Contact Celeste Williams at cwilliams@oppeace.org or 330.835.5688.
Many women and men are attracted to the Dominican charism of Prayer, Study, Community and Service, but are not called to enter consecrated life. If you find that this is true of your own life, we invite you to discern an invitation to become an Associate of the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Dominican Associates are non-vowed women and men who desire to practice their Christian faith in the spirit of the Dominican Order of Preachers.
What is that “Dominican Spirit?”
It encompasses the Dominican charism of prayer, study, community, and service. Like the Dominican Sisters of Peace, Associates communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ, preaching through word and action.
Associates make a commitment to be companions to the Sisters – part of their community for prayer, study, and ministry. Through this commitment, our Associates bring Dominican values to their families, churches, neighborhoods, workplaces, and cities.
Our Associates are attorneys, teachers, business owners, factory workers, doctors, ministers, homemakers and many other walks of life. They may be Catholic, or they may follow another Christian faith tradition.
What Associates of the Dominican Sisters of Peace have in common is their desire to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world through their work, their art and their lives. Associates of the Dominican Sisters of Peace follow the example of our patron, St. Catherine of Siena, who said, “Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world.”
Associates are part of the spiritual and mission lives of the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Any Christian who feels drawn to the Dominican charism can explore becoming an Associate of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. You do not have to be Catholic, but you must believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our Dominican mission and charism. Our Associates are women and men; married, single, divorced and widowed; clergy members and lay persons of all ages and from all different geographic areas and walks of life.
The only essential requirement to be an Associate is the desire to follow the Dominican charism of Prayer, Study, Service and Community, and to serve God and God’s people
Associates are active in their community, churches, and with the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Associates are encouraged to form groups with local Sisters and Associates and hold regular meetings for prayer and study.
Associates are also invited to attend retreats, the Sisters’ annual meeting which is called Chapter, and other events planned by ministries, Sisters or Associates.
Associates may be involved in Sisters’ ministries or may serve God’s people in another way to which they have been called.
At our General Chapter meeting, which occurs every six years, the Dominican Sisters of Peace, in conjunction with the Associates commit themselves to a specific direction and focus, which are articulated in our Chapter Commitments.
If you feel called to Dominican Life as an Associate, we will provide you with a program of exploration, or discernment, that will last one year. This discernment is led by a Mentor Team, which will help you explore the Dominican charism, the congregation, and the Associate life.
We hope that during discernment, you will meet new friends and people who share your values and passion. You may also discover a deepening desire to live the broad and joyful Dominican way and want to make a formal commitment as an Associate.
If, after your one-year discernment, you are called to make a commitment as an Associate, you will take part in a ceremony to celebrate your two-year commitment.
After your first two-year commitment, you may choose to renew your commitment for four years at a time.
If an Associate experiences health or age issues but wants to remain part of the Associate community, he or she may choose to become a Prayer Associate supporting the world and the congregation in prayer.