Greetings! In the Episcopal Church all Religious Orders have a Bishop Visitor assigned to them. The Bishop Visitor is supposed to give pastoral care as needed, to provide a connection to the wider Church, and to provide a means of accountability. It has been my pleasure and honor to serve in this capacity with the Society of St. Margaret for almost a decade. They are, in my judgment, a very dynamic and committed people who have been called to serve God in a very special way. From the beginning in the 19th century the Sisters of St. Margaret have balanced their devotion and prayer with a loving commitment to the care of people in need. Mindful of changing circumstances they have adapted their service to fit the changing circumstances of the world. Their mission in Haiti is an especially vivid icon of their care of the poor. But that same sense of mission is also applied in their work in the United States, for example, at Ground Zero after the attack on the World Trade Center. For the Sisters, love is not just something you do to others. Instead the Sisters go farther and live among those whom they are helping. The community of the Sisters reaches out to embrace those in need and in this process those in need are lifted up. As with all religious orders the Sisters in recent times have not had as many new Sisters join the order as they would like. They know the cost of following the Savior in their particular way and the challenges set before those who would follow. But they also know that the need for their ministry has not abated. And they believe that the newer Sisters provide a promise of other new Sisters and the means to minister to the needs of the 21st century. Their move to Duxbury is part of a plan to renew their strength and thus expand even more the ministry they are carrying out among the needy. I believe they will succeed and that their kind of discipleship will continue to bless people in the new needs of the 21st century. I am making my own pledge to help their ministry. I hope you will help also. They need and deserve it. Faithfully yours, The Rt. Rev. David B. Joslin Bishop of the Episcopal Church | 
