Teresa “Terri” Bednarz serves as a councilor on the Institute Leadership Team and a liaison to The MAST Journal. She grew up in West Texas where she earned a secondary education degree in learning disabilities and history at West Texas State A&M University (Canyon, Texas). She entered the Sisters of Mercy in St. Louis, Missouri in 1985 and taught in various schools. She designed service learning and social justice programs, a Mercy SummerCorps immersion program, and helped to establish a transitional housing program for women in Oklahoma City. She holds a PhD in biblical interpretation from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University. She taught Biblical and early Christianity courses at Loyola University-New Orleans and directed the university’s Rome-based study-abroad program.
Judith A. Carey, RSM, serves as a facilitator for the Editorial Board of The MAST Journal. She also works with other organizations as a facilitator/organizational consultant. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Diocesan Teachers’ College in Madison, Connecticut, a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Saint Joseph College, a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Saint Joseph College.
She has served in various capacities including the vice president of Mission Integration at a hospital, multiple leadership positions within the Sisters of Mercy and their ministries, and director of the Gengras Center and as associate professor and chairperson of the Special Education Department at St. Joseph’s College. She has served on a number of boards and assisted religious congregations regarding mission, sponsorship, role of the members and bylaw development.
Patricia Flynn, RSM, PhD, serves as first councilor on the Institute Leadership Team and a liaison to The MAST Journal. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1968 in Portland, Maine, serving in teaching ministries at the middle school, high school and college levels. She earned a bachelors in English and history from St. Joseph’s College of Maine, a masters in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, and a PhD in philosophy from Georgetown University. She served on the Portland Regional Community Leadership Team for nine years, and for much of that time also was director of pastoral and education services for the Diocese of Portland, Maine, before returning to teaching at St. Joseph’s College. She was elected to leadership in the former Northeast Community in 2014, and to Institute leadership in 2017.
julie vieira, ihm (she/her), serves as the managing editor of The MAST Journal. She is a writer, presenter, and thinker in spirituality with particular attentiveness to living the darkness and light — the poetry and rough prose — of everyday life. She is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) of Monroe, Michigan. In addition to her freelance work, she serves as the director of the Margaret Brennan Institute and as a volunteer crisis counselor for LGBTQ+ youth. She also works as a consultant in the unfolding of religious life and mission. She holds a Master of Arts in Theology from St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. Visit julievieira.org.