Our Vision

The National Religious Vocation Conference has a vision to set the world ablaze with the fire of God’s love through the prophetic, joyful witness of religious sisters, brothers, and priests as radical disciples of Jesus.

Our Mission

The National Religious Vocation Conference is a catalyst for vocation discernment and the full flourishing of religious life as sisters, brothers, and priests for the ongoing transformation of the world.

Our Purpose

To accomplish its mission, the National Religious Vocation Conference, in collaboration with its members and strategic partners, provides professional development, advocacy, education, resources, and networking opportunities to support vocation ministry and religious life.

Our Values

In presenting religious life as a viable, prophetic option that remains mystery and gift, the NRVC seeks to:

1. Provide professional development, best practices, and shared wisdom to animate the elements of vocation ministry: encounter, invitation, and accompaniment;
2. Foster a culture of vocations in a spirit of collaboration, joy, and hope to inspire and be inspired by the minds and hearts of the young church;
3. Celebrate the charism of each Catholic religious institute as part of the mission of Jesus; and
4. Grow and nurture an intercultural approach to vocation ministry.

Our directional statements for 2025-2028

• The NRVC aims to enhance vocation ministry by providing resources, professional development, and shared wisdom while fostering collaboration and inclusivity across generations and cultures.
• The NRVC is committed to promoting vocations to religious life through effective communication and partnerships that reflect interculturality, dialogue, and a hopeful vision for the future.
• The NRVC will cultivate a supportive and financially sustainable framework for innovation and decision-making, ensuring that its mission aligns with ecclesial and societal trends while celebrating the unique charisms of religious institutes.
• The NRVC seeks to inspire and engage younger diverse generations in a vibrant, inclusive vocation culture rooted in collaboration and joy by building on current knowledge and embracing intercultural approaches.

Our members

NRVC has members in 22 countries in 13 Member Areas. We are primarily vocation directors who are religious sisters, brothers, priests, and lay ecclesial ministers who believe God is still calling women and men to holiness. Our members promote vocations, animate their congregations, and assist those who want to discern their vocation. 

At a glance

The NRVC stands as a pioneering force in providing comprehensive resources that set the standard for professional conduct in vocation ministry. With a team leadership approach, we emphasize the importance of fostering possibilities and championing the vital needs of vocation ministers.

Ten NRVC highlights:

• Hosted our biennial Convocation, Walking Humbly Together, in Minneapolis, with the keynote presentations on NRVC’s YouTube Channel.
• Held three workshops on Candidate Assessment through the Lens of Interculturality in Philadelphia, San Antonio, and Chicago.
• Provided 3 core workshops at Summer Institute in Leavenworth, KS.
• Offered the eleven week virtual Talk it up Tuesdays virtual series to share skills in vocation ministry.
• Received 9 awards in journalistic excellence from Catholic Media Association for HORIZON and VISION Vocation Network.
• Produced the Walking Humbly Together video series on the NRVC YouTube Channel embracing intercultural humility and anti-racism as a lifelong pursuit.
• Conducted workshops and an Intercultural Development Inventory to elevate the skills of organizational leaders to be culturally mindful by embracing interculturality and anti-racism as a lifelong pursuit.
• Updated the digital Storymap: Bold and Faithful: Meet Today’s Religious in collaboration with A Nun’s Life Ministry, Global Sisters Report, Called & Consecrated, and VISION.
• Awarded the 53rd educational debt relief scholarship with a total commitment of $7,500 over the grant period through the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations.
• Supplied 20 resources available to purchase at https://nrvc.net/store

Our reach continues to grow internationally through our website and printed resources, publications, YouTube videos, and social media sites. The monthly digital newsletter is mailed to all members, collaborators, diocesan vocation offices, and vicars/delegates for religious. 

Contact us

National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC)
5416 South Cornell Avenue
Chicago, IL 60615-5604
Phone: 773.363.5454
Email: mail@nrvc.net

Advance our mission

Contribute today, inspire tomorrow. 

