Working Groups

We carry out our mission through member-formed working groups.

Contemplation Working Group

The Spirituality/Contemplation group meets monthly to share reflections about our spiritual journeys and to support each other on our journeys. This year, a subgroup of our members organized the Loretto Link retreat that touched many hearts. From time to time, smaller groups form to discuss specific books or to gather for specific purposes.

 

Co-operative Economics Working Group

The Co-operative Economics Working Group rejects the system of profit over people that capitalizes on the labor of the poor and the gifts of Earth to enrich a few. We have been learning about “localization” as one alternative to our current economic practices. Together we can explore ways to make needed changes to our unhealthy global system through our individual, community, and national efforts.

 

Faith, Money, and Me Working Group

 “Faith, Money, and Me,” invites members to examine our financial lives and explore how we may be more faithful stewards of our resources as we navigate and impact the capitalist system we all live in. 


 

Fronteras Unidas Working Group

Fronteras Unidas… United Borders. This group focuses on work at the Southern Border between the United States and Mexico, particularly in Arizona, and at times extends from Texas to California. The group collaborates with the Latin American and Caribbean Committee (LACC) of the Loretto Community in its work.

 

Good Trouble Working Group

The Good Trouble Working Group (GTWG) was formed to educate ourselves and work for racial equality. We named ourselves in honor of civil rights icon John Lewis. Our mission is to act for social change through direct action and partnerships. We formed to remain vigilant against the rise in white supremacy in the U.S. and align ourselves with groups that promote racial justice, fight disinformation, and champion crucial voting and civil rights laws that allow all to participate in democracy. Part of our work is to remain aware of cultural biases within ourselves and our communities. The Good Trouble group is currently learning about reparations and has partnered with The Poor People’s Campaign.

 

Just Loans Working Group

The goal of the Just Loans Working Group is to help people get out of predatory debt. Small loans with high interest are made to people with little credit or access to pay unusual and immediate expenses such as car repairs, electric or heating bills, or necessary travel. Interest on these loans is usurious (35%-400%). When the loan is rolled over from one month to the next, the borrower owes far more than the original loan. This Working Group assists borrowers by paying off loans and working out a low or no-interest payment schedule on a case-by-case basis.  We also work to educate ourselves and others about predatory loans and how they can be regulated.

 

Political Concerns Working Group

Because there are significant political concerns in our society today, the Political Concerns Working Group discusses federal and state legislation that members of the group have worked on or have information about, including voting rights and voter suppression. Important related areas of migration, climate change, health care, racial justice, and housing are also part of discussions and information.

The Wisdom Circle

The Wisdom Circle is an integral part of Loretto Link, so integral that everyone is connected to it. The initial idea, which emerged during the Civil Incorporation conversation before Loretto Link was an actuality, was that the Circle would be a way for people who were not part of a Working Group to participate in the life of Loretto Link. That has been so and we are richly blessed by it.

As Loretto Link develops, we realize that all of us are committed to live and respond from a quiet, sacred, encircling wisdom that is part of our individual, and especially of our collective identity. It is the heart which keeps energy flowing through all aspects of Loretto Link, the steady core that we rely on for our rootedness in Loretto and our commitment to a more just world. 

 

The Wisdom Circle enfolds us all as we seek to extend its reach. That is the grace and genius of energy in the service of the common good.  

How are working groups formed?

There are two ways to form a working group:

Every year at the Annual Meeting, we announce a call for Working Groups. All present members can propose an idea for a Working Group or join an already-proposed group. Working Groups already in existence can invite new members to join. A Working Group is considered functional when it has three or more Loretto Link members.

If someone wants to form a Working Group, that person need not wait for the Annual Meeting: Find at least two other members who share your passion and then contact the Board of Directors with a brief description of what you want to do and who is in the Working Group. The Board ensures the work proposed is within the mission of Loretto Link. If yes, the Working Group receives the green light.

The Working Group is then announced in the Loretto Link e-newsletter, with a description of the proposed work and an invitation for members to join.