A Thriving Community and Mission: Evolution from the Sisters of Providence to the Providence Community

“… the sisters strive to follow the Lord by heeding the demands of the Gospel and by recognizing and responding to those signs of the times which make present the saving mission of Jesus.”
─ Constitutions of the Sisters of Providence, Article 44
Responding to the Needs of 1840
When Mother Theodore and five other sisters arrived, their call was to establish a religious community that would respond to the needs of that time. In 1840 Indiana, this meant the education and religious formation of girls and care of the sick and poor.
Almost immediately these missionaries had to adapt to meet the evolving needs they found in Indiana. They taught boys, opened an orphanage and a pharmacy and established schools in places where growth was doubtful.
A Response to Immigrant Education
During the 1800s in the United States a massive wave of German and Irish immigrant children needed education and faith formation. The sisters responded. In 1920 they were asked to send teachers for the children in China and in the 1960s they went to Peru. Education of youth in parochial schools was a primary — though not only — focus until after the 1960s. At that point Catholicism, schools, hospitals and social service systems were well established in the United States, due in large part to the work of religious sisters.
Shifting Landscape of Education and Service
Following the direction of the Vatican II Church, the sisters examined the needs of the time and how they might respond. Every five years since then, the Providence Community gathers to reassess and recommit to the ministries needed with the resources available, tapping into the talents of each sister.
Using Our Gifts to Create Thriving Communities
Ideally, the sisters plant a seed, tend to a ministry while they can, and then pass it on to others to continue the mission. Some ministries that the Sisters of Providence started now operate independently, such as Wabash Valley Health Center, Providence Housing and Guerin, Inc. Some institutions or ministries the sisters continue to formally sponsor and stay involved in, though on a limited basis, such as Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and Providence Cristo Rey High School. We are called to use our gifts and support others in developing solutions for their communities. We shift as the world shifts, striving to create thriving communities of care for all, especially those marginalized and oppressed by dominant systems.

Mother Theodore also came to build a community, one that would carry the mission into the future. This began with a group of faith-filled French Sisters and independent American postulants. As the daughters of immigrants joined this fledgling community, language and cultural adaptations were necessary. Mother Theodore said of this early community:
“Besides the admirable union that exists between persons of different nationalities, of dispositions so opposite, some well-informed, others without education, there is also … a great spirit of faith, of piety and a confidence in God which goes as far, I believe, as it can go.”
A Changing Community
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Providence Community of sisters boomed with the influx of European immigrants. Since then, the faces of the Providence sisters have changed with the shift in the U.S. Catholic family, economic and cultural demographics. The number of vowed members is returning to the baseline before the religious life boom. The Sisters of Providence continue to receive new members. In fact, the number of members we have in initial formation puts us among the top 10% of religious communities in the United States.
Partners in Mission
This mission (God’s mission), however, is not just about the sisters. Today the Providence Community includes Providence Associates, who commit to be in relationship and mission with sisters. Just as Mother Theodore relied on her friends in France and New York, the priests of Indiana and many workers who helped the mission take root and grow; so our staff, co-workers, donors and friends are indispensable partners of the Providence Community in mission.
A Living, Growing Mission
While it might look a little different, the Providence Community and Mission are very much alive and growing! Together, we continue to strive to hear the cries of the oppressed, respond to the signs of the times and make present the healing mission of Jesus.
Originally published in the Winter 2025 issue of HOPE magazine.