December 2013
Dear Members of the Religious Formation Conference,
For 60 years …
Rooted in the Mission of Jesus: Reaching Out to the Margins
The theme of our 2013 Congress is also the sacred heritage of the Religious Formation Conference of which your congregation is a member. It reflects the Conference and your congregation’s shared commitment to the initial and lifelong formation of religious women and men, who follow Jesus all of their days and spend themselves in his mission. On the cusp of our anniversary year, I invite you to renew your congregation’s membership in the Religious Formation Conference, the only national organization serving all members of religious congregations.
Membership in the Conference is by Religious Institute/Government Unit. Thus, upon your renewal, every member of your Religious Institute/Government Unit is a member of the RFC, and enjoys the benefits such membership entails. The two persons (leadership/formation) whom you designate on the Renewal Form will receive all RFC electronic mailings directly. Others in your Institute/Government Unit can also receive these materials directly for an additional fee of $70. We encourage you to find appropriate ways to share all RFC materials, including the quarterly bulletin InFormation, with other members of your Congregation.
In 2013 the Conference concluded its very successful three year program, The Transformation of Religious Life in North America: An Action-Oriented Initiative. A Facilitator Guide, drawn from the Transformation workshops, was prepared to assist those engaged in the work of congregational transformation. We have recently begun a series of webinars treating such topics as communal discernment, the emotional journey to fullness of life, and the gift of vowed life, and we are planning an exciting calendar of anniversary events for 2014. All this, and still more, is available to members of the Religious Formation Conference.
The Membership Renewal Form accompanying this letter details our fee scale for the coming year. The modest increase you will see reflects our attempt to keep fees as reasonable as possible while attending to increasing demands for Conference services and consequent rising costs. If our fees for 2014 pose a significant difficulty for you, please contact me in writing.
At the Board meeting following Congress 2013, an ad hoc committee was formed to study our fee scale and recommend a change for 2015. We will consult with representative congregations during the course of this study.
It is our privilege to continue the service to vowed religious begun by a group of visionary women religious sixty years ago. The collaborative venture they initiated continues today in ways they could hardly have imagined. We thank you, our members, for your participation in this adventure. We look forward to receiving the renewal of your membership in the Religious Formation Conference and we wish you every blessing.
Sincerely,
Violet Grennan, mfic
Executive Director
