New Board Structure Announced for Two Area Non-Profits

July 14, 2009 - The reconfiguration of the Congregation of St. Joseph in 2007 has brought about the need to realign the 35 sponsored ministries of the Sisters around the country. In Wichita, Dear Neighbor Ministries and StepStone will now become part of the newly formed corporation called, CSJ Ministries.

Sister Helene Lentz, CSJ, the current Dear Neighbor board chair said ,”In the past, the leadership team of the Wichita congregation served as the sole board members for our Dear Neighbor and StepStone ministry boards. At the present time we believe it is important to have local presence on these ministry boards so we are expanding board membership to include lay members. This will also gift us with the wisdom and expertise of local business men and women who are concerned with serving the needs of the community.”

The newly formed board will begin their term on July 8, 2009. They will be responsible for both Sisters of St. Joseph Dear Neighbor Ministries and StepStone Inc. While the governance will be one board, they will remain separate 501 (c) 3 corporations of CSJ Ministries. Sister Helene explains, “We believe having a joint board will reduce duplicity and better serve the overall good of the ministries.”

StepStone is jointly sponsored by the Congregation of St. Joseph and the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. In the new board structure the ASC Sisters will have two “ex-officio” positions on the board recognizing their co-sponsorship of the StepStone Ministry since it began in 1996.

The newly appointed board includes: Sister Helene Lentz who will continue as Chair. Sister Mary Ellen Loch, CSJ; Sister Arlys McDonald, CSJ; Sister Barbara Smith, ASC, Sister Margaret Knoebler, ASC all of whom served on the past board.
New board members are; Clemens Ast, Dan Urenda, Brent Moerer, Leslie Jensby, LMSW and Scott Nygaard, MD., Sister Joan Burger, CSJ and Sister Connie Beiriger, CSJ.