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Directions in Ministry

Our directions in ministry guide our Congregational Mission and Communal Life.

Corporate Stances

Corporate Stance on Racism

We believe that the normative, common element in the human family is our humanity.  We affirm that all with whom we come into contact are entitled to the basic rights that come with our common humanity, and are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.  We pledge to see first the common ground of our humanity, and to allow our differences only to enrich, and not to disparage us.  In all of our undertakings, we will notice first and foremost the human person before us.

Corporate Stance on the Death Penalty

2001 — Our stance commits us to make public proclamations for life when and where they are needed and to preach the justice of our commitment.  We will be called upon to work in coalition with other groups, and to speak out at times of executions, to promote study and prayer in places of our ministry, as well as among ourselves, and to call each other to needed and creative responses.

Corporate Stance on the War in Iraq

2002 — We declare ourselves to be opposed to our country making a preemptive strike against Iraq, taking us into an immoral and unjustified war.  We further oppose the continuation of sanctions against Iraq that continue to impose genocidal suffering against helpless people.

Corporate Stance: Endorsement of the Earth Charter

2005 – The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable land peaceful global society in the 21st century.  It seeks to inspire in all peoples a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the wellbeing of the human family and the larger living world.  It is an expression of hope and a call to help create a global partnership at a critical juncture in history.  We aspire to the principles found in the Earth Charter.  By endorsing the Charter, we challenge ourselves to deepen our commitment to its principles and place ourselves in solidarity with people throughout the world who seek to live the values the principles embody.

Corporate Stance: Commitment to Ending Homelessness in Kent County

2006 – Our commitment is to collaborate with the Grand Rapids Coalition to End Homelessness in their efforts to end homelessness in Kent County through ongoing efforts to increase awareness of the issues surrounding homelessness, and through personal and systemic ways that contribute to its eradication.

Corporate Stance: Nuclear Disarmament

2007 – We call upon the United States government to lead the way for the global abolition of nuclear and all weapons of mass destruction by adopting a plan to lock down, dismantle, reduce and eliminate nuclear and all weapons of mass destruction. We believe all creation, including Earth itself, to be sacred and we stand in witness to the triumph of life over death, love over hatred, and hope over fear.

Commitments

Statement Against Racism, Hatred, and Violence

2017 — We stand against harmful rhetoric and actions that result in fear and evoke hatred in our critics and neighborhoods.  Racism afflicts our country.  Any conversation or activity that contributes to division, hatred, violence, or disrespect of another human being hurts all of us as a human family.  We pray that people relate to each other with dignity and respect.

The Leadership Team in 2015, affirming our 1999 Direction Statement on Racism, issued the following statement:

The Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids condemn racism. Hate and discrimination diminish us all. We grieve with the citizens of Charlottesville and with all of us who are also harmed by racist words and actions anywhere. We mourn with those who have lost loved ones, with all who live in fear, and with all whose dignity is threatened by hate and violence.

The Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids stand against harmful rhetoric and actions that result in fear and evoke hatred in our cities and neighborhoods. Racism afflicts our country. Any conversation or activity that contributes to division, hatred, violence, or disrespect of another human being hurts all of us as a human family. We pray that people relate to each other with dignity and respect.

We, as Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, see first the common ground of our humanity, and allow our differences only to enrich, and not to disparage. In all of our undertakings, we will notice first and foremost the human person before us. (DSGR Statement Against Racism 1999)

Economic Justice

Moved by the Prophets, inspired by Jesus, and guided by Catholic Social Teaching, we claim the truth that the fruits of creation and all that is produced from them have a universal destination – they are meant for all. The economy, enlivened by a healthy cooperation between private initiative and government, is to be at the service of the common good. We denounce global economic systems that value money and profit over the dignity of human beings and the life of the planet.

Our call is to examine economic structures and systems in terms of how they hurt people with the least resources; to change our own practices that contribute to this; and to advocate for policies that promote more equitable sharing of Earth’s abundance.

A major endeavor undertaken by the Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids is Socially Responsible Investments. We are members of the Coalition of Responsible Investors of Michigan and Indiana (CCRIM) with a membership from eleven religious congregations.) Through CCRIM we are affiliated with the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility and with them are able to co-file resolutions and enter into dialogues with corporations where we are shareholders. Our Economic Justice response teams respond to federal and state budgets, the Affordable Care Act, work and labor issues and the like.

Human Trafficking

There is the sociological and economic truth of the deplorable worldwide industry in human trafficking. For purposes of slave and sex labor, desperate men, women, and children are drawn into a vortex of degradation. We denounce the consumerist mentality by which human beings are turned into mere instruments of satisfaction and profit.

Our call is to expose the truth about modern-day slavery and advocate for substantive laws that protect victims and hold accountable all who facilitate and enable human trafficking.

Commitment to Immigrants and Migrants

Our call is to welcome the stranger, to speak the truth of the roots of our own immigrant nation, and to advocate for just immigration policies and practices.

In 2014, our Congregation made a corporate stance to act as advocates for unaccompanied children at the border in local, national, and international communities.

Additionally, our response team has responded to alerts for comprehensive immigration reform, protection of DACA, continuation of ITP status for Haitians and Hondurans. We participate in local demonstrations, marches, etc. We work with the West Michigan Coalition for Immigration Reform, Michigan Immigration Rights Center, the MICAH Center/Workers Rights Center. Members of our response team provide ESL and citizenship programs as well as tutoring services for immigrants.

Peace and Security for All Life

We extol the dignity of every human life, made in God’s image, a truth revealed in Genesis. To live that truth we take a stand, by preaching and action, against all threats to human well-being. The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties” of all people – of those threatened by war abroad or gun violence at home, of prisoners, of the sick, of children in the womb, of mothers in crisis – these too are our “joys and hopes … griefs and anxieties.” (Cf. Gaudium et Spes, #1.)

Our call is to see the face of God in the whole of life, to embrace the tenets of nonviolence, and to practice loving our enemies.

Members of our response team have been national leaders in nuclear disarmament movements. Locally we have collaborated with the Institute for Global Education. We have responded to alerts and initiatives on gun violence, death penalty, prison reform, police/community relations, civil discourse.

Public Statements & Responses

Who we are, what we stand for, and how we live our lives in Christ remain steadfast as we reflect and respond to the needs of our country and world at this time.

Our Leadership Team, on behalf of the Congregation, is compelled to respond to what we are witnessing around us. The decision to respond, and the content of our Public Statements and Responses align with our mission and values, and Catholic Social Teaching. View our Public Statements & Responses below.