Dear Sisters and Friends,

In the current issue of Update we included our description of a Mission Advancement Office and the mandate we had imagined would guide its launching and direct its initial work:

The Mission Advancement Office fosters communication and collaboration among a wide range of people involved in the Province’s mission and promotes fund raising and other efforts that strengthen and extend the mission. The Office serves the priority programs and projects identified in Province planning…and provides education to the public and to members of the Province about the relationship of particular ministries to the whole thus unifying the mission and communicating a clear, contemporary message about the Society and its identity today. The Office encourages local initiative among members and collaborators in mission advancement, participation in its efforts and the sharing of expertise around the Province. At the same time it provides coordination and assures quality of Province communications and fund-raising.

As we crafted this mandate one person kept coming to mind, a Religious of the Sacred Heart who embodies in her person and her ministry a deep commitment to the Society’s mission, an ability to articulate the spirituality which is at its foundation, an array of gifts of mind and heart, excellent administrative skills and long experience with mission advancement in several institutions, most recently at the Rosary. To our delight, Sister Shirley Miller has accepted to become the first Director of the Office of Mission Advancement for the United States Province.

Shirley steps down as Headmistress in July, 2003, and will begin her ministry for the Province after a well-deserved break. She will meet with the Team in March to imagine the next steps that she and we will need to take to have such an office up and running. We will also talk about ways that Shirley can familiarize herself with current Province ministries and we will explore how her appointment and this new Mission Advancement Office will dovetail with Province planning for our future.

We are deeply grateful to Shirley for accepting this appointment with her characteristic generosity and enthusiasm and we truly count on your prayers for this new and important venture.

In the Heart of Christ,

Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ Provincial