The Mission Advancement Office of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois promotes the congregation’s mission to “compassionately preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ” by inviting voluntary financial support and nurturing mutual relationships that offer healing and courage to a broken world.
We invite you to partner with us in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our elder sisters spend their “retirement” years at Sacred Heart Convent, our motherhouse in Springfield, Ill. Many are still actively engaged in volunteer ministries; a growing number also need assisted care. In the 1970’s we took advantage of the opportunity to pay into and receive Social Security. This has helped, though for decades many of our sisters received reduced salaries so their benefits are minimal. Our healthcare goals for our elder sisters include:
- Independence and full engagement in the prayer and life of the community
- A safe environment which nurtures their spirits and well being
- Staff development & nursing stations designed for person-centered care.
- A wellness program to improve heath and reduce health care costs for all sisters.
The call of the Gospel takes us to areas where people are underserved, and where the congregation assists with the funding of salaries to continue vital services provided in:
- Inner-city schools
- Literacy centers
- Impoverished urban parishes
- Underserved rural communities
- Health clinics in the U.S. & Peru
Needs:
Support for our sisters who serve without receiving a salary, or who minister with reduced salaries and benefits.
Our sisters living and ministering in Peru are the face of Jesus for hundreds of people. They live and work in cities and the mountains, laboring with and for people who suffer from the ecological, economic, and political instabilities of Peru. Our sisters risk their own health to share the Gospel with villagers in the Andes and in pueblo settlements on the outskirts of Lima.
Needs:
- Educational, living, and health care support for our Peruvian sisters.
- Funds to replace the current convent, irreparably damaged and disintegrating from age and termites, with a new building that will meet building codes for earthquakes.
At Jubilee Farm, our 164 acre ecology and spiritual life center, the sisters:
- Work to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the Earth’s community
- Offer the gift of the land for spiritual, artistic, and educational ministries
- Model good stewardship through simple and sustainable living
- Demonstrate sound practices for sustainable agriculture and prairie preservation and restoration
Needs:
- Operating funds for care of the animals and food-generating gardens
New members of the congregation come with a passion to give their lives for the Gospel through a vowed life in community. Our responsibility to them and to the Church requires that we provide:
- Attractive programs and experiences to prepare candidates for a common life of prayer and ministry to God’s people for the 21st Century.
- Preparation of professed sisters to welcome and receive a new generation of Springfield Dominican Sisters
- Educational debt reduction for candidates
- Formation, theological study, and education for ministry
Needs:
- Funds to implement vocation outreach communications and programs
- On-going theological education for new members
The Dominican Order world-wide serves in areas devastated by political, economic, ecological and religious conflicts. Our commitment to assist our Dominican family world-wide, and particularly in Iraq, requires funds to support the ministry of our Dominican Sisters working in Iraq.
Needs:
- Funds to contribute to emergency and rebuilding efforts.
- CASH
- Donation of cash is a quick and easy was to give immediate support. Gifts can be made through direct deposit, E-Checks, or Credit cards. For one time or re-occurring donations follow this link.
- Send a check by to: Mission Advancement Office, 1237 West Monroe Street, Springfield, IL 62704
- Non-Cash Gifts: Stock and Bonds may be contributed directly to the Dominican Sisters with tax advantages to the donor based on the current market value on the date transferred.
- Matching Gifts: Some employers offer a matching gift program which allows employees the opportunity to increase the value of their charitable gift. There is usually a form to be processed by the employer and the company will send a check to the Dominican Sisters which matches the employee gift.
- Planned Gifts: Planned giving combines your personal and financial goals to help meet your charitable giving objectives. There are many options available for charitable giving in circumstances that otherwise may not allow you to provide a charitable contribution to the mission of the Dominican Sisters. Charitable giving takes many forms. You are encouraged to consider an option that best suits your circumstances.
- Beneficiary Designations: Designating the Dominican Sisters as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, retirement fund, 401(K) account, a savings account or a certificate of deposit is a way to participate in the mission of the Dominican Sisters in a significant way.
- Bequests: The simplest type and most often used planned gift, bequests are gifts to charity through your will or trust. The contribution can be in the form of a specific asset (land, home, or stock), a specific amount (cash), a percentage of assets (e.g., 50 percent of your assets to the Dominican Sisters), or what remains after all obligations and wishes are met.
(In Honor or Memory)
- A donation in honor or in memory of a Dominican Sister who touched your life is a way to carry on her legacy of service: Same link as regular donation (same info is needed)
- If you would like to contact a Dominican Sister who touched your life in the past, email: missionadv@spdom.org and we will forward the information as soon as possible!
Bearers of the Flame
The “Bearer of the Flame” program recognizes monthly partners in mission. It proclaims them as promoters the Dominican preaching charism. While she was pregnant with him, Jane d’Aza, St. Dominic’s mother, had a vision of a dog with a torch in its mouth setting the world on fire. We Dominicans fulfill Jane’s dream when we live our passion for the Gospel and work toward a just world for all the inhabitants of Earth!
Because monthly donations sustain us and our mission, “Bearers of the Flame” receive
- A commemorative certificate of the association
- Remembrance at our community Mass the first Tuesday of each month;
- An opportunity to share your special prayer intentions with the sisters
- Invitation to the annual “Bearers of the Flame” Mass and brunch at Sacred Heart Convent, usually in March. Watch this space for the next annual event date!
Called by God into right relationship with all creation and graced by Dominican life and mission, we compassionately preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. - Our Mission Statement
Your generous donations help nurture mutual relationships that offer healing and courage to a broken world.
Your support helps fund the ministries of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield and the care of our sisters with a legacy of service.
All contributions are tax deductible as provided by law.
Office of Mission Advancement Director: Sister Kathleen Anne Tait, OP Missionadv@spdom.org
1237 W Monroe Springfield, IL 62704-1614
