Keeping the rich heritage of religious orders alive in schools

An update on the work of ROE, the national association of founders or trustees of religious order schools in England and Wales:

By Sr Brenda Wallace FCJ 

              “When you say you would like to work in a school in trusteeship………you are saying that there is a group of people with a history and a community that you want to be part of.  You want to work for those people, you want to work alongside those people, you want to understand the history of the Order and of the schools and you want to be part of the future of those schools born out of that history. That is something very powerful and very strong. ……. You have the order of sisters, brothers or priests always behind you, supporting you in that role. This is absolutely invaluable and extraordinarily precious”.

Religious & lay people in collaboration: ROE Charism working group

              There are a number of striking aspects to these words – the fact that they were spoken by a lay head some twenty years after the last religious head of her school had retired is sufficient grounds for hope that the rich heritage of religious orders can continue to make a difference in our schools. Even more encouraging is that they were heard at the end of a wet November afternoon by 93 new senior leaders who had opted to take part in ROE’s inaugural webinar on charism. We were amazed and delighted by the number of senior leaders who wanted to participate; this in spite of all the additional stresses and strains on them caused by the pandemic. They came from schools and colleges in the trusteeship of twenty different religious orders. Focusing on charism and community, the symposium was the first of three webinars designed to help new senior leaders to reflect on the distinctive spirit of their founding order and to think about how it might shape their approach to their new role.  Their feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The next webinar on 16th March will explore charism and spirituality. ROE members attending the on-line plenary this month were delighted to hear of the success of this initiative. This work is at the heart of the mission of ROE and our vision  “to see 21st century Catholic education strengthened and enhanced by the distinctive charisms of religious orders continuing to animate and enrich the schools and colleges of which they are the trustees or founders.”

              ROE is also making progress on its other key project – looking into the possibility of setting up a collaborative trust for those religious orders who no longer feel able to carry alone the responsibility of trusteeship of their schools and colleges.  At our July plenary we had shared with members the guiding principles of such a trust and our vision of education.  In the breakout groups members spoke then of the vision as “powerful and aspirational” and resonated with the phrase “co-creators of a better world” and the desire for our young people to achieve excellence in both learning and in living. In the second year of this three year project, we have turned our attention to legal and financial issues.  In our plenary this month, we were able to share with members our preliminary thoughts on what the governance of the trust might look like and hear their views on some of the legal and financial aspects we have been researching.  Members were pleased to hear of the help and advice given to us by Paul Barber of the CES and by Paul Meany from Le Cheile.  There is much more work to do and we hope to have a business plan ready for the plenary in July 2021.

Sr Brenda Wallace at the launch of ROE

              “I enjoyed seeing and sharing with like-minded friends, once again feeling part of a larger whole and the support that comes from that.” This was a constant theme of the feedback after the recent plenary.  We were pleased to receive this and other similar comments.  They reflect our mission and purpose which is to “seek to work together collaboratively, responding creatively to the unfolding needs of our members.”

              At the end of the plenary we were reminded again of the inspiring words of Pope St. John Paul: “You have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount, but also a great history still to be accomplished! Look to the future where the Spirit is sending you in order to do even greater things.”

              If you would like to be involved in either of these two projects or if you would just like  further information on the work of ROE please contact either brendawallacefcj.roe@gmail.com or (for information about the charism group)     patriciagoodstadt.roe@gmail.com