership and Community, and Finances.

The Chapter of Elections will follow during the same week. An Election Committee has been named by the Executive Council, and will work with the facilitator to fashion a voting process. Delegates will vote for the President and members of the Council who serve as our leadership team for the next four years.

A General Assembly is an important and grace-filled event in the life of the Congregation. Sisters of Charity look forward to the ways, sometimes surprising, that our provident God will lead into a new era of charity.