Dear Holy Wisdom Community, I received an overwhelmingly positive response to continue to include a summary of my Board Executive Director Report in Weekly Wisdom. The Board met last Thursday, please find a summary of my report below. As always please find my door open, my inbox welcoming to email and my willingness to find time to connect with you over tea or coffee about ideas, feedback or support. Sincerely, Erin Summary of ED Activity Since Previous Board Meeting – 11/21/2024 Welcoming Groups and Events – Guest Services continues to work hard welcoming groups and events. Here is a list …
New books in the library—December 2024
Enrich your mind and spirit—visit the monastery library! December 2024 The monastery library added the following books to its collection: Armstrong, Karen. Sacred nature. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2022. Brink, Laurie. The Heavens are telling the glory of God. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2022. Delio, Illia. The Not-Yet God. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2023. Johnson, Elizabeth. Come, have breakfast. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2024. O’Murchu, Diarmuid. Ecological spirituality. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2024. Oliver, Mary. Devotions. New York: Penguin Press, 2017. Potos, Andrea. Her joy becomes. Newberg, OR: Fernwood Press, 2002. Potos, Andrea. Marrow of summer. American Fork, UT: Kelsay …
Manato Jansen’s Homily from November 17, 2024
Apocalyptic texts don’t always provide us with the most upliftingimages. And this week we’ve got two! Our Hebrews lectionary textfinds itself bookended by Daniel 12 and Mark 13. It’s an apocalypsesandwich that is difficult to stomach… Today’s gospel text is often interpreted solely as a propheticvoice of what is about to happen to our world today. However, biblicalscholar Joy J. Moore reminds us that Mark 13 was an account of whathas happened to the first century readers and early church. A coupledecades after Jesus’s death and resurrection, the Romans stormedthe city of Jerusalem and decimated the temple, leaving no stoneupon …
Introducing the new CCR director
Dear Community of Communities, It is with deep gratitude and reverence for the members of the search committee, the Sisters, the Board of Directors and the gentle, but persistent pull of the Spirit, that I have accepted the position to be the new Director of the Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery. I will begin on January 6, 2025. I am a resident of Milwaukee, where I have served two congregations and, for the past 14 years, have been the Lutheran campus pastor at UW-Milwaukee. My husband, Kurt, is an architect working in campus planning at Marquette University. My …
Roberta Felker’s Homily for November 3, 2024
Holy Wisdom Monastery All Saints All Souls, November 3, 2024 Roberta Felker Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21: 1-6a; John 11:32-44 Today, with faith communities across the world, we celebrate the feast of All Saints All Souls. We are invited to recall our membership in the Communion of Everyday Saints and the promise of God’s ultimate victory over loss, sorrow, and death. In this morning’s reading from Isaiah, God hosts a feast for all people where every tear is wiped away and death itself is swallowed up—a vision echoed in Revelation, where a new heaven and a new earth reveal God’s intimate, …
2024 Annual Meeting Recap
Last Sunday, community members gathered in a packed dining room for Holy Wisdom Monastery’s Annual Meeting. The sisters, board, and coworkers want to say thank you to everyone who attended and took the time to hear important updates and stay in touch with the vision and needs of our organization. We hope the meeting was informative, transparent, hopeful, and even fun! Issues with our internet connection did not allow us to record the meeting via Zoom as we had planned. But for those who could not be there, we’d like to offer our slides, a handout, a video and the …
Reflections on My Time at Holy Wisdom Monastery
By Rev. Merlyn Lawrence I don’t know where I learned about the Clergy Renewal Program at HWM, but when I read what it was about, it spoke to my very weary soul. I realized that in my social work career, in my roles in professional and grassroots communities, and in my life as an ordained minister, I have been in leadership, consultant, and teacher positions providing guidance and support to my peers and congregation. And the pandemic did not help at all. I was exhausted and dangerously tired. All that I dreamed of the CCR program, came to fruition. I …
Paul Knitter’s Homily from October 27, 2024
SALVATION: “LET ME SEE AGAIN” Revelation rather than Transaction Since we Christians call Jesus our Savior, the question might also be posed as: How do you want me to save you?
Executive Director Board Report
Submitted by Erin Trondson, executive director Dearest Holy Wisdom Community, At our recent board meeting it was suggested that I offer a summary of my Board Executive Director Report for Weekly Wisdom. This report gives a peek behind the curtain of the day to day at Holy Wisdom Monastery. As a Community of Communities, it is easy to become siloed and fail to see beyond the walls of our own community. As Coworkers we work beyond our silos by gathering weekly for what we call our Same Page Session Meetings where we spend a quick thirty-minute highlighting what is all …
New books in the library—November 2024
Enrich your mind and spirit—visit the monastery library! November 2024 The monastery library added the following books to its collection: Armstrong, Karen. Sacred nature. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2022. Brink, Laurie. The Heavens are telling the glory of God. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2022. Delio, Illia. The Not-Yet God. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2023. Johnson, Elizabeth. Come, have breakfast. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2024. O’Murchu, Diarmuid. Ecological spirituality. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2024. Oliver, Mary. Devotions. New York: Penguin Press, 2017. Potos, Andrea. Her joy becomes. Newberg, OR: Fernwood Press, 2002. Potos, Andrea. Marrow of summer. American Fork, UT: Kelsay …