The National Religious Vocation Conference is a catalyst for vocation discernment and the full flourishing of religious life as sisters, brothers, and priests for the ongoing transformation of the world.

1. The NRVC aims to enhance vocation ministry by providing resources, professional development, and shared wisdom while fostering collaboration and inclusivity across generations and cultures.

A. Create a robust NRVC website 

B. Revamp NRVC Member Areas 

C. Revitalize NRVC resources 

D. Engage lay vocation ministers

2. The NRVC is committed to promoting vocations to religious life through effective communication and partnerships that reflect interculturality, dialogue, and a hopeful vision for the future. 

A. Examine effective partnerships 

B. Recognize the current landscape 

C. Update the NRVC membership benefits 

3. The NRVC will cultivate a supportive and financially sustainable framework for innovation and decision-making, ensuring that its mission aligns with ecclesial and societal trends while celebrating the unique charisms of religious institutes.

A. Align the organizational structure to meet future trending needs of the NRVC

B. Explore focal population the NRVC serves beyond religious life

C. Investigate collaboration opportunities with existing organizations that serve in vocation ministry

D. Secure endowments, grants, and other sources of revenue

4. The NRVC seeks to inspire and engage younger diverse generations in a vibrant, inclusive vocation culture rooted in collaboration and joy by building on current knowledge and embracing intercultural approaches.

A. Encourage intentional relationships with young Catholics

B. Utilize the Bold and Faithful StoryMap to provide relevant data for a culture of vocations 

Advance our mission

Contribute today, inspire tomorrow. 

Advance our mission

A note from the NRVC team

We invite you to support the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) and help to provide unparalleled resources, professional guidance, and a vibrant network of unwavering hope for vocation ministers today and a hopeful vision for the future of religious life.

Together with our National Board, our Leadership Team has set a bold vision for 2025-2028—one rooted in collaboration, intercultural dialogue, and a deep commitment to nurturing the next generation of sisters, brothers, and priests. Our four new directional statements connect generations and cultures, inspiring new possibilities with a financially sustainable framework and equipping vocation ministers with innovative tools and wisdom needed for a flourishing Church. 

We cannot do this without your contribution. We are reaching out to ask for your generous support to help us:

• Refresh our resources to reflect the interculturality of today’s discerners.
• Conduct relevant workshops to elevate the skills and effectiveness of vocation ministers and those responsible for candidate assessment.
• Expand our Talk it up Tuesday’s virtual series, providing a platform for sharing vocation ministry skills, experience, and insights.
• Sustain excellence in publications, including HORIZON and VISION Vocation Network.
• Increase our digital presence on NRVC’s YouTube Channel and update our website, meeting the ever-growing need for accessible, high-quality vocation resources.
• Sponsor our biennial Convocation in Orlando, FL, November 19-23, 2026.

Your donation will help us to continue being Bearers of Hope/Portadores de Esperanza/Sứ Giả Hy Vọng. Check out our Annual Report for current activites and benefactors.

Donate today!

Let's start a conversation cultivating what's possible!

Sister Kathleen Branham, O.S.F.
kathleenosf@nrvc.net
513.504.4276 

At a glance

The NRVC stands as a pioneering force in providing comprehensive resources that set the standard for professional conduct in vocation ministry. With a team leadership approach, we emphasize the importance of fostering possibilities and championing the vital needs of vocation ministers.

Ten NRVC highlights:

• Conducted workshops to elevate the skills of organizational leaders to be
  culturally mindful by embracing interculturality and anti-racism as a lifelong pursuit.
• Created Transforming Religious Communities to be Anti-racist and Interculturally Inviting: Welcoming the Cultural Abundance of African American and Black Catholics booklet
• Provided 5 core workshops at Summer Institute.
• Offered Talk it up Tuesdays virtual series to share vocation ministry skills.
• Received 5 awards in journalistic excellence from Catholic Media Association for HORIZON and VISION Vocation Network.
• Hosted our biennial Convocation, Walking Humbly Together, in Minneapolis, with the keynote presentations on NRVC’s YouTube Channel.
• Participated in the National Eucharistic Congress through the invitation of the US Council of Serra International.
• Designed a Storymap: Bold and Faithful: Meet Today’s Religious in collaboration with A Nun’s Life Ministry, Global Sisters Report, Called & Consecrated, and VISION.
• Awarded $34,250 in educational debt relief through the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations.
• Supplied 20 resources available to purchase at https://nrvc.net/store

Contribute today, inspire tomorrow

Let's start a conversation cultivating what's possible!

