Executive Director April Board Report Summary

Hello Dear Community,

I hope you all are enjoying watching spring unfold upon the prairie as much as I am. The coworkers, retreatants, and other community members share gratitude that we have this sacred place of Holy Wisdom Monastery in our lives. Holy Wisdom, the Sisters, the coworkers, the communities, the prairie and all that is held here is so full of hope, life, and love. I am inspired daily by the steadfast spirit of the place, how it saunters on in the face of despair, how it has for seven decades, and will continue to do so long after we are gone. Holy Wisdom is the definition of resilience, and I am honored to be a steward of its spirit during these complicated times when hope is needed as salve every day. At Holy Wisdom we find hope in abundance.

Before I turn to reporting on all the wondrous activity happening at this organization, I make an offering of poetry that I think represents our resilient spirit at Holy Wisdom.

When your heart is broken you plant seeds in the cracks, and you pray for rain.

~Andrea Gibson

I go down to the shore in the morning

And depending on the hour the waves

Are rolling in or moving out,

And I say, oh, I am miserable,

What shall-

What should I do? And the sea says

It its lovely voice:

Excuse me, I have work to do.

~Mary Oliver

Find below a summarized version of my recent Executive Director Report for the Board of Directors April Board Meeting. There is a lot of detail, but I have received much feedback that many of you enjoy hearing about the inner workings of the monastery.

As always my door is open, my inbox welcomes your note, and I would always love to see your face in my office.

Kindly,

Erin

April Executive Director Report Summary for Weekly Wisdom

Welcoming Groups and Events – I am always in awe of the diversity of groups we welcome here at Holy Wisdom. Find below a small sample of groups and programs we have hosted in just the last few weeks. Is there anywhere else in the world that can claim this diversity of interest and faith? Our recent groups include: Spring Emergence – a seasonal eco-spiritual retreat, Blackhawk Friends, Taizé Prayer, Trinity Episcopal Church, Snowflower Buddhist Silent Retreat, Daily Bread Club, Nourish the Nurturer Retreat, Madison Sufis, Kids on the Prairie, Sunday Assembly, Journey to Group Power, Sacred Thread, Holy Wisdom Conversations about our Benedictine Life, Drikung Kagyu Dharma Circle, Holy Wisdom Lent Series, Creating Backyard National Parks, Basket Weaving, Oblate Mini-Retreat, Driftless Creative Writers of Madison, Pastoral Leadership Revitalization, Madison Bach Musicians, Common Grounds Church, Crossview Church, Qigong Practice, Guided Sound Meditation, Viola da Gamba Society of America.

Program & Communications – In 2025 the Program Team has expanded its capacity and almost doubled the number of internal programs we are offering at the monastery, and the Marketing & Communications team has worked to promote all of these new programs. We are pleased both with the positive response we have received from our community, the waitlist-only registration for many programs, as well as the increase in revenue that continues to close the budget gap to hopefully bring us to a balanced budget within the multi-year plan I have outlined to the board. Join us at the Solar Tilt on May 18th when we invite the community to volunteer in tilting our solar panels to their summer position and celebrate the accomplishments of being a Net Zero organization. Erin, Toby and Sister Lynne were filmed by the Wisconsin Conservation Voters in a mini-doc form regarding our use of the IRA to fund our Net Zero Project.

Operations – we worked to update to a wireless doorbell, developed an Interaction with Immigration Officials Policy, trained our new Guest Services Assistant Malee Thor, updated menus, and installed new adjustable thermostats in RGH meeting rooms. The OEI grant is underway and funds should be received soon.

