New Candidates and Leadership in Botswana
In early 2021, despite the challenges of the pandemic, six new candidates joined the Associate formation program in Botswana. These new candidates brought the total number of Associates and candidates in Botswana to eighteen and seven respectively. In September 2021, three Associates – Anna Mosele from Kanye, Johannes Motsmi from Lobatse, and Joyce Piniki Maunge from Metsimotlhabe – were chosen to serve as Associate leaders in Botswana. Their goal is to help in the growth of the SCN Associate relationship in Botswana by finding ways to tailor the relationship to fit Botswana’s culture.[198]

SCN Associate 50th Anniversary Celebrations Begin
Hopes for an in-person annual retreat in September 2021 were dashed as Nazareth extended its closure of campus to the public due to COVID-19 case numbers that were once again rising. The kick-off event for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the SCN Associate relationship, “A Sacred Journey: Fifty Years and Growing,” was held virtually. The “gathering” included sharing from early participants in the SCN Associate relationship, Donna Kenney and Ann-Marie Houghton, SCNA, and highlighted aspects of the Associate’s history. For the second time, all of the annual first commitments and commitment renewals were made virtually.^[199] The event, “was a tangible experience of internationality as Associates from across the congregation shared their experience of living the SCN charism.”^[200]

Today, the SCN Associates continue to grow in relationship with each other and with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. They make progress in the pursuit of the goals outlined in the SCN Associate Strategic Plan and continue to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting those around them in the spirit of Mother Catherine Spalding, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Louise de Marillac.^[201] Since the earliest years of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, close friends have walked alongside the Sisters in ministry and faith. Today, dear friends still walk this same path with the Sisters, in several countries. Many make formal commitments as SCN Associates, many others do not, but today, as in the early 1800s, friends of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth work with the Sisters to lift up and support all those with whom they come into contact and to be a light in the world.

Written by Kelly McDaniels, Archivist, SCNA
2022

A history this multifaceted could not have been wrangled into a coherent document without the help of many. I am immensely grateful to all of those who have assisted in any way. First and foremost, a huge thank you to Mary Martin, SCNA, for giving me a solid basis for what to include in this history and for painstakingly reviewing each and every draft. Thank you to Sister Maria Vincent Brocato for interviewing multiple SCN Associates as part of this project, to Sister Malini Manjaly, Archivist in Mokama, for helping me piece together the history of the Associates in India, and to Sister Nalini Meachariyil for helping me with the history of the Associates in Botswana. My thanks as well to Tammy Mattingly, SCNA and Administrative Assistant of the Associate Office, for answering a million and more questions; and to my many wonderful readers (listed below) who have helped with grammar, clarity, and adding a richness to this story that I could not have achieved on my own. Thank you to all of those who contributed their memories and beautiful stories from the past fifty years: Evelyn Faldowski, SCNA; Mary Gene Frank, SCNA; Sister Paschal Maria Fernicola; Sister Barbara Flores; Sister Rhoda Kay Glunk; Charlotte Hazas, SCNA; Sister Beverly Hoffman; Donna Kenney; Sister Rosemarie Kirwan; Sister Marlene Lehmkuhl; Trudi Maish, SCNA; Andy Meyer, SCNA; Jo Ann Paulin, SCNA; Peggy Masterson Ryan, SCNA; Sister Marilyn Shea; and many others who shared a story in passing. Finally, thank you to each and every person whom I have peppered with questions or who has listened to me obsess over this impossibly tangled history for the past several months.

Reviewed and proofread by: Maria Vincent Brocato, SCN; Sharon Cecil, SCNA; Mary Gene Frank, SCNA; Charlotte Hazas, SCNA; Josef Jareczek, Ph.D., best friend of the Archivist; Sister Marlene Lehmkuhl; Mary Martin, SCNA; and Sister Marilyn Shea.

Source: https://nazareth.org/

Note on sources: Sources used in this history can be located at the Nazareth Archival Center, SCN Center, or on the SCN Family website.

[198] Meachariyil, Nalini. History of SCN Associates in Botswana. 21 Jan. 2022; Meachariyil, Nalini. Letter to Kelly A. McDaniels (email). 27 Jan. 2022.

^[199] “September 2021 SCNA Gathering.” SCN Associate Newsletter. Fall 2021. p. 6; O’Toole, Patsy. “A Reflection on the Gathering.” SCN Associate Newsletter. Fall 2021. p. 6.

^[200] O’Toole, Patsy. “A Reflection on the Gathering.” SCN Associate Newsletter. Fall 2021. p. 6.

^[201] “SCNA Strategic Plan Progress and Executive Summary.” Updated 4 Dec. 2019“SCN Associates Core Strategies and Strategic Objectives, Progress as of October 2021.