News

Force behind The Gathering's speakers retires

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

After 20 years of coordinating workshops and working with people "who are ready to try new ideas," Sr. Patricia McCormick is retiring.

The Racine Dominican Sister and Appleton native has served as Administrative Development Coordinator for the diocesan Education Department. A large part of her work was coordinating TEAM Days, a two-day theological enrichment event for parish and education ministers, and The Gathering (previously called The Education Congress), a three-day event held every October with more than 100 speakers offering a variety of workshops on topics relevant to life and ministry in the church.

"In this job," she said, "because it has a lot to do with being aware of and knowing the mission of the church of Green Bay, my hope was always that we all could be better grounded in who we are as Catholic people and we could share that with other ministries."

Her background as a teacher (seven years) and school administrator (15 years) led naturally into the role of not only a contact person and a resource for educators, but also builder networks between ministers both inside and outside the diocese. TEAM Days and the Gathering have featured such national speakers as Sr. Joyce Rupp, Monika Hellwig and Scott Appleby.

"I love to work with people who can think outside the box," she said, adding that energy from such individuals feeds her own energy.

Over her 20 years, she has seen many people eager to grow in ministry and to learn new ideas. She believes this is a strength of ministers and educators around the diocese.

"The people of the diocese want to continue their education," she said. "That's a plus for us in ministry. They have a great desire to renew themselves. If they can't find it here, they will go somewhere else."

She entered the Racine Dominican order in 1956 after being taught by sisters of that community at St. John High School in Little Chute (now closed). "Racine," she pointed out, "means rooted. There's a connection: we have to be rooted in who we are as ministers and educators."

Now, as Sr. Pat retires, she will take a couple months to review her situation before taking a new position. In the meantime, she intends to continue learning and walking - something she does every day - and being open to "spreading a love for truth."

"It's been a nice bunch of years," she said. "I've been energized by people on the staff and in other departments. Everybody has a piece of the Truth that I could work off of. It brought me a lot of energy and took me to a new point in my life."