Posted January 27, 2025 in Articles
Author: Sue Angell
On a cold day in January, a shuttlebus full of nine Oberlin College students braved Ohio’s snowy weather to visit with the sisters at Merici Crossings. The students were part of a Winter Term project organized by Cindy Frantz, chair of the Psychology Department at Oberlin College. Their goal: to learn more about how the sisters have built an intentional community and how they navigate the challenges of living together in that community.
Frantz created the intensive course to help students better understand the very human need to belong and how intentional communities can satisfy this need.
“The need to belong is a fundamental psychological need,” says Frantz. “Yet its difficult to create an inclusive community where all members feel that they belong. I wanted to help students learn the skills that will allow them to build community in their daily lives by showing them how different groups approach this challenge.”
Joining the students were Sisters Susan Bremer, Laura Bregar, Anne Marie Diederich, Noel Marra, Cheryl Mentkowski, Diane Therese Pinchot, Sheila Marie Tobbe, and Ritamary Welsh. Each sister explained what drew them to the Ursuline community initially and answered questions from the students regarding their lives in the community today.
For Sister Susan, there was little choice but to join the community. “The Ursulines raised me. I had Ursulines as teachers from grade school all the way through high school,” she says. “After that, the drive was simply within me to join the community.”
Being influenced by Ursulines at a young age was a common thread among all the sisters, although Sister Anne Marie adds: “We didn’t enter the Ursuline community for community. It’s more that we were called to a higher purpose and had to find a way to live that out, together.”
The sisters also introduced the students to Angela Merici, explaining that she founded the order in the 15th century to help women. Feeling that the church was failing women at that time, she created a way for herself and her companions to live out the gospel values, Sister Cheryl explained. This revolutionary mindset still permeates the order today, its essence described by Sister Laura as “dynamic adaptability.”
“As we’ve gotten older, we’ve had to roll with the punches,” Sister Susan says. “We can no longer do many of the things we used to do, but we’ve found new ways to minister and new people to collaborate with to keep the Ursuline charism alive.”
Sister Laura adds: “Dynamic adaptability gives us the space we need to come together in community!”
After a shared lunch, in which the Oberlin College students were introduced to even more of the sisters living at Merici Crossings, the sisters and students broke off into small groups to tackle the question of what an ideal community looks like.
Surprisingly, the students discovered that many of the characteristics they saw as “ideal” aligned with the sisters’ vision, too.
“I think community is a place where people can disagree with each other respectfully and still feel like they belong,” said Emily Young OC ’26. Her classmate, Victoria Adair OC ’26 added: “Community is a place where you feel mutual respect and don’t have to fear judgement. You can be in conflict, but you know that you will resolve the problems you face together.”
Following that train of thought, Sister Diane Pinchot said: “Community is a place where you can grow together.” And Sister Ritamary added: “It’s a place where you can come together honestly and accept people where they are in their lives.”
The students and sisters agreed that listening is the key to building community, along with open-mindedness and curiosity. But Sister Sheila added, differences are important, too. “We need to see our differences as a gift in building community. Differences stimulate creativity. And thinking creatively can be helpful.”
The day-long discussion ended in the early afternoon, with the students admitting the sisters inspired them – and changed their way of thinking about religious communities. But perhaps most importantly, they walked away understanding that living in a community like the Ursuline Sisters do is an ever-evolving process that members commit to working on every day.
This simple piece of wisdom was best summed up by Sister Sheila Marie, who said: “There is no perfect community, just an ideal we are all working toward, together.” Added Sister Noel: “This idea of being perfect has shifted to one of us being authentic, and to living together authentically every day.”
As Angela Merici wisely counseled, “Build community wherever you go.” So, on a cold day in January 2025, the sisters opened their doors and their hearts to a new generation of curious students – demonstrating that the Spirit of Angela is just as dynamic and alive today as it was when she assembled a company of women, setting forth the principles that would allow them to joyfully serve and adapt for centuries to come.