LCWR Call
for 2010 - 2015

The Spirit of God is upon us.
God has anointed us
To bring good news to the poor
To proclaim release to the captives
To bring recovery of sight to the blind
To let the oppressed go free
To proclaim this, our age,
As a time of God's favor.
-- Based on Luke 4: 18-19

Prologue

We, the members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, believe that God's call is written in the signs of our time. Our foremothers and founders stepped into the chaos and the unknown of their day, trusting in God's good guidance and great providence. In our time, we are called to do the same. Inspired by the radical call of the Gospel, led by God's Spirit and companioned by one another, we embrace our time as holy, our leadership as gift, and our challenges as blessings.

In this time of God's favor, we live in a world where

•  Major social and global changes create fear, anxiety, confusion, and polarization
•  Technology, communication, and information shrink time and distances among peoples
•  Inaccessibility to basic resources breeds suffering, oppression and violence
•  Increasingly, violence, military force and terrorist activity are used to settle disputes
•  Multinational corporations exert control over legitimate governments
•  Religion is used to justify political and personal aggression
•  Environmental degradation threatens all of God's creation

And where people

•  Long for justice, peace and communion
•  Work to achieve the common good
•  Hunger for spirituality and meaning
•  Claim personal and communal power for change
•  Awaken to the wonder of the universe, and the place of humans within it

In this time of God's favor, we belong to a church

Whose members
•  Struggle to love the Church as both graced and sinful
•  Strive to balance traditional teachings with changing realities
•  Seek to be a more inclusive, welcoming community
•  Hunger for spirituality and the full expression of their baptismal call

And whose leaders
•  Experience the pressing impact of a rapidly evolving world and universe
•  Struggle with growing diversity in members' views, cultures, and religious practices
•  Are confronted with their own humanity and sinfulness
•  Bear the call to create structures that free the Church for the ways of God's Spirit
•  Carry the responsibility of being welcoming, accountable, and inclusive pastors to all God's People

In this time of God's favor, we lead congregations experiencing

•  An evolving Church, world and universe
•  Major shifts in identity, resources, members, and traditional ministries
•  Diversity of cultures, worldviews, and theologies
•  Restructuring within and among congregational units
•  A growing desire for contemplation, balance, and simplicity
•  Need and hope for dialog with Church's leaders and inclusion in its processes
•  Emerging forms of religious commitment
•  Growing collaboration with the laity
•  Deepened appreciation of and commitment to the created world as holy

In response to these real it ies, we, the members of LCWR, hear God's call and comm it ourselves for the next five years to two major undertakings:

Contemporary Religious Life

Commission the LCWR board and national office to actively read the signs of the times from a gospel perspective, assume an anticipatory role in understanding the implications for religious life, and bring the emerging questions, issues, and trends to the attention of the members. These questions will inform the planning of the programs, services, and resources offered to LCWR members to assist them in their ministry of leadership.

Effectiveness of the Conference

Commission the LCWR national board and national office to develop a strategic operational plan for the conference in order to maximize it s life and effectiveness in light of it s demographic and financial real it ies.

Affirmed by the National Assembly in August 2009 in New Orleans.

View the LCWR Call 2004- 2009 as a PDF document