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.