Featuring the Bethany Center: A Registered Saint Kateri Habitat by the Sisters of Notre Dame

Imagine yourself walking the downward slope of a grassy path surrounded by expansive meadow open to the immense sky above. Here you experience a sea of swaying field grasses. These grasses are home to crickets, grasshoppers, dragonflies and chattering red-wing blackbirds which contribute to the chorus of life around you. Soon your downward trek levels and meets a marshy floodplain whose waters feed the Chagrin River east branch. From here the waters of this meandering tributary quietly flow southward before looping back to Lake Erie, its final destination. 

The above image might seem to describe a scene out of a nature preserve, but in reality, this is what you would likely experience while visiting Bethany Retreat Center located in Munson township, Chardon Ohio. The retreat center ministry is one facet of an approximately 300 acre education campus nested within a mesic forest of sugar maple-ash-basswood. This acreage has been home to the Sisters of a Notre Dame, Chardon since the mid-1950s. The Bethany Center is truly an example of the connection between people, God, and Nature; “People are not only hungry for spirituality, for deepening their relationship with God—but they are also looking for a place of quiet, refreshment, beauty and peace—which we can offer them at Bethany,” says Sister Jennifer Kramer, Bethany’s Director. “One woman summed up the gift of Bethany when she reflected her experience this past year: ‘Upon driving onto the property and walking into Bethany, I immediately felt a sense of being loved and safe.  I could feel that this was a holy and peaceful place, and I loved being here!’”

Four provinces now comprise the presence of the sisters across the United States. In July of this year the provinces of Chardon, OH, Covington, KY, Toledo, OH and Thousand Oaks, CA will become one SND-USA. While each province will continue its local ministries, the SND-USA model aims to bring renewed enthusiasm and collaboration to strengthen initiatives. One recent initiative is to raise to national level the Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation ministry under the co-direction of Katie Drager and Ann Clark. Through the leadership of these women, the sisters were invited to explore the mission of Saint Kateri Conservation Center and then to designate and celebrate sacred places of their land as Kateri Habitats. In fact, three other sites, one in each of the Sisters’ national provinces, have been designated as Saint Kateri Habitat.

Care of Creation has long been knit into the spiritual and ministerial lives of the sisters.The 1980s saw the formation of an SND environmental committee which raised community awareness of best eco-practices and brought about a renewed sensitivity to Earth spirituality rooted in Catholic teaching and ecology grounded in science. During this time the sisters honored their land by setting aside areas of the Chardon property where wetlands, meadows and woodlands were recognized by identifying markers and respected as green infrastructure in support of all life.

The SND Congregation is an international community with a global outreach that  includes sixteen countries. This reality has deepened the SND sense of identity. Their charism is to care for those in need, especially those who experience poverty, and the sisters are quick to recognize the connection between caring for the poor and ecological integrity. Environmental refugees now comprise a large percentage of people displaced from their homeland due to environmental degradation and catastrophe.

To mark the millennium, in the year 2000, the sisters began to take more of a stance on environmental issues specifically through the lens of women and children in need. In 2005, the Sisters began working to support their counterparts in India who were experiencing water shortages due to excess water withdrawals, by taking a corporate stance called Water for Life, advocating for the sustainable use of water for consumption. “Water is a gift,” says Sister Alice Dugar, a member of the Water for Life committee. “We need to protect the water entrusted to us, especially for the poor.” These efforts to support those in India also caused the sisters to look inward. “We wanted to look more closely at the water that flows through our land and focus on a particular site.” Bethany Center, she said, was a natural choice given that the Chagrin River meanders through the property before entering Lake Erie.

Now in 2020, more than 70% of the sisters living in the Chardon province are finding a home within the Notre Dame Educational Center grounds. For decades Bethany Retreat Center has been a source of spiritual growth for Sisters and ND Associates of the Sisters. More recently Bethany has opened its doors to welcome young people exploring life choices, school staff and parish ministers seeking renewal while the annual retreats, weekend conferences and days of prayer continue to be offered.

The work to care for creation at the Bethany Center is truly a group effort, with leadership provided by Sr. Jennifer and participation from the other sisters who care for the Center. When it comes to the Saint Kateri Habitat designation, Sr. Alice is hopeful:  “We hope that registering our property as a Saint Kateri Habitat will be an impetus to expand on our stewardship here at the Bethany Center, helping us to move forward in replanting trees, removing invasive species, and expanding upon our efforts to recycle and compost.” Sr. Alice says. “Sometimes it does seem like an uphill effort at education, but we are ready to see the unity of all things. Of the two books of revelation, the first is creation, and we want to be open and honor the life of our bioregion.”

When asked what advice she would give to someone else who feels the need to do more to care for creation on their own property, Sr. Alice says, “aside from recommending they speak with all of you at the Saint Kateri Center, I’d say to sit quietly with the land and see what emerges, what is beautiful and what is in need. The Earth does speak – let’s see what it has to say.”

Thank you Sr. Alice, Ms. Ann Clark, and all of the Sisters of Notre Dame for sharing your story with us! To learn more about the Bethany Center and see the other habitats on the map, visit our Habitat Map Tour at https://arcg.is/1qjiTC. Read more about the Saint Kateri Habitat Program at https://www.kateri.org/saint-kateri-habitat-2/.