In 1998, Leadership Teams of five SNJM provinces - California, New
York, Ontario, Oregon, and Washington - made a commitment to a process
of Reconfiguration, with a view to revitalize and to enhance SNJM
ministry.
Early in 2003, the Leadership Teams established the Confluence
Committee to implement Reconfiguration in the spirit
of the directional statements to which 450 sisters and associates had
given shape
in 2002 at an interprovince gathering at Asilomar, CA. Since
then, many sisters of the five provinces (approximately 700 total) and
some associates (approximately 350 total) have gathered in different regions for
further reflection and focused conversation to continue the process.
The Confluence Committee's role is two-fold:
- To implement the directional statements related to reorganization;
- To oversee and integrate the work other committees would do to
further directional statements in the areas of ministry, finance and
membership. The Confluence Committee establishes other committees as
the reconfiguration task might require and seeks input from other
established interprovince committees.
The Vision for Reconfiguration on the Home Page captures the spirit and intent of the Reconfiguration process.
The Confluence Committee members are:
Sisters Emma Bezaire,
Lois MacGillivray, Sheila McEvoy, Pat Parachini and
Linda Riggers. Sister Peggy Kennedy is the liaison for the Congregational Leadership Team.
The Confluence Committee has been assisted in its work by the facilitation of Ms. Nancy
Issacson and Sister Barbara Valuckas, SSND.
More information about the individual provinces and the Congregation of
the Sisters of the Holy Names may be found at: www.snjm.org
ABOUT THE CONFLUENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Emma Bezaire is a member of the Residence Leadership Team
at Holy Names Residence in Windsor, ON. Emma has been a teacher,
Vocation /Formation Directress, Co-foundress of an Inter-Congregational
Spirituality Centre for 13 years, served on the Province Leadership
Team in Ontario. Baking, gardening and reading are some ways of feeding
spirit and soul. Speaks fluently in French and English. Emma is the
third eldest of nine from LaSalle,ON.
Sheila Mc Evoy lives in Spokane Washington at Mission
House near the Gonzaga Campus. She has been a grade school teacher, a
principal and held various administrative positions including seven
years at Boston College where she directed a sabbatical program for
Priests, Brothers and Sisters. During that time she lived with
Religious of the Sacred Heart who were in the midst of reconfiguration.
More recently Sheila was the Director of Immaculate Heart Retreat House
in Spokane and just completed seven years as the Coordinator of the
SEEL (Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life) in Spokane. 2003 was a
jubilee year for her. The experience of sharing in cross-province
meetings and gatherings has enriched Sheila and been a source of energy
and forms one of the motives for her involvement in the
Reconfiguration/revitalization process.
Lois MacGillivray entered the Congregation in California
in 1955. After teaching in the elementary grades for nine years, she
studied sociology and focused her research initially on factors that
affected the delivery of services in cities. She was president of Holy
Names College in Oakland for 10.5 years, and is now back to studying
the service delivery to underserved populations. Right now the group of
special interest is youth offenders and ways to help them prepare for
employment.
Pat Parachini is a full time member of the Confluence
Committee and served on 3 other SNJM inter-province committees
previously. For 6 years Pat ministered in a hospital in pediatric
oncology and intensive care. Pat served as a seminary professor of
pastoral theology &
homiletics, a spiritual director & formation advisor in diocesan
and
Paulist seminaries for 16 years. Pat has been a middle and high school
teacher,a Director of Religious Education
and a resource person for a Catechetical Center in
Kyoto, Japan. Pat made short-term "mission" visits to Nicaragua and
Ecuador and studied Spanish in Mexico for a summer.
Linda Riggers is currently a member of the Washington
Province Leadership Team. She bases herself in Seattle to be more
available to Sisters and Associates in Western Washington. The
Confluence Committee work is her priority focus. Linda has served on
the Montreal-based SNJM Congregational Leadership Team and has been an
elementary school teacher and principal in Washington State cities of
Spokane, Seattle, and Tacoma and in Ontario, Oregon. Music is her
avocation and means of expressing her spirit.
