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Sister Celesta Day retires from office of mission effectiveness

Sister Celesta Day

Sister Celesta Day, who has served as director of the office of mission effectiveness for 16 years, recently retired from the position. In August, she was honored for her years of service to the office of mission effectiveness, with the Franciscan Federation Peacemaker Award, a designation given to one member who is an extraordinary witness to the theme of the year. The 2005 theme was mission.

Sister Celesta was appointed to the newly-developed office of mission effectiveness in 1989, to plan and direct mission activities and programs with sponsored public ministries of the congregation. The effort began after a 1988 study conducted by Zielinski & Associates of St. Louis, Mo., showed the FSPA was "ministerially vulnerable," pointing to the declining numbers in membership and the diminishing ability to serve in all administrative and staff roles of the sponsored institutions.

Sister Celesta says the program was able to satisfy a need that had not been recognized to that point: the need for the integration of mission into the workplace. "I think the work setting nowadays is very pressurized," she said. "And so to bring meaning to that and bring them a small amount of reflection time was very positive."
During her tenure Sister Celesta established three programs: the annual sponsorship conference, which began in 1990; the Assisi pilgrimage, which began in 1993; and the Envision leadership program which began in 1991. All continue to this day.

In addition to these efforts, Sister Celesta has many accomplishments including board work for Viterbo University and several other organizations and ethics-related groups, coordination of Clarefest '93 (a national Franciscan conference held at Viterbo), trustee training for women, and serving as speaker for various congregations and for the National Association of Catholic Personnel Directors.

Sister Celesta credits the FSPA community for the investment they've made in her as an individual. "It's been a fun job. I've enjoyed it very much. I had a lot of opportunities in the congregation that prepared me for a job like this. I could never have done it without the education and resources they put into me."

As Sister Celesta moves on from the mission effectiveness position to explore personal projects and writing, Sister Jean Moore is taking the reins of the office.

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