News & Events | November 10, 2025
First LEAD cohort meets
In June, administrators and SCJs from province ministries in Texas, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Mississippi came to Hales Corners to serve as guinea pigs for a newly developing Dehonian leadership program: LEAD.
LEAD stands for Leadership, Education, Apostolic and Development. It is a five-year formative experience to “form spiritually grounded leaders who embody the Dehonian spirit of love and reconciliation,” said Monica Misey, province director of Dehonian Associates. She, along with Joe Tyrell of St. Joseph’s Indian School and Dr. Julie O’Connor of Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, are the organizing team behind LEAD.
The pilot retreat in June was a time for organizers to formalize topics, activities and the schedule of what is to become an annual retreat.
“After the pilot, we made two major changes,” said Monica. “Participants asked for an extra day and they asked for more spiritual retreat time. We will still have significant leadership content but have slowed that down and built in more times for prayer and reflection.”
This week, November 10-12, the first full cohort gathers, again in Hales Corners. Participants include Carla Crockett (Sacred Heart Southern Missions), Cynthia Dixon (Holy Family School, Holly Springs, MS), Dee Handel (St. Joseph’s Indian School), Sherry Hawkins (SHSM), Allyssa Hoffer (St. Joseph’s), Fr. Greg Schill, SCJ (St. Joseph’s), Laura Sokolsky (Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology), Daryl Thuringer (St. Joseph’s), Katie Utschig (SHSST), and Clayton Zieroth (SHSST). As they did at the pilot retreat, Monica Misey, Joe Tyrell and Julie O’Connor will facilitate the gathering.
Each year’s retreat will have a different focus, with “Leading from within” being the first theme, followed by “Leading with heart,” “Leading through relationships,” “Leading together,” and “Leading tomorrow.”
Fr. Stephen Huffstetter, SCJ, SHSST president-rector, opens the gathering this afternoon. A Rite of Sending will take place on Wednesday, prior to closing activities. Pictured above: participants in the pilot retreat in June.
POSTPONED: Advent Hour of Recollection
The Collaborators’ Advent Hour of Recollection that is scheduled for next Monday, November 17, has been postponed due to a death in the presenter’s family. A new date and time will be shared as soon as it is available.
Welcome!
The general administration has approved Frater Truc Tran’s request to transfer from the District of Vietnam to the US Province. Fra. Truc has been a student in the United States since 2018. He professed his first vows in 2020.
Update
During its Zoom conference last week, the Provincial Council voted to appoint Br. Brian Tompkins, SCJ, as local treasurer of the Sacred Heart Monastery Community.
Dehonian institutions reaching out across the Americas
“During our 12 days in Brazil, we saw what Sint Unum can look like: a Church thinking, praying, and serving together.”
The quote is from Dr. Charles Hughes-Huff, Associate Professor of Scripture Studies at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. In early October he and three other SHSST faculty members (Dr. Paul Monson, Dr. Megan Furman and Dr. Jeremy Blackwood) visited the Faculdade Dehoniana in Taubaté, Brazil. The institute of theology and SHSST are in the process of developing a collaborative partnership. In June, several members of the Taubaté staff came to Wisconsin for a conference.
Dr. Hughes-Huff continued: “The visit deepened our collaborative experience of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians) and their central educational center in Brazil.
“From Dehoniana’s students we learned how theology can remain rigorous yet accessible. From their faculty we saw how scholarship thrives when anchored in prayer and pastoral life. From the missions we witnessed how Brazilian popular piety — rich, embodied, and musical — can renew academic imagination.
“Our hosts expressed their interest in how a North American seminary integrates lay faculty, practices shared governance and fosters a collaborative academic culture. Across languages and cultures, we found a shared purpose: to think deeply, teach faithfully, and serve generously. The Dehonian motto of ‘Sint Unum,’ (that they may be one), came to mind often during our trip. We glimpsed unity not as cultural uniformity but as friendship grounded in mission.
“This trip reaffirmed that SHSST and the Faculdade Dehoniana share both a founder’s vision and a living mission. We study, teach, and serve so that Christ’s heart may be known in every culture and language. The partnership is not an academic luxury but a missional necessity.”
Click here to read the full article on the US Province website.
If you missed it…
Click here or on the image above to access a recording of last week’s Dehon Book Club meeting. The focus was on Section 1 of Father Dehon and the French School by William Recker.
Anyone is welcome to take part in the book club discussions either in-person at the US Provincial Offices or via Zoom. The sessions are hosted by the Dehon Study Center and are held at 1:00 p.m. (Central) on the First Friday of each month. For more information, contact Fr. Joseph Mukuna, SCJ, Dehon Study Center director: Jmukuna@dehoniansusa.org 414-427-7265.
The monthly Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81515880849
Provincial Conference Center hosts “Desert Day”
On November 3, the Priests of the Sacred Heart hosted the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s “Desert Day.” Approximately 22 people from around the archdiocese came for a spiritual day of reflection and renewal. Fr. Ed Zemlik, SCJ, heard confessions for many of the lay ministers.
“Opening our conference center, chapel and grounds is a good way for people to learn about the Priests of the Sacred Heart, said Dn. David Nagel, SCJ. “Many were very appreciative of the hospitality and the time to renew themselves.”
Women in the Workplace: Insights from Edith Stein
On November 5, the Dehonian Associates Office hosted another of what has become a regular gathering for Catholic women leaders in the Milwaukee area. Approximately 50 lay ministers came to the Provincial Conference Center for conversation, dinner and a presentation. Sarah Pandl was the featured speaker. Her topic: “Women in the Workplace: Insights from Edith Stein.”
Three SCJs were also present: Br. Duane Lemke, Fr. Rafael Querobin and Br. Brian Tompkins; Br. Duane offered the closing prayer:
We pray…
God of Esther and Edith,
Our world is fractured.
Fear, distrust and difference,
Give way to hatred, malice, persecution.
God of Esther and Edith,
You move beyond labels of us and them; we and they.
Esther: a Hebrew woman, at once a Persian Queen.
Edith: a Jewish woman, at once a Catholic nun.
Tenacious women. Outspoken, and outgoing.
Devoted. Generative. Suffragettes both. Whose acts-of-choice-acts-of-faith changed those around them.
God of Esther and Edith,
Lead us to the Cross of Christ,
That place where Divine and Human shine with one light.
Lead us from this night of celebration, solidarity, and memory.
Lead us to get beyond ourselves – a particularly feminine grace – to go into the worlds we live,
As Esther and Edith.
To bear witness that Divine light casts out the shadow of difference.
We ask this through Christ, who lives and loves with You and the Holy Spirit,
One God, united forever and ever. Amen.
SCJs are always welcome to attend these gatherings. For more information, contact Monica Misey.
Pictured above: our youngest attendee to date! Kimberly Bayer, an SHSST Cor Unum alumna, brought her daughter, Beatrice, six weeks old.
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