NRVC encourages you to use the occasion of National Vocation Awareness Week, November 3-9, to raise awareness about consecrated life and other types of vocations.

Communities are already gearing up to mark the week. In Chicago, a group of Communicators for Women Religious members are planning a series of open houses called the Meet Our Sisters Tour. Details are here. 

Other ways to promote vocations during the week include:

• special social media posts (click here for two NEW videos to post).
• events in schools
• parish prayers of petition, prayer services
• campus ministry outreach events
• sisters, brothers, and religious priests speaking at parish Masses
• vocation lessons in religion classrooms
• distribution of "10 Questions Parents Ask" or "10 Questions People Ask"  in schools, parishes, and sponsored  ministries. Bulk orders are available. (See this month's "Resource of the month.")

Resources and information about the week can be found here. Please send any plans, photos, or news about your events to debbiesscm@nrvc.net.

Top: Member area coordinators with NRVC executive committee board members. Bottom: table discussion among coordinators.

NRVC's member area coordinators gathered in Chicago September 9-11 for enrichment, learning, prayer, and preparation for the year ahead. The coordinators play a key role by organizing local events and maintaining the flow of information among members of a geographic area.

Thank you, member area coordinators, for all that you do to create a vibrant, connected organization!

Last-minute registrations are still being accepted for the October 8-23 Fall Institute in Leavenworth, Kansas. The following workshops will be offered. 

Behavioral Assessment 2   Oct. 8-9, 

Behavioral Assessment 1   Oct. 11-13

Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors   Oct. 15-19

The Art of Accompaniment and Discernment   Oct. 21-23

Four young sisters with connections to NRVC were featured on the Tamron Hall show on September 17. During their nine minutes on the talk show, they discussed their sense of calling, how their families responded, the happiness they have found in community, and more. 

Two of the sisters have appeared in features in NRVC's VISION Vocation Guide: Sister Boram Lee, F.M.A. and Sister Desiré Anne-Marie Findlay, C.S.S.F. Lee and another featured sister, I.H.M. novice Elizabeth McGill, have received education grants from the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations. 

Patrice Tuohy, head of TrueQuest Communications, which handles NRVC communications, provided the show's producers with background information and interview leads.  

View a partial clip of the show here. 

Vocation ministers are encouraged to take part in the National Catholic Youth Conference November 21-23 in Indianapolis, particularly as volunteers in NRVC's Inspiration Nook.

The conference is a high-energy faith experience for some 20,000 teenage Catholics and their chaperones. NRVC will again be sponsoring Inspiration Nook, a gathering space for meeting young people and promoting religious life. NRVC members may distribute promotional material about their communities in Inspiration Nook.

Religious can take part in NCYC in three overlapping ways:

• as part of a high school, parish, or diocese 
• as sponsor of an exhibit booth 
• as a volunteer in Inspiration Nook and in the conference's thematic village

Details about participating are at nrvc.net.

Members from any part of the country are free to take part in member area gatherings this month. Find details for all member area events here. 

Hudson Valley
October 26-28, Albany, NY
"Keeping Hope Alive" meeting information here. Registration here.

Mid-Atlantic
October 7, Baltimore

Midwest
October 15, Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center, Donaldson, IN
"Unwrapping Our Gifts," by Sister Nancy Raboin, P.H.J.C.

West Coast
October 30-31, Sierra Madre, CA
Father Jim Clarke to present on "Traveling Along the Road to the Kingdom: Spiritual Accompaniment with Young Adults." Tentative schedule here.

NRVC is mailing membership renewal notices this month. Please renew promptly to ensure you continuously receive your member benefits—including your subscription to HORIZON. To add or remove members from your membership, please call Marge Argyelan, NRVC database administrator, at 773-363-5454.

Consider distributing these helpful, contemporary brochures in schools, parish bulletins, etc. during National Vocation Awareness Week. Bulk discounts make this affordable.

10 Questions People Ask brochure

This colorful brochure answers 10 commonly asked questions about vocations to religious life. From "How do religious brothers, sisters, and priests spend their days?" to "Is contact with family and friends allowed?" these brochures convey important basic information.

10 Questions Parents Ask brochure

This helpful brochure poses the most common questions from parents, answering everything from "Will my child use his or her talents and education?" to "How restrictive are the vows?" 

Both brochures come in packs of 100 and sell for $20 for members; $30 for non-members. The following bulk order discounts are available on orders placed by phone: 773-363-5454.

