Jefferson City Diocese looks to Women's Ministry for connections

LeAnn Korsmeyer talks about her role in the new division created at the Chancery Office of the Jefferson City Diocese. She's excited about the possibilities opening up for women to learn and live their Catholic faith.
LeAnn Korsmeyer talks about her role in the new division created at the Chancery Office of the Jefferson City Diocese. She's excited about the possibilities opening up for women to learn and live their Catholic faith.

Women need community.

They need familial community.

They need faith community.

They need to talk to people who share their experiences - other women.

But, as the world has changed, they have lost those opportunities to talk with other women - even their mothers or daughters.

"I think we've moved from a time when people came home on Sundays - and there were a lot of children in the family, so you had a lot of family around you - and you had a lot of support systems," said LeAnn Korsmeyer, coordinator of the new Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City Women's Ministry. "We moved into a very busy culture. Women have within us a desire - we need one another.

"We need to find that person that we can share stories with - that's not judgmental, that's supportive."

The ministry will do that for women, she continued.

The Women's Ministry is finding ways to get women together to talk about their lives and their faith.

Under the direction of the pastor at St. Stanislaus Church in Wardsville, Korsmeyer was able to offer opportunities for women to gather for reflection.

"As I began this work at St. Stanislaus, I saw there was really a need - that the women were wanting and desiring a place that we could gather together and share our faith and grow in our faith and support one another," she said.

And discuss their challenges and the directions life was taking them.

Women took a day of reflection.

Other women in the diocese became aware of the effort.

Bible studies and retreats were events women in surrounding areas joined.

Korsmeyer organized retreats, where 250 women participated.

"Just a lot of pockets of opportunities that I noticed more and more women were coming out and enjoying," she said. "And I felt a calling to it. I just felt God called me to it."

Parishes from throughout the diocese reached out to Korsmeyer, asking her to hold days of reflection or similar ministries.

The diocese's Bishop W. Shawn McKnight has emphasized spiritual guidance. The new ministry fits into that vision, according to Helen Osman, the diocese director of communications.

The Women's Ministry, falling in the diocese's Office of Pastoral Services, bloomed about three months ago, when McKnight asked Korsmeyer to expand on work she was already doing at St. Stanislaus Church.

"I think he came to an understanding that there are a lot of women out there that are already doing ministry for other women," Korsmeyer said. "We have since the beginning of the church."

The new office is evolving into a sort of "hub" for women's services.

It helps women who are already serving others to network with others to find new opportunities and resources.

It helps them support and nurture one another.

Through the new ministry, "(McKnight) is saying, 'Let's pull together resources. Let's replicate where it makes sense. Let's modify and adapt where it makes sense.' It fits his whole mantra - 'Better Together,'" Osman said.

The Women's Ministry has been a grassroots movement, Korsmeyer said. It sprang out of the community.

That is how McKnight wants efforts, such as the Women's Ministry, to come about, Osman said.

He would say, "Let's see what the Holy Spirit is telling us," she continued.

From the bishop's stance, Korsmeyer and others felt it was a good time to approach him about the effort.

"We felt like this was a good time to say, 'This is something we are already doing, bishop. We want to do it collaboratively. We want to be stronger together,'" she said.

Shortly after creation of the ministry, the diocese asked parishes to spread the word to parishioners of an online survey asking women what sorts of support they'd like to see from the church.

"There's a trend there, about women looking for opportunities to go deeper in their faith," Osman said. "About 60 percent of respondents said they would really like to see more one-day faith formation opportunities - or spiritual direction."

They look forward to woman-to-woman ministry, she said.

In her first few months, Korsmeyer has created a "Be the Change" presentation, which she'll be taking throughout the diocese. A minimum of 30-40 women are expected at each presentation.

"I kind of want to share with them how we came to be and what the vision for the future is - as far as some offerings of ministries that we can, maybe, give to them," she said.

The presentations will hopefully show women what they can do, how they can serve and how they can assist in parishes. Presentations began late this month and continue into December.

Because the diocese is so large and rural, it has created a Facebook group in which they can connect, if time and geography prevent one-on-one meetings, Osman said.

A Women's Day of Reflection will be from noon-5 p.m. Oct. 20 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 7319 Route M in Taos. All are welcome.

As Korsmeyer meets with women, she gives them six to eight different opportunities to volunteer. Spiritual directors will help. The hope is, as they become comfortable in a system, women will have chances to reach out as spiritual directors for others.

Women will receive training before they're asked to hold "group support" events at their own parishes.

"The women (during presentations) are invited to share with me what they are already doing - or what they would like to see in their own parish and in their own community," Korsmeyer said. "That's been really enlightening and affirming."

One of the women has offered to begin meeting some of her colleagues through the social network Zoom.

"How can we connect intergenerationally?" Osman said. "Back in the day, you would all get together, and the women were all in the kitchen cooking. There's also been a loss for younger women to be able to have some of those frank conversations that you would typically have in a room full of women."

Instead of having those conversations, many young women look for answers to their questions online, she said.

Online efforts will be important to the ministry.

"We can invite anyone in the diocese to be part of that," Korsmeyer said. "So those women are going to connect when they would never have had an opportunity to do that before. It's not just the space - it's also the time."

There is no template for the ministry. It's up to women to decide what it's going to look like in their parishes. Their success is very much dependent on them, she said.

When somebody comes to Korsmeyer and says they have a great idea, she listens.

"I say back to them, 'And how can I help you make that happen?' because it really lands it back on them," she said. "I don't have the vision. You do. Tell me how I can help make that happen."

Diocese of Jefferson City listing of Women's Ministry events:

 

The Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City Women's Ministry has a number of events scheduled over the next few months.

The public is welcome to these events.

From noon-5 p.m. Oct. 20, the ministry is to host a women's Day of Reflection at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 7319 Route M in Taos. The event is to feature a "Water to Wine" theme.

Information provided about the event says: When Jesus was born of this Earth more than 2,000 years ago, he entered a culture which had forgotten the message of God's Grace. Today, many of us are living in that same culture.

Participants in the day will reflect on transformation, which takes place when they allow the Holy Spirit to use them as living vessels and extensions of God's love.

Speakers are to include LeAnn Korsmeyer, Millie Aulbur, Sister Mary Ruth Wand, Sister Claret Feldhake, Jeanne Livers and Mary Markway.

To register for event, call 573-395-4401 or email [email protected]

The diocese is to host "Be the Change (You Wish to See)" events at a number of sites over the next few months. The events are to show women what they can do and how they can serve or assist parishes, and to share potential offerings of ministries women can participate in.

Events scheduled so far include:

8 a.m.-5 p.m., today, Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 322 Seventh St., Boonville.

8 a.m. Oct. 8, Oscar's Classic Diner, 2118 Schotthill Woods Drive, Jefferson City.

6-7 p.m., Oct. 9, St. Joseph Catholic Church, 400 S. Lane St., Palmyra.

8 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 16, St. Mary Catholic Church, 307 E. Chestnut St., Shelbina.

6-8 p.m. Oct. 23, St. Patrick Catholic Church, 17 St. Patrick Lane, Rolla.

Nov. 13, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 421 W. Third St., Sedalia (time to be determined).

Dec. 2, Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, 2411 Bagnell Dam Blvd., Lake Ozark (time to be determined).

Dec. 3, St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, 6418 Route W, Wardsville (time to be determined).

Dec. 7, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 902 Bernadette Drive, Columbia (time to be determined).

The ministry will also offer retreats. For more information, go to diojeffcity.org/womens-ministry.