Letter to Members: Invitation to Vocations Forum

Dear Members,

Following changes within the National Office for Vocation (NoV), the Religious Life Promoter role has come to an end, and the Bishops’ Conference is now undertaking a review of the National Office for Vocation.

CoR remains very conscious of the importance of supporting and encouraging vocations to Religious Life, and we are considering how we can best continue to support this work within the limited resources available to us.

As part of this, we are in contact with the regional vocations groups and are working with them to consider how CoR can best support this important area of work going forward. CoR has very limited financial resources which significantly limits our ability to fund anything substantial unless other sources of income can be identified.

We also know that many of our members have Sisters, Brothers and Priests who are actively involved in vocations work, and we would very much value their experience and ideas.

We are therefore inviting members to join an online Vocations Forum on Thursday 15 October, from 10am–11.30am, led by Sr Mary Deane PBVM, a member of the CoR Executive.

The forum will provide a space to hear from those involved in vocations work, share experiences and ideas, and consider together how CoR might best support this important area going forward.

We recognise that this invitation is being sent primarily to congregational leaders and that you may not personally be involved in vocations work. We would therefore be very grateful if you could forward this invitation to the appropriate people within your congregation who are involved or interested in vocations.

Please register for the forum using the Zoom link below. Once registered, you will receive the joining details directly: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/hn8YSGOQT0yn_95r0TlYcg.

We very much hope you, or those involved in vocations work within your congregation, will be able to join us.

With many thanks and best wishes,

CoREW Secretariat

Letter from the CoR Collaboration Committee: 2026 Workshops

6th January 2027

Dear Members,

I hope that you have had a blessed and restful Christmas and a peaceful entry into 2026!

First of all, we want to thank you very much for completing the evaluation forms following last year’s Collaboration workshops. We were greatly encouraged and helped by your appreciation of the individual sessions as well as the annual programme as a whole, and we were most grateful for your suggestions for topics for this coming year. When we met to reflect on your feedback, it was clear to us that one or two topics need revisiting and could appropriately and usefully be held on-line rather than in person. In addition, we noted that issues other than those we have prioritised for the past two years - leadership, governance and management – are also in need of mutual exploration and collaboration.

We are therefore offering the following programme for 2026:

1. Vocations and Initial Formation.

On Thursday 26th February from 10.45am (coffee 10.15) to 3.30pm at Selly Park Conference Centre, Birmingham. This session will be an opportunity to explore the topic in the context of today’s world and the current life of Congregations. Sr. Liz Dodd SSJP will join others in contributing their thoughts and experiences.

2. Archives – a follow-up workshop

On Wednesday 11th March from 1.30 – 3.30pm. This will be held on-line by Zoom and will be led by Ms Jenny Smith, whose practical input was so much appreciated when she spoke at last year’s workshop.

3. Community dynamics and working with challenging behaviours.

On Wednesday 10th June from 10.45am (coffee 10.15) to 3.30pm at Selly Park Conference Centre, Birmingham. A psychologist will explore some of the dynamics at work in community relationships and how these can be better understood and worked with.

4. Transitioning to CIO – managing Governance and trusteeship.

On Thursday 9th July from 1.30 – 3.30 pm. This will be held on-line by Zoom and will be led both by professional advisors and religious leaders who have successfully transitioned to CIO.

5. Spirituality of Ageing.

On Thursday 1st October the Convent of the little Sisters of the Poor, Vauxhall, London.

As previously, we invite up to two representatives of each Member Congregation to attend the workshops. Attendees do not need to be the Provincial or leader, and could also be a lay colleague or collaborator involved in a particular area of the administration, community life, etc.

There is no cost for attendance and sandwich lunch will be provided; this is covered by your annual subscription.

Nearer the time, we will send out invitations relating to each of the workshops and ask you to book your place.

The booking form for the first two workshops is available here and should be completed and returned to admin@corew.org.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2026 Workshops, and to all our Members collaborating together as we move forward into the future.

Wishing you every blessing on you and your Congregation for the coming year,

Jane Maltby RSCJ

On behalf of the CoR Collaboration Committee