As of this week, I will be leaving my position as Director of Communications for Human Adventure Corporation (affectionately known as “the CL office”) for a position as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Saint Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, New York. I want to take this moment to express my gratitude for the chance to serve you over the past two years.

Someone recently noted the fact that I begin all my correspondence with the greeting “Dear Friends.” For a moment, I wondered to myself if this is disingenuous—and then quickly concluded that it isn’t. This phrase expresses for me the fundamental truth of my life in the Movement: even though I don’t yet “know” you, you are already my friend. I belong to you and you belong to me—because we all belong to Christ. I am always among friends when I do this work, and I cannot see it any other way.

Over the past two years this sense of belonging has taken flesh in my time with Luigi, Renzo, Fr. José, Jen, Meghan, Ellynore, Shawna, Madi, Letizia, and Gabe—my colleagues who have given themselves with simplicity and dedication to the work of the newsletter. Every week I have gained energy from these friends, from their willingness to share their experiences and ideas, to dive into writing and editing, to offer themselves in myriad ways to bring this work forward.

And every week I get to read and edit beautiful stories from friends all over the country. In this, what has struck me most is the patience people have had with my editing, receiving it almost always as a gesture of charity—even when I sent them a file “covered with red,” chockful of corrections and suggestions. This is not a normal experience for an editor, but it has been my experience with you. It is another sign of our unity, our belonging to something greater than ourselves, and I thank you for it!

As I reflect on it in this moment, it is hard to leave this position in which I feel so “dialed in” to the life we are living here in America. I feel a little bit like I am being sent out on mission, to the "hinterland" of upstate New York! Actually, I think I am—so I hope you will pray for me. I promise to pray for you.

With gratitude for this companionship,

Lisa, soon-to-be Rochester, New York