New board members elected

Following are the new NRVC board members selected from among those nominated by members. They will begin their three-year terms of service in fall 2017.

Sister Virginia Herbers, A.S.C.J.

Sister Virginia Herbers, A.S.C.J. is an Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She has a master's in pastoral studies and has ministered in education at both the elementary and high-school levels in Connecticut, New York, Missouri, and Taiwan. In addition to her current work in vocation and formation ministries, she has been involved in spiritual direction on university campuses, in leading the Queen of Apostles Spiritual Life Center in St. Louis, and in speaking and presenting on spiritual topics. Herbers currently serves as the vice-provincial and vocation director for the United States Province of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart and resides at the Provincialate in Hamden, Connecticut. She previously served on the NRVC Editorial Board and the Keys to the Future planning committee.

Friar Charles Johnson, O.P.

Friar Charles (Charlie) Johnson, O.P., a native of Wilmington, North Carolina and a professed Dominican friar since August 2002, is the director of vocations and a member of the Provincial Council for the Province of St. Martin de Porres. He served as a campus minister at Tulane University from 2011 to 2014, was in mission in Guayaquil, Ecuador from 2006 to 2011, and was a lay missionary in Guatemala from 1996-2000. In addition he spent several years in formation as a diocesan seminarian. In Ecuador, Johnson served as a parochial vicar, high-school chaplain, seminary professor, and representative for religious life on the archdiocesan and national levels. His studies include an M.A. in theology from the Oblate School of Theology and an M. Div. from Mundelein Seminary in Chicago as well as additional graduate studies elsewhere.

Sister Lisa Laguna, D.C.

Sister Lisa Laguna, D.C. is originally from Southern California. She became a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul, Province of the West in 2003. She has served as a middle-school teacher and in school administration, working in inner city schools in East and South Los Angeles. Laguna also serves the Vincentian Family as national advisor for Vincentian Marian Youth, USA. In 2010 she was assigned to be vocation director for her province. A resident of the Bay Area of California, she has previously served as an NRVC regional coordinator.

Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D.

Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D., a native of Flint, Michigan, was ordained a priest of the Society of the Divine Word in 2000. He served at a parish in the Philippines from 2000-2002 before returning to the United States to serve in leadership at the Society’s Chicago headquarters. Since 2011, MacDonald has served as a vocation director, based at Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa. Since 2014, MacDonald has also been serving as vice-provincial superior for the Chicago Province. His younger brother, Timothy, is a priest of the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, while his older brother, Eben, is a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He has previously served on the NRVC Editorial Board and the Vocation Ambassador Design team. 

Sister Belinda Monahan, O.S.B.

Sister Belinda Monahan, O.S.B. has been a vocation minister for the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago since 2014 and was part of the vocation team for several years prior to that. She has helped her community integrate new technologies and methods for reaching potential discerners. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from Northwestern University and, in addition to her vocation ministry, serves as an archeologist. Her current research focuses on animal bones from the Tsaghakohvit Valley in Armenia, and she is currently completing a co-authored book on the ceramics from a fourth millennium site in Southeastern Turkey. Monahan also directs the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and acts as a spiritual companion for some of the students enrolled in the Christ the Teacher Institute at the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University. She was part of the writing team for the NRVC Women's Assessment Instrument.