This story first appeared in the March 24, 2016 issue of the student-lead news website/paper, The Vantage, written by Taylor Mannis. Read it here.
Newman’s ASC Sisters, along with the help of students Diana Stanley and Emily Simon, are working to bring to Newman a program called ASC Associates. The program will encourage students, male or female, who feel a connection with the spirit of the Adorers to continue to grow spiritually with the help of the Sisters.
“We as Adorers have an Associate program for people who feel a connection with our spirituality and charisma about reconciling compassionate presence. They go through a time of getting to know us and our spirituality better,” said Sister Therese Wetta, one of the key Adorers involved in bringing the program to Newman.
Stanley, junior, and Simon, senior, said they ran across material on the Associates while they were working in the Newman Archives over the summer.
“We asked our boss, Sister Charlotte, about it and she directed us to Sister Therese and Rosemary,” Stanley said.
The ASC Mission Associates program is not a new program. Sister Wetta said that for some time, the Sisters were seeking direction on how to handle organizations of the laity who were interested in participating in the ASC charisma. From their efforts, there are now ASC Associate programs all over the world.
“When I was in India, I met the Associate Group in Mysore,” Stanley said. “They fulfill many of the functions of Altar Societies in the U.S. and help in fundraising for the building of their church.”
She said the Adorers have a Sister in the St. Louis area that works with college students who are interested in the program. A lot of their meetings are done over the Internet since not all of the students involved are in the immediate area.
Stanley said one of the ASC’s started a Mission Associates program for her high school students, and they wanted to continue to participate as college students.
“The advantage we have at Newman is that people who would be interested are here in Wichita or on campus,” Sister Wetta said.
Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Rosemary Niedens and Sister Wetta said it has been a dream of theirs to be able to collaborate more with college students.
“In Wichita, we want the Mission Associates to serve several purposes. The first of which is spiritual growth and community. The ASC’s do so much for our university, much of which isn’t necessarily visible to the average student,” Stanley said. “We want more students interacting with the Sisters and vice versa.”
The ASC Mission Associates is not an organization or a club but rather a group of individuals who share the same goal: to grow stronger spiritually and to service each other in doing so, Sister Wetta said.
She said once the Mission Associates spend a little time with the Adorers, they can then decide if they want to make a commitment to join the Sisters.
Each meeting’s purpose is to get to know the Adorers better and what the Associate program en-tails. The Adorers will not only be helping the Mission Associates, the Mission Associates will be helping them as well. It is a relationship in which both sides will grow in the love of Christ as they all share their love and gifts, Sister Wetta said.
