The "To Tangle or To Tango: The Reconfiguration of Religious Institutes" conference held in Sydney, Australia, in October 2005 heard the story of five different reconfigurations or restructurings of national and international religious institutes.

Each presenter was asked to reflect on their reconfiguration or restructuring using the questions:

• What was reconfigured?
• What issues arose?
• What was done to address those issues?
• What would you do differently?

Here is an overview of those reflections:

The Dominican Sisters of Hope

The story of the Dominican Sisters of Hope is an exciting one. It is a new Congregation formed in 1995 from three independent Dominican Congregations. Though the Dominican Order is international, the religious congregations of active women are all organised independently. So it was a major step to dissolve three congregations and form a new one.

"Risk the Journey, Celebrate Hope" was the theme of their third General Chapter held in 2003, when they continued to explore and celebrate what it means to be Hope for themselves and others. It is an ongoing story. The three separate congregations that came together were the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh, New York, the Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor of Ossining, New York and the Dominican Sisters of Fall River, Massachusetts. The new name that they selected, the Dominican Sisters of Hope, symbolised that the groups no longer wanted to be known by their geographic location, but rather by the charism that they were uncovering. Their story was told by Sr Lorelle Elcock (pictured above), who was the Planning Director of the three Congregations during their process of forming a union.

The Marist Sisters

The Marist Sisters, an international Congregation, founded in France in 1817. They presently have about 400 members with communities in 17 countries. Their path to reconfiguration began when their General Chapter of 1994 mandated that in order to respond more effectively to the needs of their mission, a complete study of the administrative was to be undertaken. Since then, this Congregation has embarked on a series of changes to reconfigure their governance structure in three regions. The Marist Sisters consider that their new structure expresses their openness to personal conversion and corporate transformation, and the need to grow in interdependence for the sake of the mission. This presentation by Sr Lorraine Campbell sm, uses the experience of the Sisters in the Asia-Pacific area as an example.

Sr Lorraine Campbell sm is the Provincial Leader of the Marist Sisters in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

The Marist Brothers

The Marist Brothers, also an international Congregation and founded in France in 1817. There are over 4,500 Marist Brothers in 76 countries. With only a few local exceptions, their reconfiguration has occurred in Europe, Africa, North and South America, with Asia moving towards reconfiguration.

The Marist Brothers reconfiguration process began in 1993 with a logical and systematic study of the Brothers' world-wide situation and an articulation of "Objectives" and "Criteria for Restructuring". Since then, their process has been proceeding through four stages with twenty-six steps. The four stages were: Launching the Process; Conducting a Viability Study; Definition and Selection of Geographical Models and The Actual Restructuring.

As the presenter, Br Peter Rodney fms (pictured above) said in conclusion "For the Marist Brothers, reconfiguration remains a work in progress."

Br Peter Rodney fms is a member of the General Council of the Marist Brothers in Rome.

Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ

The Passionist Fathers in the Australian Province have been restructuring their Province over the last ten years. However, their beginning place was quite different from the previous groups. Their Provincial Chapter in 1995 mandated that they should develop a strategic plan for the Province.

During those ten years their processes and structures changed and developed. Their task moved from constructing a strategic plan to talking about strategic planning as an adapting, renewing and revisioning process. They have now moved to a point where they have been able to commit to a set of strategic priorities. These are: promotion of the charism; strengthening community life; creating formation opportunities for the men; ensuring a holistic life for the men, and lessening the burden that some men carry. As the presenter, Fr Denis Travers cp (pictured above) said in conclusion to the question: What would we do differently? "I'd prepare more for an adventure than a journey, more for a discovery than creation. Using the image of the dancer, I would say you are not dancing in the dark but dancing in a new way."

Fr Denis Travers cp is the Provincial of the Congregation of the Passion for the Holy Spirit Province of Australia , New Zealand and Papua New Guinea .

Nga Whaea Atawhai O Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand

Nga Whaea Atawhai O Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand is a new Religious Institute commenced in December 2005. Three hundred women belonging to four congregations with the same founder, charism and constitutions choose to come together to become one.

The presenter of this story, Sr Denise Fox rsm (pictured left), reflected on "their long journey of faith, as we listened to God and to one another, as we yearned , struggled, resisted and embraced a call to become a new creation for mission ." The choice of name reflects their commitment and obligation to honour the Treaty of Waitangi. This Treaty was signed in 1840 between Maori, (Tangata Whenua, the indigenous people of New Zealand) and the Crown. Each stage of their reconfiguration process reflected their commitment to a spirit of partnership with the Tangata Whenua. Their story is an interesting example of a diverse group of women with varying levels of exposure and openness to biculturalism and Treaty, to retaining local autonomy and creating national identity and to exploring new collaborative relationships.

Sr Denise Fox rsm is the Congregational Leader of Nga Whaea Atawhai O Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand.

The full text of each of these presentations can be found in the Conference Proceedings "The Reconfiguration of Religious Institutes" in the Governance & Management Book Store.