“If our world was ever crying out in need of the mission to ‘make one’ and respond to the urgent crises of our times, now is that time,” says Ben Brzeski, new Ministry Director for School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province (SSNDCP). “SSND have founded ministries that have been answering that call for years, so knowing that my efforts serve in some small part to amplify, connect and provide formation for those ministries and their leaders is profoundly satisfying.”

For the last few months, Ben has been getting settled into this new role, learning both the technical administrative tasks and critical relationship-building and networking functions needed to keep the 17 unique ministries of the province moving forward. Ben first became acquainted with sisters as a high schooler when on retreat at a SSND-sponsored youth ministry. He would later become the executive director of that same center, eventually also serving in parish ministry roles and as development director for a retreat center. Ben became a founding member of the SSNDCP Ministry Commission in 2019.

Across the current 17 sponsored, co-sponsored and affiliated ministries of SSNDCP, there are grade schools, high schools and a university; tutoring programs and learning centers; parenting and outreach programs; a community garden program and a clean water initiative. Together, they are united under six ministry ideals which can be summarized as: embody Gospel values and actualize the social teachings of the Church; minister with the conviction that education enables individuals to reach the fullness of their potential; exclude no one from our concern; promote unity; respond to the crises of this age; and effect systemic change in order to establish God’s beloved community.

“The question is,” says Ben, “How do we do that in a school? How do we do that in a tutoring program? How do we do that in a community garden setting? How do we live that out? And so that’s a very rich and exciting dialogue.”

Looking at these ministries today, there are those experiencing significant growth alongside others that are navigating periods of transformation. Notre Dame High School, St. Louis , and Notre Dame School of Milwaukee , for example, are currently in the midst of construction and expansion projects, a tangible sign of the work and commitment which is alive and growing.

Alternatively, as the province has divested some of its properties, ministries housed on those properties have faced or are facing relocations. As a result of having to move their operations, those ministries are building new partnerships and exploring new opportunities to carry on their piece of the mission.

“I would never minimize the challenges there, but some are finding it a call to growth and evolving,” says Ben. “They have done the grieving work and are coming out on the other side of it realizing maybe this is an invitation to new ways this ministry will take shape in the world. The tenacity, creativity and vision that these ministries and their leaders exhibit is truly something to behold, the resilience – which I absolutely trace back to these organizations’ rootedness in SSND DNA – is evident.”

The Ministry Office understands and supports SSND efforts for a global vision and global community, helping nurture spaces where interculturality flourishes. Literacy programs, such as Good Counsel Learning Center , East Side Learning Center and MORE are places where English is taught to immigrants, empowering them to more fully engage in life in the U.S. and an extension of the SSND focus on education. Global Partners Running Waters helps facilitate and complete water, food, education, and healthcare projects in Latin America.

“The Living Earth Center and its gardens, are one of the most intercultural spaces in Mankato, Minnesota, because people are coming from a wide variety of cultures to grow the foods that are unique to their particular culture and diet, foods you don’t find in a standard supermarket,” says Ben. “It’s like a laboratory of interculturality, through the lens of a garden.”

One of the major projects Ben is currently working on is sorting, summarizing and synthesizing a wealth of feedback from a recent five-year assessment of the Ministry Office and Commission that took place in the spring.

Says Ben, “One of the key threads of input that surfaces in the assessment feedback is how proud and excited the sisters are to observe the lay partners in these ministries whose professionalism and credentials in their specific fields are exceptional and who truly embody the SSND ministry ideals in their work.”

As much as sisters value lay partners in ministry, those same partners – ministry directors and executive directors, principals and presidents – feel much the same about the sisters.

“What they’re saying is the connection with the sisters is critical. It’s vital. We love it, the students love it, the people we serve love it and want as much of it as we can have. And that’s part of what the Ministry Office helps to facilitate.”

“I am a future oriented person. Hope and possibility are just part of my DNA, and this work is truly about the ongoing sharing of the SSND story as it continues to unfold in new and unexpected ways. We talk about education as being an endeavor of assisting individuals in reaching the fullness of their potential. This is what our ministries do every day. I would say that the work of the Ministry Office and Ministry Commission is to play a role in assisting those ministries and their leaders in reaching the fullness of their potential. That’s powerful stuff! And it happens as we come together to connect, learn, dream, support and teach one another. It happens in community. It happens out of that oneness for which Jesus longed.”

When asked what he would want people to know about SSND ministries in 2025, Ben says, “I would want people to know that there is so much to be proud of, and that our ministries’ leaders are exceptional. They are well-recognized as leaders in their fields and in their communities and they are effective carriers of the SSND mission and vision. What the sisters have started goes on, it goes deep and it goes out. The work continues and there are new generations of workers in the vineyard who are attracted to the values and ideals for which SSND have stood since our founding.”

“I would encourage you to pick up the phone, see about visiting your local SSND ministries. I’ve been on the ground with all but a few and I can assure you that you’ll catch the spirit. Our leaders are some of the most welcoming, passionate people I know and they love to share their work. If you want to see the SSND spirit in action, visit our ministries. The spirit is very much alive!”

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