|
MinistryEducation MinistryIn the 1880s, Bishop Martin Marty asked the Presentation Sisters in Ireland to come to Dakota Territory and teach children of the Lakota Sioux and European settlers. In 1886, Father Haire invited the Sisters to open the first school in Aberdeen. An education ministry that has spanned 120-plus years began when the Presentation Sisters responded to this invitation. Two hundred thirty-two Presentation Sister teachers have touched the lives of over 300,000 students over the years. Today the Presentation Sisters can be found ministering to the needs of those in all walks of life, yet they remain grounded in their first ministry: education. The face of their education ministry has grown to include education in primary and secondary schools, colleges, parishes, ESL classes, hospitals, seminars and other venues where education is a key component. The Presentation Sisters also sponsor Presentation College in Aberdeen. 
WHY IS EDUCATION MINISTRY IMPORTANT
TO THE PRESENTATION SISTERS?Nano Nagle, our Irish foundress, began her ministry by teaching children when Ireland’s Penal Laws forbade it. Her belief in the power and importance of education has spanned the centuries and continues to shape the ministry of Presentation Sisters around the world. Through education people are better equipped to answer the challenges with which they are faced. Education is the underlying fabric that weaves itself into all of the Presentation ministries. WHY DO I FIND FEWER SISTERS IN MINISTRY IN THE TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM SETTING?Our mission is to go where there is the greatest need for their apostolic service. When the Presentation Sisters came to South Dakota, the greatest need of the people living in the area was for education. As the years have passed, many other needs have arisen that have led our sisters to a broader spectrum of service. In addition, as more teachers came to the area, the need in education was able to be met by non-vowed religious, allowing us to concentrate more of our resources on additional needs of the people.
featured sister
Sister Joyce Meyer
 Presentation Sister Joyce Meyer’s role as executive director of the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters allows her to support efforts of sisters throughout the world in their work in healthcare, social services and education.
“I direct the work of a foundation that receives applications from women religious for funding for projects with the poor worldwide,” Sister explains. “My personal hands-on work is visiting sites where sisters are directly involved with the poor and making recommendations for priorities regarding their projects. Since women are the least educated in the world and they are responsible for the children, that is where our focus lies.”
For eight years Sister Joyce has been both teacher and healer to women around the globe. She shows the sisters how to access much needed resources to support their ministries to the most destitute in the world. Through this interaction she is also called upon to be a healer as she listens to each woman’s story and provides encouragement and support.
“I visit many sisters who work in very remote areas of the world. I am a minister to the ministers,” says Sister Joyce.
Visiting projects of sisters in Sudan, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo left a lasting impression on Sister Joyce. She will never forget the homeless families surrounded by garbage and sewage or the children with little or no access to food, clothing, healthcare or education. She met women who had been raped and left with babies and no shred of dignity. Through her work, Sister Joyce tries to make a difference for these oppressed people as she enables groups of women religious to find funding for ministry efforts that reach out to individuals most in need.
Sister Joyce finds her call to a religious vocation integral to her ministry. “My work with sisters worldwide who are involved with the poor makes me very proud to be a part of this body of women religious,” she says. “I witness sisters taking amazing risks with their own lives to help. Sometimes when I read about the desperate poverty described in applications for funding I am moved to tears. I wonder at the disparities among the nations, yet am awestruck by the dedication of sisters worldwide.”
Sister Joyce travels throughout the world, but she is based in California. While she currently resides hundreds of miles from her Aberdeen Presentation Sisters, she lives in an inter-congregational community of sisters in Los Angeles. In this group she is able to find spiritual support and a sense of community with others who share common values of prayer and community life. She keeps in touch via e-mail and phone calls with her community in South Dakota. She also attends gatherings of two California-based congregations of Presentation Sisters and returns to Aberdeen for major congregational gatherings.
|
Schools where sisters have taughtPresentation Academy,
Aberdeen, S.D. (1888-1914)
Sacred Heart,
Aberdeen, S.D. 1914-1983
Holy Family (Notre Dame),
Mitchell, S.D. 1898-1988
St. Lawrence,
Milbank, S.D. 1900-1992
St. Mary’s, Elkton, S.D. 1900-1933
St. Peter, Jefferson, S.D. 1902-1984
St. Stephen,
Bridgewater, S.D. 1904-1968
St. Anthony, Bristol, S.D. 1908-1968
St. Mary’s,
Dell Rapids, S.D. 1910 - 1999
All Saints, Andover, S.D. 1916-1921
Perpetual Help,
Marion, S.D. 1920-1933
St. Anne,
Humboldt, S.D. 1921-1968
St. Thomas,
Madison, S.D. 1928-1995
St. Martin (St. Theresa’s),
Huron, S.D. 1929-1991
St. Peter,
White Lake, S.D. 1933-1938
Kindergarten in old convent, Aberdeen, S.D. 1936-1969
Our Lady of the Lake,
Mound, Minn. 1940-1986
St. Mary’s, Willmar, Minn. 1941-1971
St. Stephen, Anoka, Minn. 1945-1982
St. Mary’s, Sioux Falls, S.D.
1949-1991
Presentation High School,
Aberdeen, S.D. 1954-1956
St. Mary’s, Salem, S.D. 1961-1963
St. Pius, Bowie, Md. 1962-1965
Holy Spirit, Mitchell, S.D. 1963-1984
Sacred Heart,
Miles City, Mont. 1963-1984
Roncalli High School,
Aberdeen, S.D. 1964-1991
Holy Trinity, Winsted, Minn.
1970-1984
O’Gorman High School,
Sioux Falls, S.D. 1961-2005
Immaculate Conception,
Watertown, S.D. 1981-1993 COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES WHERE PRESENTATION SISTERS HAVE SERVED
Notre Dame Jr. College, Mitchell, S.D. 1922-1951
Presentation College, Aberdeen, S.D. 1951-present Other colleges and universities where Presentation Sisters have served over the years:
Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Aquinas Institute of Theology, Dubuque, Iowa; Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa; Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, S.D.; Loyola University, New Orleans, La.; Lutheran Northwestern Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.; National American University, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Rochester Community College, Rochester, Minn.; Sioux Falls College, Sioux Falls, S.D.; South Dakota State University, Brookings, S.D; Southwest State University, Marshall, Minn.; St. Mary College, O’Fallon, Mo.; St. Mary’s University, Mankato, Minn.; St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minn.; Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio; University of Kansas, Kansas City, Mo.; University of Minnesota, Moorhead, Minn.; University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.; Worthington Community College, Worthington, Minn. Technical Colleges: Alexandria, Canby, Hutchinson, Mankato, Pipestone, St. Cloud, Willmar and LeSueur, Minn.
|
