An Invitation to Circular Leadership

“Mary is truly a mentor of accompaniment; she is faithful, courageous, willing to engage those who are in her midst, seeks the will of God at all times, listens actively, loves deeply, acknowledges the limits of her wisdom and guidance, and knows the joys and sorrows of the spiritual journey.  Because of her accompaniment, many in the Gospels are emboldened by Mary, such as Christ at the Wedding Feast of Cana or the disciples in the upper room.  Mary’s witness to a life out of love for God inspires and calls others to take up their mission to bring about the Kingdom of God” (The Art of Accompaniment, p. 102). 

The IHM Associate Relationship unites members and nonmembers of the congregation in an evolving journey which has the potential to widen and strengthen the bonds of mutuality for the sake of Jesus’s mission and the living out of the IHM charism in the spirit of Saint Alphonsus. 

The Associate Leadership Development Committee has created a new leadership manual for our associates. Associates will be invited to join a new adventure with shared leadership and synodality as the hallmarks. Last year associates April King and Alice Turner provided two virtual opportunities for our associates to explore and embrace the call to become a “servant leader” by delving deeper into the heart and spirt of the Beatitudes. The new leadership manual further invites our associates to become actively engaged in the three pillars of the synodal process: participation expressed through a style of co-responsibility; communion, with Christ at the center, focused on the mission of Jesus Christ and commitment to the poor and abandoned. 

The new leadership manual invites our associates to prayerfully embark on an exciting and new faith-sharing experience with others that actively engages in the dynamics of Circular Leadership – encounter, listening, discernment, participation and accountability. Both synodality and circular leadership are invitations to create a new church and a new world through accompaniment. This new vision creates a shared participatory model rooted in mutual respect and collective wisdom.

Grounded in the IHM Core Values of Rootedness in God, Community, Respect for Diversity, Justice, and Wholeness, this new IHM Associate Leadership Manual will empower associates to create a new church and new world. This manual will equip them with the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to become an effective servant leader actively immersed in circular leadership within the synodal process. Participants will receive guidance and accompaniment from the members of the Leadership Development Committee as they experience servant leadership within a community of disciples.

May the following prayer below inspire, challenge, and be a source of strength and grace as you begin anew journey. 

May you know the wisdom of deep listening, the healing of wholesome words, the encouragement of the appreciative gaze, the decorum of held dignity, the springtime edge of the bleak question. May you have a mind that loves frontiers so that you can evoke the bright fields that lie beyond the view of the regular eye. May you have good friends to mirror your blind spots. May leadership be for you a true adventure of growth.

The St. Petersburg Associates came together on June 9 to catch up with what was going on in their lives, as well as to begin studying the new IHM Direction Statement and how it pertains to them in their lives. They also said, “good bye” to Sister Lisa
Perkowski as she prepares to “head north” to begin her new role in leadership. They encouraged her to remain in the group and she promised she would try!

Photo: L-R standing: Sister Flo Marino, Sheri Scheutzow, Beverly Capanna, and Dee Prendergast. L-R seated: Sister Lisa, Jane Shafer, Rose Coryn. On Zoom: Amy Kinnard and Mary Lynn Delfino. (Associate not present, Joan Morey). Please pray for Joan Morey as she celebrates her 90th birthday on June 30.