Introduction to the community
Our desire is to know spiritual realities in everyday circumstance, inspired by Ignatius of Loyola’s exhortation ‘to know God in all things.’ The core of our vocation is a call to an uncommon attention to the things of God, so that like Gabriel, who stood in the presence of God and was sent with good news for a waiting people, we seek to know the reality of the things of the Spirit: to bring that good news in these fractured and changing times in which we live. This is lived out in our commitment to our Apostolic work, “The Gettalife Project” gettalife.org.uk
Our dispersed Community was formerly known as The Order of the Sisters of Jesus. First vows were taken by the Foundation Sister before Bishop Christopher Mayfield, the Bishop of Manchester, on the festival of St Michael and All Angels, 2000. The Foundation Sister took permanent vows in 2007. The Community was acknowledged by the Advisory Council in July 2011. After a year of prayer and discernment, with help from a representative from the Advisory Council on the Religious Life, in 2019 we changed our Community’s name to The Gabriel Sisters, reflecting our move towards a more outward facing focus.At present this dispersed Community comprises four Apostolic Sisters, two of whom are in long-term Vows and two Prayer Friends
Contact details
Main address: 1 Brendale Avenue, Maghull, Liverpool L31 7AX
Contact for The Gettalife Project: gettalife.org.uk
Community information
Bishop Visitor: Rt Revd Peter Eagles, Bishop of Sodor and Man
Role: Name
Third Order, Fellowship, Associates
It is possible to join as a Fellowship or Apostolic Sister, the latter accepting the call to our Apostolic work and a Fellowship Sister being closer in pattern to the third order of a traditional community. The role of Prayer Friend enables a looser link with the Community than the roles mentioned above, with the emphasis on being a prayerful, committed friend.
Leadership
Foundation Sister: Revd Dr Susan-Gabriel Talbot
Membership
Apostolic Sisters: Claire Sherman, Maureen Brathwaite, Belinda Priestley
Prayer Friends: Lisanne Harker, Alison Upton