Franciscan Life - The President's Corner
By Father Michael Scanlan, The Troubadour, Friday, Sept. 26, 1997

Please welcome the Nurturing Network to our campus. This week the Network is moving into the J.C. Williams Center in the space made available when the Computer Support Center moved to the Library. Six of our graduates will serve the Network as full-time staff members and look forward to providing a meaningful volunteer work environment for as many students as possible. The Nurturing Network will offer our students a valuable opportunity to learn first-hand the most practical elements of pro-life counseling as well as the many and varied requirements of managing a nationwide charitable organization.

This highly effective ministry moves to our campus after providing 13 years of life-saving service and has been widely recognized for its success in moving beyond rhetoric and debate. By calling the Network’s toll free "life-line" 1-800-TNN-4MOM, over 9,000 mothers have received the compassionate counseling and practical resources that empowered them to save the lives of their unborn children. The Network’s 22,000 dedicated volunteer members form an extensive employment, medical, educational, counseling, and residential network which is available to every woman whose own support network has let her down.

The leader of this ministry is Mary Cunningham Agee who received an honorary doctorate from the University at our Commencement. She is a dynamic leader and a fervent Catholic who puts into practice her belief that "it is not enough to say we are pro-life unless we are willing to provide the practical means to support life." During her visit to our campus, she was moved by the genuine expression of faith and Franciscan spirituality that she witnessed as our guest. Her Board of Directors enthusiastically endorsed her recommendation to center the heart of this ministry on our campus where she anticipates the "magnification of the Nurturing Network’s already substantial gifts due to the energy, integrity and enthusiasm of this unique student body."

All students are invited to serve in this life-saving ministry. Each volunteer will be encouraged to share his or her own unique gifts in this special effort to promote the culture of life. Please welcome this wonderful team, including our recent graduates, and pray for this much-needed and effective ministry.

Reprinted with permission from The Troubadour

All contents © 1998, The Nurturing Network
Last updated Tuesday, August 08, 2006