Southern Nebraska Register
The Serra Club of Lincoln presented the School Sisters of Christ the King with a $1,600 donation to help support the Epiphany House Program in Lincoln, which the Sisters offer for young women desiring to grow in their relationship with God in the context of community.
In addition to providing retreats, “Awaken” and mission weeks, hosting “Come and See” visits and “nun runs,” the Sisters offer a program at Epiphany House that runs through the academic year. The women who participate in the program live together at the Epiphany House on the grounds of the Sisters’ Villa Marie Motherhouse in Lincoln. Some work alongside the Sisters in their apostolate of Catholic education. Others work elsewhere or study at a nearby college.
The women are accompanied by the Sisters and the other women in the program. The Epiphany House community gathers for times of prayer and communal events. The women are invited to participate in aspects of the common life of the School Sisters of Christ the King.
Those who request it may also receive spiritual direction and/or guidance in vocational discernment from one of the Sisters.
Some of the women are actively discerning a possible vocation to the School Sisters of Christ the King, or to another religious community. During this academic year, two of the women have been accepted into the postulancy of the School Sisters of Christ the King, the first stage of initial formation in the community.
The Serra Club of Lincoln was founded in 1950 with the mission to pray for, foster, and affirm vocations to the ordained priesthood and religious life. Jim Wathen, current Serra Club president, said the program “is really in our ‘sweet spot’ as it fosters awareness of religious vocations for women.
“It helps them to be intentional in discerning God’s will for themselves. The timing was providential as we are not a foundation ordinarily looking to spend funds, but this year we were able to identify funds to allocate to the Sisters. We hope others will join in supporting this endeavor.”
For more information about the Epiphany House program, contact Mother Joan Paul at 402-477-5232, or visit cksisters.org. For more information on the Serra Club, email John Kuchta, membership chair, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The School Sisters of Christ the King were established in 1976 by Bishop Glennon P. Flavin. The community has since passed several milestones: the motherhouse construction in 1992; Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters return to Philadelphia and the appointment of Mother Joan Paul, Superior General, in 1994; the Founder Bishop Flavin's death in 1995; approval of the Constitutions in 1996; and the first General Chapter in 2001.
On Nov. 26, 2017, the School Sisters of Christ the King were established as a Religious Institute of Diocesan Right in the Diocese of Lincoln with permission from the Holy See.
The key elements of the Sisters' spirituality are belonging totally to the King, love for the Eucharist and the priesthood, zeal for souls, and devotion to Mary in the spirit of St. Alphonsus Liguori.
The Sisters have Catholic Education as a specific mission. They strive to extend the Kingdom of Christ by laboring with zeal in Catholic schools and other religion programs. Besides motherhouse duties and formation, the Sisters serve in schools and parishes in our Diocese of Lincoln.
The Sisters also assist in various other ways at the Newman Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and at the Diocesan Office of Religious Education.
School Sisters of Christ the King also serve St. James School in St. Joseph, Mo., while attending Benedictine College in Kansas.
