The FSPA communications team interviewed three Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration about their ministry to serve the community on the ongoing formation team, pictured above left to right, Sisters Paulynn Instenes, Kathy Roberg and Amy Taylor. They provided us with a look at the ways in which they help sisters live out their vows and engage in spirituality opportunities.
Q. What is ongoing formation?
Sister Amy Taylor: Ongoing formation is holistic development of mind, body, and spirit, integration of experiences, as well as continual development of personal, professional and ministerial competencies to meet the needs of the world today. As we live into the now of our FSPA mission, we express ourselves in a variety of ministerial endeavors as we collaborate with many other religious as well as lay individuals as we read the “signs of the times” and what our world needs today.
Q. For FSPA, what is your role in this work?
Sister Amy Taylor: I feel that I have been called by God and FSPA to serve in this dynamic, creative multifaceted ministry. I feel great hope in the now of religious life and the future of both FSPA religious life and religious life in our world. This ministry has both visual and invisible parts of the work. Much of what I do in this role happens outside of the office at St. Rose and beyond most sisters' awareness as I work on behalf of the charism of religious life across congregations on a global perspective. The work that people see includes hosting and leading gatherings and discussions at St. Rose Convent, creating and leading prayer for our annual commissioning service and community days and developing the Pilgrimage of Hope program as we celebrate the Jubilee Year of Hope. I also serve on the Religious Formation Conference Programs and Initiatives Advisory Committee of the board of the Religious Formation Conference. Our purpose is to “discern the emerging realities of religious life, to advise the program manager regarding the revision of current programs and creation of new offerings, to suggest speakers for programs, and to suggest topics for webinars and other programs.” I helped create and participate in the Religious Formation Conference Ongoing Formation Circles, which launched on March 19, 2025, for all religious women and men to talk together in groups globally, across congregations, cultures and generations about religious life and mission.
Q. What brings you joy in the ministry of ongoing formation?
Sister Kathy Roberg: Joy comes through and is very easily seen when wholesome, healthy connections are made. When people (sisters) value and take the time to see beyond themselves into worlds that mirror God and goodness, joy is a result. I also see joy in some of the processing guided by the ongoing formation team that is beginning to blossom. Can’t wait to see the garden!
Sister Paulynn Instenes: Working with our team is a great joy. We work well together and provide the sisters with resources they want and need. Hearing a sister say "I liked that discussion; I learned a lot," is a joy. Seeing every sister involved in good discussions or learning experiences is a great joy,
Q. What do you see as important in ongoing formation at this time in FSPA history?
Sister Paulynn Instenes: Ongoing formation is tasked with helping the community to grow spiritually mentally and community. We provide resources and programs that help a sister to grow in her faith as well as community life. This is important. Justice is also a major item in both the sisters’ lives as well as the general population. Being on both the FSPA Leadership and Ongoing Formation Teams provides me with needed knowledge and resources to help those in need. I depend on people who have first hand knowledge as well as people who have first hand experiences to provide information to me to help see the bigger picture.
Q. How did volunteering in St. John parish (Kansas) while also on the ongoing formation team help you create learning opportunities for sisters?
Sister Paulynn Instenes: When the ongoing formation team was assigned the task to gain input on the Vatican’s Synod three year program for all churches and communities, I had both roles for my St. John’s parish and role in the FSPA community to make the Synod come alive. I still have St. John’s parish responses in my files; their responses are a real inspiration for me. What was amazing for me was how the insights and responses were so very much alike both for the parish and in my FSPA religious community. The responses were real and heart felt. Both the parish and the sisters wanted more participation in the liturgies, a greater connection between members and a sharing of deeper faith.
Q. How do you work with other religious congregations in Spokane, Washington, to create a larger learning cohort?
Sister Kathy Roberg: Spokane has been blessed to have been touched by a variety of religious congregations, ranging from the well established congregations from Holy Names, Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans and Sisters of Charity to Mother Theresa’s Sisters of the Poor, Poor Clares, Consecrated Virgins and a congregation start up of 20 years, which is not yet canonical. We see each other as sisters, all connecting together to create environments and spaces of hope and Gospel truths.
Q. How is ongoing formation nurtured by a global perspective?
Sister Amy Taylor: Ongoing formation is nurtured from a global perspective because religious life and ministry is not contained to any one place; ongoing learning needs to have diversity. We encourage sisters to seek learning opportunities that have a wide variety of presenters from various expertise and who are from different parts of the world. We are blessed with technology that helps us create portals of learning. It is possible to attend a live streaming event from Rome in the morning and be in international breakout groups for dialogue in the afternoon, all without incurring costly travel or adding to greenhouse gas levels for a one day meeting while still harvesting the benefits of creating a wonderful learning environment together for dialogue. With the aid of translators, dialogue is also possible among participants with differing languages.
Q. What is your dream for ongoing formation?
Sister Kathy Roberg: My dream for ongoing formation is that we, as FSPA , grow closer in relationships through prayer, have a common rootedness in hope, implement ways to discover and uncover hidden gifts, and create sacred spaces where souls can really touch souls and grow into the true images of God, whom we were created to be. It’s our lifelong journey. We grow more whole and human as we grow into being a community. It’s a journey we travel until we can no longer function.
Sister Paulynn Instenes: My dream for ongoing formation is that every sister has the resources she needs to develop into the best she can be. This would also be true for our employees too that they receive the resources they need to be the best versions of themselves.
Sister Amy Taylor: My dream for our ongoing formation in our community is that it continues to grow and becomes just as normative as initial formation. I hope we we encourage each other to seek opportunities to keep learning. And, that we make a commitment to keep learning as individuals and together so we also build our communal relationships and remain relevant as a community as we minister with others in a wide range of endeavors.
Q. What message do you want people to hear about religious life and ongoing formation?
Sister Amy Taylor: Religious life life is not stagnant; it is changing. Part of living a vowed religious vocation at this time in history is choosing to be an active participant in the evolution of the life form and innovators while also tending the charisms God has gifted each congregation for the flourishing of the world. The future of FSPA is exciting! And our collaboration with other congregations and initiatives will not only be vital but also follows in a long FSPA tradition of creativity to meet the needs of the time. Ongoing formation also invites each of us to stretch outside of our comfort zones as we encounter and at times wrestle with the process of integration of learnings in one’s heart, mind and body and seek to live into and apply new learnings in our lives and ministries.