Emerging Community

Stepping into the Future: An Invitation

Over thirty-five years ago, several Visitation Sisters guided by the Holy Spirit responded to the 1986 pastoral letter of the American Bishops “Economic Justice for All” by envisioning an urban community rooted in their Salesian Charism planted among those who struggle. The message they heard was “Take your body, mind, and spirit and live contemplatively in community. Answer the door and I will be there.”

The Holy Spirit is still alive and speaking to the Visitation Sisters as they seek to understand how their future may unfold. Today, the Visitation Sisters are open to the newest expression of the Visitation and invite lay women and men to join them in a residential community focused on prayer, radical hospitality, and social justice.

While the mission and ministry will remain the same, this blended community will be intergenerational and a combination of vowed and non vowed members. Dedication to the Sisters’ ministry of prayer and presence permeated by Salesian Spirituality is paramount.

Windsock Visitation by Brother Mickey O’Neill McGrath

As the Holy Spirit continues to work within our community, we encourage anyone who may be interested to join us in an open dialogue as we discern the future of this emerging community.

Please continue to pray for us and those who may be interested in this emerging community.

Looking for more information?

Read our recent newsletters:

Reach out to Sister Brenda Lisenby at (612)-521-6113 or vmonmpls@gmail.com!

Are you interested in exploring our emerging community?


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LIVE Jesus!

We, the Visitation Sisters of Minneapolis, have been a stable presence on the northside to “Live Jesus” for more than 33 years. Over these years we have served as carriers of our charism of prayer, community, and contemplative hospitality.  Living the Gospel Mystery of the Visitation, we have both been welcomed and have welcomed our neighbors and have become a beloved part of this multicultural neighborhood.

The legacy that we pray will live on is one that is rooted in prayer and community with a commitment to social justice and a love for those who struggle.  The beauty of the Visitation charism is that it combines an intentional communal and personal prayer life that reaches out to embrace the neighbor.  Loving mutuality and relationships are at the heart of Visitation life. We live discerning lives in a contemplative setting.  Our communal and personal reflection have brought us to the insight, based on the signs of the times, that now is the time to look seriously at how we will pass on our precious legacy in north Minneapolis.

As we look to the future, we envision a core residential community of vowed and non-vowed members who will continue to “Live Jesus” in our beloved north Minneapolis neighborhood, ensuring a continuity of mission. The emerging community will be formed in the charism of the Visitation as well as Salesian spirituality and the life-lessons learned by the Sisters since their foundation in 1989. In this time of transition, the present community will companion the emerging community.

A gift we have is bringing people together who might otherwise never meet.  We call this BRIDGING. We plan to invite individuals to accompany us on this journey.  We will be discerning and working with these individuals as a committee and will invite them to walk with us and contribute their time, energy, and ideas as we develop our succession plan.  We will also seek out and welcome consultation from others. In all of this, we entrust ourselves to God’s loving providence and the Spirit’s inspiration.