Sister Kathleen Branham, O.S.F.
kathleenosf@nrvc.net
513.504.4276

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant, 2023-2025

Grappling with interculturality continues to emerge as a need among our members.  Thanks to a generous three-year grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Catholic Sisters Initiative, the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) is pleased to announce it will implement two key projects from the NRVC’s 2019-2023 strategic plan to advance our understanding of interculturality and anti-racism. 

The first objective is to support a series of intercultural workshops that elevate the culturally mindful skills of NRVC organizational leaders by embracing intercultural humility and anti-racism as a lifelong pursuit. Members of the National Board, Member Area Coordinators, staff, and key partners will work with consultants and subject matter experts over two years to learn (and unlearn) more about their understanding of interculturality, specifically 1) cultural values, 2) perceptions of power, 3) cultural wealth, and 4) communication dynamics. This project will use the NRVC Curriculum, 2014 NRVC/CARA Study of Incorporating Cultural Diversity into Religious Life Study, the NRVC Incorporating Cultural Diversity Committee, and the NRVC African American Vocation Committee, to provide insights to recommend consultants and workshop content.

The second objective is to share intercultural learning with the wider NRVC membership and stakeholders. By providing further education and additional resources on belonging, dignity, and justice, the 2020 NRVC Statement on condemning racism and commitment to intercultural competence will continue to move from a statement to action steps to address microaggressions and unconscious bias in conversations, meetings, decision making, and the selection of future organizational leaders. Because workshop attendance does not immediately change mindsets, this project will also utilize the Intercultural Development Inventory to evaluate progress in learning and adapting appropriate behaviors to move further on the continuum. 

Thanks to the generosity of this Conrad N. Hilton grant, the NRVC can embark on an ambitious project involving 40 organizational leaders working together. They will share their learnings on cultural differences and commonalities to add to the body of knowledge in religious life which cultivates intercultural humility and anti-racism as a lifelong pursuit. These NRVC leaders will publish articles in the HORIZON Journal, VISION Magazine, create event handouts and checklists for the NRVC Member Guidebook, and/or record short videos. This project will conclude in 2025 with six intercultural workshops in NRVC Member Areas.

For more information about the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Catholic Sisters Initiative grant, please email Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net.

Media Coverage

Hilton grant will assist vocation conference's intercultural efforts, Global Sisters Report, written by Chris Herlinger, January 23, 2023.

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant, 2020-2022

The National Religious Vocation Conference is grateful to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for a $200,000 grant which created sustainable solutions to build the future of NRVC in its leadership, mission, and vision. The NRVC Board and staff integrated the team leadership model with standards of accountability in its Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, Bylaws, Operations Manual, Board Handbook, Member Area Coordinator Manual, and Member Guidebook. 

In addition, through grant funding, 136 Catholic sisters participated in the 2020 Convocation and virtual Summer Institutes in 2021 and 2022 to enrich ongoing formation and lifelong education. As a result, over 50 Abundant Hope videos were recorded by newer entrants on how they experience intercultural and intergenerational vowed life. Through the Conrad N. Hilton grant, the NRVC extended invitations to the following partner organizations: Association of Latin American Missionary Sisters, Giving Voice, National Black Sisters Conference, the National Conference of Vicars for Religious, NAVFD, and Vocations Ireland.

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant, 2014-2016

The National Religious Vocation Conference is grateful to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for a $2 million dollar grant to continue to build the organization’s capacity and sustainability. This generous grant provided  NRVC with additional personnel, the ability to create an effective development program, resources for the Year of Consecrated Life, and other important vocation-promotion services from 2014-2016). Details are here.  

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