Mission Advancement – The Hispanic Ministry will have a mini fundraiser this spring to offer additional support during these challenging times for immigrant families. Our volunteer luncheon was a success when we honored approximately 70 volunteers who donate their time in a myriad of ways including on the prairie, board, hiring committees, reflection circles, kitchen help, homilists, presiders, lectors, greeters, finance committees, ad hoc committees, grant teams, Hispanic Ministry, Hospitality Team, folks who donated their talents as a monastery benefit offerings, and more. Please don’t forget the Spring Appeal – please make your annual Spring Appeal donation today! The monastery is funded almost 50% through donations. We know that your donations need to go further during these times, but we count on your spring gift to continue to work to weave prayer, hospitality, justice and care for the earth into a shared way of life.

Finance – 2024 finished strong financially. We surpassed both our fundraising goals and our revenue generating goals and were successful in controlling expenses. We decreased the deficit gap by 43% which has us far ahead of track to be in balance by 2029. We are thrilled with our improved financial position at the end of 2024 and it has everything to do with the support of our community! Thank you! In 2025 we welcomed our New Director of Finance; you can read more about Meghan Fessler in her recent letter to Weekly Wisdom, but we are thrilled with how in such a short time she has already worked to strengthen, support and advance our financial practices. She is exploring the TRENDS software, a program recommended by the monastic congregation to predict a healthy savings number for care of the sisters which includes a growing community. Our finance department successfully got through their 2024 audit to showcase strong financial health. She has worked to streamline credit card processes, strengthen other efficiencies and eliminate some redundancies. We are thrilled with her strong work and her Benedictine spirit of hospitality.

Land Management – Amy Alstad and the Land Management team have worked hard in recent months and achieved numerous successes. We won two grants, including with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for conservation practices and another with Food, Faith and Farming for garden support. The Annual Native Plant Sale underway that not only spreads the practice of replacing lawns with prairie, but also supports the monastery. Successfully prescribed burns have occurred over 12 acres of prairie and we seeded 3 acres of oak savanna. Lectures on Care of the Earth were given at UW Madison Environmental Science and St Dunstan’s on Holy Wisdom and Wisdom Prairie. We also hosted Backyard National Parks lecture. Winter and Spring prairie tours and over 30 participants at Kids on the Prairie. Stormwater swale work has begun to protect Lost Lake from development runoff and the cost has been arranged to be shared with Dane County. We are thrilled to be reinvigorating the sisters’ gardens this year and look forward to bringing Chef Felipe garden produce all summer. We also treated additional RGH windows to avoid bird collisions

Director of Music & Worship/Monastic Ritual Team/Sunday Assembly – We are thrilled that having Child Care available every Sunday during Sunday Assembly has resulted in a handful of families coming every week with their children. We hope to build on that momentum in 2025 and get the word out about Sunday Assembly for young families. Recent weeks have us busy supporting the important work of drafting a statement (Here We Stand) to find a way for the Sunday Assembly community to publicly take a stand as Christians within the current political climate. We are forming a Task Force on Inclusive Language to revise our Inclusive Language Policy last reviewed in 2012. We are so grateful to the Sunday Hospitality Team that provides consistent hospitality with coffee and cleanup each Sunday. Holy Week leading up to the busy and meaningful time of Easter is underway.

Center for Clergy Renewal – Recently we welcomed Cohort 5 consisting of 14 pastors for their winter immersion. Cohort 2 and 4 enjoyed a 5-day reunion, a practice we have seen more of which results in additional business for the monastery. We co-sponsored Prone to Wander. We are thrilled to announce that we have selected 18 members for Cohort 6 from 26 applicants nationwide. Spring has us working through our budget revision as we do the work to become financially viable as a program independent of our Lily Grant funding over the next five years.

Spiritual Nourishment – In recent weeks, we hosted the following programs: Lent Series, Spring Seasonal Retreat, Holy Week Silent Retreat, and the Conversation about our Benedictine Life.  Pam also is working hard to prepare for the Great Search, plan the Oblates June retreat and May mini-retreat. Pam and Rachel represented the monastery at the Lilly Grant Thriving Ministry in Indianapolis. This department also works with each department and coworker to ensure the Benedictine values are carried through in all we do as an organization.