For nearly 125 years, the Benedictine Sisters of Cullman have served within the Diocese of Birmingham. Throughout their history, they have sought to meet the needs of the local Church through the particular gifts of their sisters. Education and advanced studies have been priorities for the community in order for sisters to develop their gifts for the good of ministry.

Today, the Sisters have within their community parish ministers, adult educators, a canon and civil lawyer, spiritual directors, retreat leaders, and administrators. A physician and a college professor are also among their ranks. Sister Elisabeth Meadows, prioress of the community, shares, “God has blessed us with gifted community members with generous hearts who enthusiastically put their gifts in service to the local Church and the wider world.” She goes on to say, “Seeing Christ in the stranger, in the sick, in those who need our care is a core Benedictine value, spoken of by St. Benedict himself in his Rule for monastic communities. This call of St. Benedict, rooted in the Gospel, animates us every day.”

Over the years, leadership is a ministry that has been asked of many of Cullman’s Benedictine Sisters. Not only has this leadership been within the monastic community and in local parish or school settings, but two Benedictine Sisters have served as president of the Monastic Congregation to which the Cullman sisters belong. Currently, one of the sisters leads the Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum, the international organization of Benedictine nuns and sisters. Another serves in a leadership role appointed by the Monastic Congregation. Other sisters serve, or have served, within national organizations or committees related to Benedictine life.

These national and international connections enhance the Sisters’ local ministry. Sister Elisabeth relates, “St. Benedict wrote, ‘The divine presence is everywhere,’ and our connections to the breadth of Benedictine life across the U.S. and the globe broaden our perspective and help us connect our local ministerial settings with that of the whole of the Church and the whole of God’s creation.”

This vision that is both global and local is particularly in evidence in the Benedictine Sisters Retreat Center, which seeks to welcome all guests as Christ. Individual private retreatants, parish or non-profit groups, and even international guests and groups have found a warm and peaceful welcome at the Retreat Center.

In every ministerial context, monastic prayer and community animate the ministry of the Benedictine Sisters. One sister describes it this way: “We commit ourselves every day to bring out in ourselves, and to inspire in others, the good zeal that leads to God.” This life-long commitment to seek God is the soil in which the ministries of Benedictine Sisters grow in service to God and God’s people. In looking forward to their 125th anniversary, Sister Elisabeth says, “With our monastic charism as our anchor, we are eager to continue to respond to the needs around us through ministry that flows from our life of prayer and community.”