After four decades of service in Superior, Sister Eileen Lang begins life’s next chapter

For 100 days—February through mid May of 2010—Sister Eileen Lang will take off the many ministry hats she has worn for nearly four decades, teaching and serving the Catholic Diocese of Superior, Wis. She recently left her post as diocesan chancellor and has been accepted to a sabbatical program for men and women religious at the Sangre de Cristo Center in Santa Fe, N.M. Putting FSPA’s 2009 General Assembly U-Theory to the test, she intends to spend those three months “unpacking the past 36 years, discovering what I need to let go of, what I need to savor and where the future might take me.”

Sister Eileen’s faith journey along the shores of Lake Superior began in 1971; she joined the faculty of Superior’s Cathedral Junior High to teach ninth grade algebra and religious studies. She then spent two years teaching at Regis High School, Eau Claire, before traversing from the classroom to diocesan ministry in 1981. Once there, she immersed herself in the opportunity “to provide leadership, direction and resources in faith formation for all ages and stages of life.”

According to the expressions of gratitude Sister Eileen has received since announcing her departure from the
chancery, the imprint she leaves of her 28-year ministry is wide and deep. “I want you to know that you did an incredible job in that position,” imparted Reverend Gerald P. Harris, pastor of St. Bridget Church in River Falls. Diana Maki, parishioner of the Holy Family Church in Woodruff and board member of the Marywood Spirituality Center in Arbor Vitae, told Sister Eileen, “You did the work of a super woman and blazed the trail with accountability, confidentiality, reliability, flexibility and, above all, a ‘can do’ attitude of service to the diocese.”

Her strong work ethic certainly benefited the people and programs of the diocese. Throughout the terms of three bishops, Sister Eileen held leadership positions in religious education, RENEW and evangelization. “I enjoyed working relationships with parish leadership and participants in retreat programs like Marriage Encounter, Beginning Experience, Koinonia and Cursillo,” said Sister Eileen. She spoke of her position as vicar for religious—including 16 small, rural orders of women religious spread throughout the diocese—which provided her an opportunity “to support, network, collaborate with and give visibility to the important ministries of religious in today’s world.”

Sister Eileen easily recalled the moment in 1995, sitting across the desk from Bishop Raphael M. Fliss, when he asked her to become chancellor. “I remember saying that I didn’t know what a chancellor did. He simply replied that we would work it out together; that was precisely what we did for the next 12 years.” Her belief that “each experience prepares you for the next” carried her through and allowed her to forge cherished professional relationships. “I found that to be the most energizing aspect of my ministry,” she said; “a ministry that, I believe, is meant to be executed on behalf of the people in the diocese.”

As director of evangelization Sister Eileen wrote a monthly column for the Superior Catholic Herald, a 16-year
assignment she reveled in by “sitting back, crystallizing my thoughts and considering their application to reality.” It was her consummate care for the diocesan archives that led her to participate in the development of Our Journey through Faith: a History of the Diocese of Superior, a beautiful coffee table book (found in the St. Rose Gathering Room) that illustrates the story of the diocese. Sam Lucero, former editor of the Superior Catholic Herald, collaborated with her from 2003 to the book’s publication in 2005. He admitted that Sister Eileen’s “attention to detail” kept the project on track. “I admired her tireless work and commitment to the diocese,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll be greatly missed by the diocesan staff.”

For all of this, Sister Eileen gives much credit to her FSPA congregation. She cited the community’s “gifts” of education (including her doctorate of ministry degree), teaching opportunities and leadership experiences for giving her the tools to “further the mission of Christ in the diocese and in the world.” This trinity—the relationships between herself, FSPA and the diocese—has been a giving and receiving, she says, of enrichment.

Looking back, Sister Eileen said she is proud of her accomplishments and the friends she’s made during “36 years with my hand to the plow in the diocese.” Before turning to the future, “it is good to take some time to reflect on my ‘bucket list,’” she said. During her sabbatical at the Sangre de Cristo Center she will dis-
cern what comes next with openness to the program’s intent: to provide each participant with “help in understanding themselves as persons, as Christians and as religious ministers in a society and a church undergoing profound cultural change.” 

Come what may, “with the continued blessings of good health and the guidance of the Holy Spirit,” said Sister Eileen, “I should be in good space to begin the next chapter of my life.”