10 packets $175—(1,000 brochures)
20 packets $300—(2,000 brochures)
50 packets $500—(5,000 brochures)      

RFC congress Oct. 24-27

The Religious Formation Conference is gathering October 24-27 for its biennial congress in Louisville, Kentucky: "Being Signs of Courageous Hope." Sister Norma Pimentel, M.J. and Father Bryan Massingale will be keynote speakers. Visit rfccongress2019.com.

New book: How We Love: A Formation for the Celibate Life

This new title from Liturgical Press is written by Brother John Mark Falkenhain, O.S.B., a psychologist with experience in vocation and formation ministries. It explores the vow of chastity in depth. Don't miss the excerpt from this book in the Summer 2019 HORIZON.

Jackson Psychological Services

Assessments of candidates to religious institutes are offered by a skilled, experienced religious, psychologist, and NRVC member / presenter / HORIZON writer: Sister Cindy Kaye, R.S.M., Ph.D. 

Institute of Religious Formation & Hesburgh Sabbatical 

The Institute of Religious Formation and Hesburgh Sabbatical Programs at Catholic Theological Union are currently accepting applications for the fall semester of both programs, which begin August 28. For more information, see ctu.edu/academics/special-programs.

St. John Vianney Center

The Saint John Vianney Center specializes in psychological and formational assessments for individuals seeking to enter religious life and comprehensive evaluations to identify community and ministry difficulties.

St. Luke Institute candidate assessment, free webinar

St. Luke Institute (SLI) offers psychological and spiritual assessments of candidates to religious orders. It is also co-sponsoring a human formation conference, "Mental Health Matters" April 20-23 at Saint Meinrad Archabbey, Saint Meinrad, Indiana. Learn more here.

Prepare the Word

Prepare the Word is a resource to help preachers prepare homilies that hit home. It also offers material to help nourish and strengthen the faith of parishioners. 

Redemptorist Renewal Center

The peaceful Sonoran Desert is the stunning setting for this retreat center. It offers programs year-round, including its Contemplative Study and Sabbatical Program and the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction. Learn more at desertrenewal.org. 

Thank you HORIZON advertisers!

HORIZON reaches a premier niche of highly educated religious men and women and lay ministers. Readers hold leadership positions in their communities and influence community decisions. Contact editor Carol Schuck Scheiber for more information: cscheiber@nrvc.net or 567-288-2255. Download the current rate card.

How long have you been involved in vocation ministry?

Informally, I have helped with vocation talks and young adult events since I entered the Sisters of Notre Dame in 2004. Formally I have ministered as an assistant vocation director for the past three years and was appointed July 1 to my new ministry as national director of vocations and young adult outreach.

I'm also one of the member area coordinators for the Lake Erie/Ohio River area.

How has your community set up its vocation ministry?

Four of us are on the vocation team for the Sisters of Notre Dame in the United States. I work with three assistant vocation directors. We all have responsibilities for the regions where we reside, and we work closely together on our national program.

Has being a member of NRVC been helpful?

I have appreciated the various professional training programs and workshops. In addition to the education received, I find the networking with other vocation directors to be invaluable.

What vocation ministry projects or ideas are you excited about?

My community here in the United States is launching a new spiritual mentoring program for young adults that I am very excited about. In vocation ministry we meet so many young adults who are simply looking for someone to talk to, someone willing to listen to them without judgment. We are working with our sisters, associates, and others on ways to reach out to the young adults they encounter on a daily basis to provide support and encouragement. There is such a need for this type of mutual relationship in our church and in our world—the vocations team is thrilled to be working together on this idea!

What do you find most rewarding—and most challenging—in vocation work?

For me the greatest gift in my ministry is definitely the relationships I have been blessed to have with young adults all over the United States. I am humbled by their willingness to share their joys and challenges with me. God placed people in my life who walked with me while I was discerning religious life, and I love that my ministry allows me to do the same for others.  

I am most challenged by the misconceptions about this ministry, that the work of vocation directors is about "recruitment" or that my community is in a "competition" with other religious communities on the number of new members. Vocation ministers today, like countless that I have met through NRVC, strive to serve whoever is in front of them, with the one goal of helping that young adult discover through prayer and conversation the amazing life that God has in store for them!

Would you like to share a fun fact about yourself?

People are often surprised to learn that my undergraduate degree is in exercise science. I was working as a certified athletic trainer when God started opening my heart to a call to the Sisters of Notre Dame. It’s been said that I might have a small addiction to sports . . . and I won’t disagree. God can reach us any time and any place!