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Presentation at the Benedictine Pedagogy Conference 2013 at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. Focus on challenges and opportunities for Benedictine institutions to work with their sponsoring monastic communities to enable continued sponsorship as numbers of monastic women and men decrease.
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Sustaining the Ministry
of SponsorshipSr. Edith Bogue, O.S.B., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Sociology
Sister Beverly Raway, O.S.B., Ph.D.Associate Professor, Nursing
Benedictine Pedagogy Conference 2013Benedictine University, Lisle IL
Sponsorship Considerations• CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS
―Monastery, College, US Population
• UNDERSTANDINGS OF SPONSORSHIP ―Formal relationship or Ministry
• PARTNERING FOR COMMON GOALS―Recruiting, Retaining
• SUSTAINING THE MINISTRY― Commitment, Goals, Collaboration
CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS
Seeing change
• A graphic presentation of one community’s growth and then decrease of membership.
• Each “dot” represents one sister, ranging in age from the teens on the left to the 90s on the right.
1892
1899
1909The community begins to think about extending its high school to include a college as well. “Sponsorship” is inherent in the Sisters’ ownership & roles.
1919
1929
1939
1949
1959
1969The College is beginning to grow after 25 years of stable size. Separately incorporated, Sisters now sit on Board, but exercise sponsorship through daily contact.
1979
1989
1996
2001
2006
2012
1969 and 2012 The monastic community is about 18% of its peak size. Fewer than 10 are employed in the College; others serve on the Board. The pool for the future is small.
This pattern is common in US
1965 1975 1985 1995 2000 2005 20120
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
200,000US Religious Men (Priests + Brothers) US Religious sisters
70% decrease
52% decrease
Center for Applied Research on the Apostolate Frequently Requested Statistics http://cara.georgetown.edu/CARAServices/requestedchurchstats.html
Colleges are growing …
The student body in 2012 is 800% of the size of that of 1965.
Differences among students
Traditional students: 25-30% are Catholic.
Online / extended studies students: About 13% report that they are Catholic.
1 in 3 Young Adults is a “None”Percent by Age Group
65+
50-64
30-49
18-29
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
9
15
21
32
90
84
77
67
Any religious affiliation Don't Know/Refused
AGE
GRO
UP
Aggregated from Pew Research Center Surveys January – July 2012https://twitter.com/pewforum/status/337618956355518467/photo/1
Changing student dynamics• Is there a critical mass of Catholic students?
Christian students? Religious students?
• How do the non-Catholic and the non-religious students affect sponsorship & charism?
• What about future lay faculty and staff?
Face of Catholicism is changing
• Generational differences within Catholics.
• Over half of Catholics under 40 are now Hispanic or members of other non-White racial or ethnic groups ―Contrasts with the northern European heritage of
most of our Benedictine communities
Shifting Demographics ofAmerican Catholics
65+
50-64
40-49
30-39
18-29
All Catholics
US General Public
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
78
70
60
47
44
61
66
16
24
32
47
47
32
15
5
7
8
7
9
7
19
White Hispanic OtherU.S. Catholics: Key Data from Pew Researchhttp://www.pewresearch.org/2013/02/25/u-s-catholics-key-data-from-pew-research/#popchange
CHANGINGUNDERSTANDINGOF SPONSORSHIP
Two Perspectives
“We are refocusing our commitment of sponsorship in ways that invite those who work with us to bear witness to Gospel values through deeds of love and service.”
-Annunciation Monastery
Sponsorship…is a formal relationship between a recognized Catholic organization and a legally formed entity, entered into for the sake of promoting and sustaining the Church’s mission in the world. -Canon Law Society of
America Committee on
Consecrated Life
“We, the women and men of the Church, are in the middle of a love story: each of us is a link in this chain of love…”
“When the Church wants to boast of its quantity and makes organizations, and makes offices and become somewhat bureaucratic, then the Church loses its main substance and is in danger of turning into an NGO.”
“And the Church is not an NGO. It's a love story ... Offices are required ... ok! but they are necessary up to a certain point: as an aid to this love story. But when organization takes first place, love falls down and the Church, poor thing, becomes an NGO. And this is not the way forward.”
Pope FrancisHomily, 24 April 2013
Sponsorship as ministry• Monastic communities founded colleges as a
way of sharing this Gospel “love story”
• As monastic ministry, sponsorship continues the Gospel love story and – when needed – may question a bureaucratic focus.
PARTNERING FOR COMMON GOALS
Recruitment
• “Cultural competence” ―“Everybody is ethnocentric. So what can we do about it?”―“The WEIRDest people in the world”
• Counter-cultural relevance ―“Your ways should not be the same as the world’s ways”―Respond to the emptiness and loneliness of modern life
Barger, Ken. (2008) Ethnocentrism. http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/ethnocen.htmHenrich et al (2010) The WEIRDest people in the world http://ssrn.com/abstract=1601785
Retention
• Mission-centered coordination with Benedictine or faith-based organizations for internships, service-learning, employment.
• College-Monastery coordination to prepare new monastics for roles, and structure roles to strengths of new members.
SUSTAINING THE MINISTRY
Sustaining: More than Surviving
• Commitment to sponsorship ministry
• Goals for sponsorship
• Developing the ministry of sponsorship―Formation for Benedictine communities―Formation for College / University communities
• Monasteries collaborating with each other to carry out the ministry of sponsorship.
A ministry of sponsorship can connect the monastery and the college so that they work together to build a future in which their shared love of learning carries the Gospel ‘love story’ into the future.
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