At their 2021 Chapter, delegates of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa, set congregational directions for the next four years and elected a new leadership team to help move those directions into action. Members of the new leadership team – Sisters Janice Cebula, Marilyn Huegerich, and Ruth E. Westmoreland – were installed during a ceremony on June 14 at The Canticle in Clinton.
2021-2025 Leadership Team members, from left, Sisters Marilyn Huegerich, Vice President; Janice Cebula, President; and Ruth E. Westmoreland, Councilor.
Sister Janice Cebula, OSF, was installed as the congregational President. A native of Goodland, Kansas, Sister Janice entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1971. She has served as President since 2016, and also served in this capacity from 2004 to 2012. Her previous ministries included positions as the U.S. Liaison for Global Sisters Report, Kansas City, Missouri; staff attorney with Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri; and was associated with Holy Family Catholic Worker House in Kansas City, Missouri. “The community is committed to the mission of living and promoting active nonviolence and peacemaking which is very needed in this world,” Sister Janice commented. She is eager to “collaborate with others to unfold the future of a world where all are sister and brother to each other and all of creation.”
A native of Varina, Iowa, Sister Marilyn Huegerich, OSF, was installed as the congregational Vice President. Sister Marilyn entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1959. She has served as Vice President since 2016. She also ministered eight years as President and twelve years as Councilor. Sister Marilyn previously served in education, both as principal and teacher of elementary through high school students. Sister Marilyn feels “happy to serve the community with a commitment and desire to address the many systemic issues of injustices at the local and global levels.”
Sister Ruth E. Westmoreland, OSF, a native of Fort Dodge, Iowa, was installed as the congregational Councilor. Sister Ruth E. entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1963. She served as Canonical Councilor of the congregation from 2012 to 2016. Previously, she served as director of Café on Vine in Davenport, Iowa. Other ministries include serving as a teacher; Academic Dean and Vice President of Mount St. Clare College in Clinton, Iowa; Special Assistant for Development for Boysville and the Ennis Center for Children in Michigan; and in childcare work, parish social ministry, and shelter work at Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois. To the leadership team, Sister Ruth E. brings “a sense of hope and a willingness to serve wherever most needed.”