BELMONT — The Sisters of Mercy-South Central Community has elected a five-member Community Leadership Team, comprising sisters currently serving in leadership. The election took place June 24 during the community's assembly in Concord, with some 275 sisters from 18 states, Guam and Jamaica attending.
Members of the leadership team, who will begin their next term Sept. 1, are (pictured at right): Mercy Sister Jane Hotstream, elected to a second term as president; Mercy Sister Mary Rose Bumpus, elected as the new vice president and currently serving as a team member; Mercy Sister Patricia Coward, team member; and Mercy Sister Linda Falquette and Mercy Sister Deborah Kern, team members.
Sister Mary Rose, Sister Patricia, Sister Linda, and Sister Deborah are currently on the leadership team. Before her election, Sister Mary Rose taught Christian spirituality at Seattle University. Sister Patricia is former assistant principal, coach and Holocaust educator at St. Vincent's Academy in Savannah, Ga. Sister Linda, a former math teacher, served as tuition and payroll coordinator at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo, Ohio, before her election. And Sister Deborah, a social worker, was executive director of Day Spring Inc., which serves adults with intellectual disabilities in Louisville, Ky.
At their assembly, the community also paid tribute to Mercy Sister Paulette Williams (pictured at right), whose term as vice president ends Aug. 31, concluding 24 years in elected leadership with the Sisters of Mercy. A native of Concord, Sister Paulette is former principal of Charlotte Catholic High School.
The Sisters of Mercy dedicate their lives to God through vows of poverty, chastity, obedience andservice.
For more than 150 years, motivated by the Gospel of Jesus and inspired by the spirit of their founder, St. Catherine McAuley, the Sisters of Mercy have responded to the changing needs of the times.
Through prayer and service, the sisters address the causes and effects of violence, racism, degradation of Earth and injustice to women and immigrants. The sisters serve in more than 200 organizations that work with those in need in the U.S., Central and South America, Jamaica, Guam and the Philippines.
— Photos provided by Beth Thompson, Sisters of Mercy-South Central Community