The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth are re-envisioning the way the religious congregation approaches building relationships and inspiring vocations, said Sister of Charity of Nazareth Barbara Flores.
The congregation recently created a new ministry — the Office of Charity Connections — to build this vision.
Sister Flores, provincial of the Western Province, which encompasses the congregation’s efforts in the United States and Belize, described the new ministry — and its roots — during a recent interview.
It began in 2022, she said, when the sisters in the Western Province began discerning through discussion and prayer how to “invite others to respond to God’s call and to join us in life, mission and ministry.”
The Office of Charity Connections “was a result of the discernment that we had with regard to how to do that,” she said.
It’s “how we see ourselves continuing to go forward” in response to the “reality of our congregation” and the decline in membership to vowed religious life in the United States, she said.
The office intends to invite individuals to “explore new and meaningful ways of living the charity charism,” she said. It will allow the sisters to “extend that invitation to as many people as possible.
While the sisters still “give priority to vocation promotion,” to vowed religious life, the focus of the office is to “look at the word vocation, with a small ‘v,’ ” she said.
The Second Vatican Council reminded Catholics that all of the baptized are called “to engage our faith with our life,” she said. “We are all called to that, and we live our vocation, certainly in different ways.”
For some, this call is to deepen their work in their parishes, and for others, the call may be towards involvement with a religious congregation, she said.
“People’s desire to be of service and to be involved is just beautiful to watch.”
— Sister of Charity of Nazareth Barbara Flores
The Office of Charity Connections is intended to be a “conduit” to help individuals discern how to respond to a call to a deeper relationship with the charism of the sisters, said Sister Flores.
The office is “the place that you come to if there’s a level of interest,” said Jacqueline Rapp, who is serving as the office’s first director. It’s “about building relationships with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.”
Rapp’s role, as director, is to help individuals discern through their “desire to be connected to the sisters,” whether that’s through vowed religious life or other means, she said. “I work to help people discern which direction they want to be connected with the sisters.”
The congregation is still accepting women into vowed religious life, noted Rapp. Currently, more than 75 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth live in the Archdiocese of Louisville, serving in various ministries and capacities.
But that’s not the only way to get involved. The congregation began offering “Companions of Charity” in 2023. A “companion of charity” chooses to live and work with the sisters for three to 12 months. The program has hosted two women thus far, said Sister Flores.
The sisters also welcome individuals to get involved in their efforts through volunteerism, such as disaster relief efforts in the U.S. and building homes in Belize, said Rapp.
Another opportunity for engagement is becoming a Sisters of Charity associate, she said.
“The associates are lay people who choose to live the charism of the sisters” in their lives and workplaces, she said.
Associates receive one to three years of formation and usually make three-year commitments, she said. They can be men or women, and they do not have to be Catholic, said Sister Flores.
Currently, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth have 143 associates in the U.S., 60 of whom live in the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Seeing lay people “partner in mission” with the sisters is “heartening,” said Sister Flores. “People’s desire to be of service and to be involved is just beautiful to watch.”
The “call of lay leadership” is “strengthening” in the current global church, she said. “It’s calling us back to who we are called to be … as baptized Christians, and as members of this church, and it’s exciting to see that this is what is happening.”
