The essential role of leadership in nurturing new members

This article is based on the handout, “Role of Religious Leadership in Vocation Ministry.”  The suggestions are based on the 2020 Study of New Vocations to Religious Life conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate for the National Religious Vocation Conference. Find the study and many related resources at nrvc.net.

WHILE EVERY VOCATION is grounded in a unique call and response, some general guidelines for successful new membership promotion can be gleaned from research, including the 2020 Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life. This study was carried out for the National Religious Vocation Conference by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Based on this study and other data, the NRVC recommends that those in consecrated life leadership take the
following steps.

 1. Prioritize vocation ministry and formation as essential to the community

Religious institutes that make vocation ministry a priority and believe in their role in creating a future in their congregations attract and retain new members. Ways to do this include:

• Have a deep commitment to inviting, incorporating and supporting new members in the congregation. Believe in the vitality of the institute’s charism and foster this belief among the membership. Recognize that the best way to support the vocation of a new member is to ensure that it is strengthened by a solid formation experience.

• Stay abreast of current vocation trends, especially the fact that there are still Catholics discerning and entering religious life. The 2020 study showed that most religious institutes promote vocations, accept new members, and have serious discerners.

• Celebrate major vocation promotion days: World Day for Consecrated Life (February 2), World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Good Shepherd Sunday), National Vocation Awareness Week (first full week in November), National Catholic Sisters Week (March 8-14) and Religious Brothers Day (May 1).

• Encourage professed members to participate in discernment events to build relationships with inquirers to religious life. The example of members is more influential than the ministries of the institute in attracting new members. Likewise, 95 percent of new members report that meeting with members of the institute was the most helpful piece in discerning a call to religious life.

2.  Appoint highly capable people to vocation ministry

Religious institutes with a full-time vocation director and support from clerical and communications personnel have a higher number of new members than those with fewer human resources dedicated to the ministry.

•  Ensure that inquirers and discerners receive the highest standard of care from capable people appointed to this important congregational ministry. Vocation ministers are entrusted with the privileged and sacred responsibility of accompanying inquirers and assessing candidates as they discern their baptismal call.

•  Choose vocation team members who are outgoing, resilient, and responsible. Women’s institutes are more likely than men’s to include a member of the leadership team or a council liaison on the vocation team.

•  Appoint perpetually professed members as vocation directors, as it can be difficult for someone who is still being evaluated in initial formation to be assessing the suitability of discerners. Naturally, those in temporary profession may still be part of a vocation team and attend NRVC workshops.

•  Select a vocation director who focuses on possibilities, who is a collaborator (not a competitor), a person of prayer, both personally and communally. The average length of service for vocation directors is seven years.

3.  Provide your vocation director and team with education, resources, and accountability

Communities whose leadership team meets regularly with the vocation director tend to receive more new members.

•  Ensure opportunities for peer supervision and spiritual direction for vocation directors and teams. Vocation ministry requires continuous commitment to ethical and professional standards. Vocation directors with sufficient resources usually remain in the ministry longer.
• Encourage vocation ministers to tend to their own vocations, further develop professional competencies, and participate in continuing education.

• Allocate adequate resources for vocation ministry, including time, budget, clerical support, and a network of spiritual, emotional, and professional support.

• Outline a clear set of responsibilities for vocation ministers written in a job description with established channels of accountability to religious leadership. An annual performance review assists vocation ministers in achieving goals. It is smart to name goals beyond simply the number of applicants, such as specific outreach activities, communications, and spiritual accompaniment.
4.  Facilitate a corporate responsibility for promoting the future
All religious institutes with new members have vocation information on their website or a distinct website specifically for vocations. These communities use social media and print materials to promote new membership.

• Ask every member to promote vocations directly. People are twice as likely to consider a vocation to religious life when invited by another person. The effect is additive. People who are encouraged by three persons are five times more likely to consider a vocation than someone who was not encouraged by anyone.

• Encourage vowed members to be present among youth and young adults. The average age a person first considers religious life is 19. The average age of entrance to religious life is 28. Encouragement from members of their institutes was highly valued by new members when they first considered entering religious life.

• Sponsor vocation discernment events. Host discernment retreats, such as Come and Sees, online discernment experiences, and opportunities to mingle at prayer, meals, and community gatherings. Communities that sponsor vocation discernment programs directed at college students and young adults are more likely to have new members than those who do not. Post events on NRVC’s VISION Vocation Calendar at: vocationnetwork.org/en/events.

• Consider a team approach. Expand a single NRVC membership to a license for up to five members so that all five members receive the HORIZON vocation journal, monthly newsletters and updates, and membership discounts on resources and workshops. Attend the biennial NRVC convocation with your vocation team or send others to support the vocation director at NRVC member area events.

5.  Apply what you learn from research and analysis about religious life vocations

• Reserve time on leadership agendas and congregational assembly days for vocation information.

• Access studies about vocations to religious life and related reports and analyses at NRVC.net.

• Refer regularly to the NRVC’s Vocation Directors Manual, which contains over 700 articles on topics essential to vocation ministry. It can be accessed by NRVC members at https://nrvc.net/ vocation_directors_manual.

• View continuously updated VISION Vocation Network discerner demographics and engagement statistics at:
vocationnetwork.org/en/statistics/response_statistics. NRVC’s print VISION Vocation Guide and its website, vocationnetwork.org, both allow religious communities to connect with new discerners.  

Related articles

“How we organized a day of discussion for leadership and vocation directors,” by Vocation Ministers of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, HORIZON, Fall, 2008.

“Leadership makes the difference,” by Sister Mary Rowell, C.S.J., HORIZON, Spring 2022.

"Put your chapter to work for vocations," by Brother Paul Michalenko S.T., HORIZON, Spring, 2021.

“Involve your whole community,” by Father Andrew Carl Wisdom, O.P., HORIZON, Spring, 2009.