Annual Gathering 2023-Celebrating 40 Years
~ Sr Kathy Carpenter, Walsenburg, Co,,Sr Therese Izzo Nemec, Appleton, WI and Sr. Carol Haanen, Appleton, WI
With the hospitality of St. Thomas More Parish, Appleton, WI, we interspersed business, spirituality, food and fun. This year’s theme was “The Christ within us, among us, all around and beyond us.” Shannon Callies led an exercise session, “Breath of God”, focusing on breathwork, strength, flexibility, and balance for “The Christ within us.” Throughout the days we did mini exercise-breaks with spiritual connections.
Sisters Therese Izzo Nemec and Carol Haanen developed a PowerPoint for “The Christ among us.” A photo of each member with a scenic/religious background was on the screen. As Sr. Mary Peters provided music, we prayed for each member, then wrote a prayerful affirmation. This interspersed, project covered two days.
Our moderator, Sr. Diane Baumann, led a process to find common ground in God, other members, community, and ministry. Each person wrote her own beliefs and shared them in a small group to find similarities. Later two groups joined to share common beliefs. Finally, the whole group surfaced insights on our common grounds to build unity.
With a profound PowerPoint, Sr. Kathy Carpenter presented “The Christ all around and beyond us.” She included aspects of our very being, our deceased members, all creation, the Universe, Eucharist, and the Spirit that sends us to ministry and presence.
Sisters Florence, Marita, and Mary Barbara led the fun of celebrating our history, and membership with a guessing game of each other’s truths and lies. Camouflaged gifts were swapped and stolen till everyone got the same gift and ice cream with fancy petit fours.
Receiving the prayer notes in the commissioning rite ended our Gathering. Members afar received their notes the following week. Thank you to Jodi Spence and Michele Last’s catering, the kitchen crew, setup, take down and all who helped make this Annual Gathering awesome!
We met with Bishop Wycislo to determine what was canonically needed to start a new community. The one meeting turned into many meetings. A very patient Bishop Wycislo worked with us and his canon lawyer to birth A New Genesis Community. What I recall was Bishop’s desire to keep us in his diocese and to help us discern what the Holy Spirit had in mind. At this same time, we were gathering with others with the same vision trying to express what this new community would look like.
MEMORIES OF BISHOP WYCISLO
~Sr. Stephanie Spence, Appleton WI
What a blessing from God that 2023 marks our 40th anniversary as a community!! Back in 1982, Sr. Mary Ramone Blahnik, Sr Mary Bride Grubbs, Sr. Ann Kelly and I had been praying for a year about forming a community in the Diocese of Green Bay. We made a religious leadership retreat at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Wernersville, PA and received some tools for forming a community.
The hardest thing was to decide on a title for the community. After four months of no meetings due to a severe winter, we finally met on March 25,1982, at St. Matthew Convent where Diann Wimmer was living. After visiting and socializing (we had missed each other), we prayed, shared and discerned the name of the community-- A New Genesis. This idea came from an article in Sisters Today Magazine about A New Genesis in Religious Life.
A New Genesis-- a name inspired by the love of God over- flowing into creation. With the help of the Spirit, we felt called to make something new.
Members rededicate themselves during Mass.
A New Genesis Celebrates 40 Year ~Sr. Stephanie Spence, Appleton, WI
On June 6, A new Genesis Community celebrated its fortieth anniversary with a Mass. Bishop David Ricken presided at Mass assisted by Fr. William O’Brien and Fr. Larry Seidl. Dcn. Lincoln Wood served as Deacon. Connie Merrick was the cantor and accompanist. The Bowman-Barnes children, Ezra, Jayde and Seth, graciously agreed to be our servers.
During the homily, Bishop encouraged us to wait for the small breeze of God’s presence in our lives. The readding from Philippians is a good rule for Christian community to show they care for and serve one another. And the finale is the Parable of the vine and the branches from John’s gospel that keeps us connected to the source of all goodness and love. After the homily, the community members stood and renewed their dedication to God, community and service. This prayer is posted in the Prayer section of this website.
After communion, Sr. Diane Baumann, community Moderator, thanked the assembly for coming, for celebrating God’s goodness with us and our profound awe and amazement that the Lord has worked through us for 40 years. She invited all to attend the reception in the Fr. Falk Fellowship Hall. Before the meal, Sr. Stephanie Spence and Sr. Therese Nemec presented a program of gratitude and recalled many of God’s blessings over the past 40 years.