When Sister Cheryl Clemons went looking for a spiritual sabbatical in 2019, she found the perfect location with The West Virginia Institute for Spirituality. She also found a mentor in Sister Carole Riley, a Sister of Divine Providence who founded WVIS in 1999.
Sister Cheryl graduated from spiritual direction training at WVIS – located in Charleston, W.Va. – in fall 2020, where she met a kindred spirit in Sally Orcutt, a married woman who is a writer and a lay Dominican tertiary. They were both so influenced by Sister Carole that when she died in November 2024, they applied to be co-directors of WVIS.
“The reason both Sally and I took the joint position was that we both deeply believe God led us both there,” Sister Cheryl said. “We’ve benefitted so much from Sister Carole and all the faculty and staff at WVIS. It has become a real spiritual home for us. As a result, when the opportunity came where we might do our part to carry on Sister Carole’s legacy and continue the life-changing work of the institute, we both wanted to do what we could do to make that happen. Neither of us wanted the entire job, but together – especially given our friendship and varied gifts, made the collaboration seem inspired. The board agreed and we ‘set out into the deep’ together.”
The two began their duties April 1. Sister Cheryl is executive director and runs the spiritual direction program. Orcutt, who lives in Georgia and has a background in business, is the director of operations, dealing with financials, facilities and technology.
Sister Cheryl isn’t moving to West Virginia. Most of the job can be done remotely, with likely just a week to 10 days in person each month. That will allow her enough time to offer programming to two parishes in Charleston where she has built relationships. She will continue to offer spiritual direction, retreat ministry and adult faith formation in the Owensboro, Ky., area. She is looking for opportunities to offer retreat days at Maple Mount in 2026.
One of the programs she would like to restart in West Virgina is “Soup and Silence,” which is promoted to the business community. Two kinds of soup are prepared, and people can stop by for food, an opening prayer, 45 minutes of silence and then a closing prayer.
Sister Cheryl chose WVIS because she wanted to experience the 30-day Spiritual Exercises, an Ignatian silent retreat. Now she is trained to lead the Spiritual Exercises and the 19th Annotation retreat, which is a form of Spiritual Exercises in daily life for those who cannot commit to a full, residential retreat. Sister Cheryl is also a supervisor for other spiritual directors.
Together, she and Orcutt are revising the curriculum for the spiritual direction and 19th Annotation programs, spreading them out over three weekends rather than an intensive four days. A new class of participants will begin in the fall with a class on exploration in spirituality. It is an online module of four Saturdays in the fall and four in the spring, which will result in a certificate in Christian Spirituality.
Sister Cheryl said her focus won’t just be on the people she can serve through WVIS.
“I hope to develop programs that I can use at the Mount as well,” she said.
Comments