Welcome to the Province of Mid-North America!
Good Shepherd Provincialate
7654 Natural Bridge Road
St. Louis, MO. 63121
Phone: (314) 381-3400
Toll Free: 1(800) 615-5073
Fax: (314) 381-6449
Web: www.goodshepherdsisters.net
Provincial Leader: Sr. Catherine Massei
Contact: Betty Goldbeck, Administrative Assistant
Email: bgoldbeck@gspmna.org
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd first came to the United States in 1842, opening the first House of the Good Shepherd in Louisville, Kentucky in 1843.In response to the needs of the rapidly growing frontier and the difficulties faced by many women and young girls in this new world, Good Shepherd ministries spread rapidly throughout the country. Within a few years the Good Shepherd had opened more houses for women and girls in St. Louis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and New York. Additional houses followed so that within a century there were Good Shepherd programs in every major city from Baltimore in the east to San Francisco on the west coast and St. Paul in the north to New Orleans in the south.
Sisters of the Good Shepherd have always been interested in looking at and responding to the realities of the times. By the 1990s, social conditions in the United States had changed again. With changes in public policies, decreases in the availability of funding for social service programs, and a decrease in the number of vocations, the Sisters voted to consolidate resources and join together what had been separate Provinces. Thus, in 2000, the Province of Mid-North America was born from what had previously been the Provinces of Cincinnati, St. Louis, St. Paul and Washington.
In February 2010, the Province of Mid-North America celebrated its tenth anniversary. Today, the Province continues to operate domestic violence shelters, programs for teenagers, shelters for women in recovery and a variety of services to those on the margins of society. We are also aware of the need to respond to the changing environmental climate and the responsibility we all share to be good stewards of this earth.
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd proclaim the good news of God's compassion, mercy and healing through prayer and service. Our ministries in social work, counseling, education, prison ministry, healthcare, social justice advocacy, spiritual direction, and many others are the means by which we model the love and service of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.
These ministries are infused and informed by the Sisters' core values of:
Mercy: acting with compassion for those in need of physical, psychological and spiritual support.
Reconciliation: helping all people find personal peace and peace in their relationships.
Individual Worth: upholding the dignity of each person.
Zeal: the passionate giving of our time and talents in service.
To provide ongoing support and training for our many lay professional staff, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd have invested their time and resources to support the Office of Mission Effectiveness as a means of enabling the spirit of Good Shepherd to permeate all that is done in their agencies and programs.