via Greta Gaffin, Global Sisters Report:
Sr. Bethany Welch first met the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia while serving in the AmeriCorps in 2003. She wasn’t Catholic then, but she admired the sisters’ commitment to serving and living amongst the poor, particularly in an era when the diocese was closing many of its inner-city parishes. Later, after becoming Catholic, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in 2020 and professed first vows in 2024….
Welch’s work has been focused on urban revitalization, particularly on the adaptive reuse of church property, both before and after entering the order. “How do we steward those properties to serve the Gospel?” she asks.
Before entering the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia, she founded and ran the Aquinas Center, a community center located in a former convent in a disadvantaged part of Philadelphia. As a sister, she ran a transitional housing program — also in a former convent in Philadelphia — that served college students from different universities in the city. She has also served as a consultant for parishes looking to reuse their buildings.
Welch is currently the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation coordinator for the Sisters of St. Joseph and is also involved with Tending the Flame, a ministry for younger sisters.
Before entering, she earned a Ph.D. in urban studies and public policy from the University of Delaware, and her dissertation was on adaptive reuse of church property on development work….
What is it like to be a younger Sister of St. Joseph today?
I met the sisters in 2003. I was very compelled by their authenticity. They lived alongside people on the margins.
Their ability to do that is a little more limited because of aging. How can I be part of what has been while being part of what is emerging? As long as there’s five or six of us, that’s enough — that’s where we started.
People are drawn to the charism of love. It’s a powerful witness to a world that’s divided. I’m not concerned about the future — I do fundamentally believe God continues to call women to consecrated life. One of the opportunities is to continue new ways of living our charism. There’s challenges, but we’re open to new things. It frees me up to not be a first grade teacher. You discern with God and us how to use your gifts and talents. I get to be involved in physical spaces to bring people closer to God.
God designed people to be in community — you see that in the Trinity. God continues to call women who are responding with the wholeness of their body to God.
