The new executive director for the National Religious Vocation Conference begins June 1. The staff, board, and membership extend a warm welcome to Sister Sharon Dillon, S.S.J.-T.O.S.F., who says: 

I'm excited about the possibilities before us at NRVC. We believe and know with our whole hearts that the Most Holy continues to call individuals to walk, or journey, in this way of life.

Interview by "Catholic Profiles"

The website "Catholic Profiles" recently published an in-depth interview with NRVC's new executive director, which gave her the opportunity to convey the good news about those responding to God's call.  

Eight communities and one college are sending teams of three to the 2017 Vocation Ambassador Program, to take place June 9-12 in South Bend, Indiana. This program, which launched last June, prepares young people to be ambassadors for all types of religious life vocations. 

Each team consists of three people: a religious institute's vocation director, a communicator, and a young adult ambassador. During the program, teams will create individual vocation communications plans that will aid the ambassadors in spreading the word about religious life.  

NRVC extends sincere thanks to the following people who will be presenters, as well as to the Hilton Foundation, which is underwriting the program.

• Cheryl Aughton, communications director for the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Pittsburgh
• Sister Deborah Marie Borneman, SS.C.M., NRVC director of member relations and services
• Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D., vocation director for the Society of the Divine Word
• Sr. Marie Mackey, C.S.J., vocation director and congregational director of young adult ministry
• Siobhán O'Neill Meluso, social media strategist with experience at VISION Vocation Guide and Divine Word Missionaries
• Father Larry Rice, C.S.P., director of the University Catholic Center at the University of Texas and presenter on the topic of social media for the church
• Sister Annette Schmeling, R.S.C.J., consultant, trainer, and communications professional who specializes in both contemplative dialog and social media
• Carol Schuck Scheiber, publications editor for the National Religious Vocation Conference
• Chris Swain, director of the Office of Lasallian Vocation Ministry for the De La Salle Christian Brothers 

Does your community work with an agency that helps assess and monitor the web and social media use of candidates? The Praesidium accreditation standards of 2016 call for an assessment to be made of all social media, websites, and blogs controlled by candidates.

If you use an agency to do this assessing or monitoring, NRVC would like to hear from you. Please contact Sister Debbie Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net

Many email systems are set up to weed out problem email, and one way to detect "problems" is to stop sending email that people don't tend to open.

Thus, if you don't routinely open email from NRVC, your email system might force our message into your "spam" folder. Avoid this problem by opening NRVC emails at least from time to time. Better yet, make sure you have added the email address NRVC uses (mailer@nrvc.net) to your email contact list. These two steps will help ensure that you get our communications.

Click here for further information on adding an address to your contact list.

The NRVC will offer the workshop "Behavioral Assessment" July 10-12 in Chicago at the De Paul downtown campus. Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. will be the presenter.

This workshop presents practical interviewing techniques housed in a theoretical framework of behavioral assessment. While the focus of the workshop is on initial assessment of candidates, the method easily applies to assessing candidates in other stages of formation as well. Participants study sample case reports and learn skills for interviewing and guidelines for organizing the information into useful reports. 

In addition to this workshop, NRVC offers several others during its Summer Institute in Chicago July 10-25. Don't put off your registration, as workshop housing is filling up fast.

Religious and laity around the United States sponsored events on May 1 to commemorate the first-ever Religious Brothers Day. NRVC collaborated in a prayer service at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago involving 100+ people and featured brothers on its social media sites. Religious congregations and schools also made note of the day. Reports on the varied celebrations can be found here.

These colorful business-sized cards are the perfect giveaway to use all summer long at parish festivals, volunteer programs, and retreat centers. They pave the way for a vocation conversation.

The cards come in a pack of 100 with four messages: "You would make a great sister (or brother, priest, or nun)." The backs of the cards simply state "Imagine the possibilities" with a space to sign the cards. $6 per pack for NRVC members; $9 for non-members. Learn more or order them here.

Registration open for Conference on Intercultural Competencies 

Join national experts in human formation and intercultural competency to address opportunities and challenges in evaluating and forming international priests and religious for ministry in the United States. "Intercultural Competencies for Human Formation" will be held April 15-18, 2018, at Saint Meinrad Archabbey and Seminary. The conference is co-sponsored by Saint Luke Institute and Saint Meinrad Archabbey. Learn more and register at sliconnect.org/conferences or contact Beth Davis at sliconnect@sli.org or 502-632-2471.

Communicators conference October 3-6

Communicators for Women Religious (CWR) will host its 23rd annual conference October 3-6 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada—its first outside the United States. The theme is “One Voice: Charged by the Current/Voix Unies: Courant Puissant.”

Presenters and topics include: Dr. Moira McQueen (Catholic social teaching and communications), Heather Mansfield (social media), Sister Nuala Kenny (ethics of communication), Blayne Haggart (copyright), and Sister Kateri Mitchell (spirituality of communications).

For more information, visit c4wr.org. 

RFC congress in November

Registration is now open for the Religious Formation Congress November 16-18, to take place in Milwaukee. Titled “Grace in the Now: The Gospel of Encounter," the gathering and its related workshops will address current issues in initial and lifelong formation and help participants imagine new ways forward. Details and registration are at relforcon.org.

Occasional Papers subscriptions available

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious twice a year publishes Occasional Papers, a journal on topics pertinent to women religious. $15 per year ($30 outside the United States). Order it here.  

Calling all musical artists

The Daughters of Charity are seeking musicians and vocalists to create two music videos to be recorded Labor Day weekend in St. Louis. They need eight to 10 people, including priests, brothers, and sisters from different religious communities or dioceses. Those selected must pay travel and taping fees. For more information, please contact Sister Liz Sjoberg, D.C. at elizabethann.sjoberg@doc.org.

CMSWR offers course for Spanish-speaking sisters

The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious will offer its third summer course, “Spouses of Christ, Daughters of the Church” (Esposas de Cristo, Hijas de la Iglesia) July 17-28 in Hopewell Junction, New York. Registration for the course is now open to all Spanish-speaking women religious. The two-week summer class will be hosted by the Oblates to the Blessed Trinity. Learn more at cmswr.org

What roles do you play in vocation ministry?

I'm vocation director for the Sisters of Notre Dame, and I am also a coordinator for the NRVC Lake Erie/Ohio River member area.

How long have you been involved in vocation ministry?

Four years. 

How is your vocation team set up?

Five of us are in vocation ministry across the four SND provinces in the United States.

Has being a member of NRVC been helpful?

It has been helpful to be able to collaborate with many different types of religious communities and to learn from their experiences. The workshops have also been very helpful and have given me the confidence and skills needed to do my ministry. 

What ideas have you used in vocation ministry lately that excite you?

Currently I am excited by the possibilities of social media as we try to connect with young adults.

Do you have any words of wisdom to those who are new to this ministry?

Don't get overly excited when someone expresses interest in religious life. Warmly welcome their questions and provide opportunities for them to engage with religious, but always be alert and vigilant in assessing if they have the skills and inner freedom needed to live religious life.

What do you find most rewarding in this ministry?

It is rewarding to meet so many who are attuned to the Holy Spirit's working in their life.