b'Its extraordinarily important forLay Marianists to be articulate voicesin the 21st century. Brother Stephen Glodek, SMspearheaded the effort to schedule the VLMF Zoomsessions, recruit presenters and invite participantsfrom across the country. My goal was five people,so Im pretty excited that we had 21! she says.There were nearly as many reasons why peoplesigned up for the formation program as those whoattended. Some had begun working for Marianistinstitutions where the leadership wanted them toparticipate in a Marianist formation program, Abbeysays. Others had been trying for a long time to find a The time is right:Marianne McCulloch, a VLMFMarianist connection post-college. Still others had never Critical voices in a challenging worldparticipant from Miamisburg, Ohiocarefully considered the charism before. Regardless The VLMF program is part of a broader initiative toof their motivations, MLC-NA was eager to show expand the spiritual reach of Lay Marianists, accordingwe need everyones gifts, says Abbey. We need to Margy Lisjak, chair of MLC-NA. We are alwaysthem as part of the Marianist Family. in formation, she says. We are always called togrow in our understanding and commitment to the Far left: Marianist Lay PHOTO: JULIE WALLINGcharism. Its also part of our larger role in building Community of North Americathe kingdom of God. (MLC-NA) leaders: LeeAnnA recent MLC-NA census showed that there are 54 Meyer, head of spirituality, active Lay Marianist communities comprised of 700 with Margy Lisjak, chairindividuals across North America. Another 300 peoplehave been formed as Lay Marianists but currently arenot connected to a community. A strategic priority forMLC-NA is to ensure that all of them understandyou are part of a broader Marianist Family, and youhave an important role in building the Church today,Margy says.Brother Stephen expresses the need this way: Its extraordinarily important for Lay Marianists to be articulate voices in the 21st century so that theycan respond to the complicated issues challenging ourChurch and cultureespecially serving populationswho are forgotten, invisible or actively excluded. For those looking to take on such critical roles, theresa huge advantage to being part of a community, saysLeeAnn Meyer, head of spirituality for MLC-NA.Its how I came to understand my faithbeingable to dialogue with others and deepen my under-standing of Mary, to use her as a model for how toapproach the world.VLMF furthers this goal by giving Lay Marianistsa common language. We want people to understandmarianist.com/donate 5'