Association has been a dynamic development in the community of faith in the years since the Second Vatican Council with its re-affirmation of the universal calls to holiness and to mission. Recent decades have seen encouraging growth in interest among the Christian faithful spirituality and participation in prayer, spiritual practices, retreats, prayer groups, and bible studies. At the same time, there is increased interest in mission and service, addressing both historic ministries such as healthcare and education as well as emerging ministries such as care of immigrants, addressing racism and interlocking systems of oppression, care for earth combating the climate crisis and its effects. These are true signs of our times and signs of hope amid the multifaceted crises we face in our world today.

Even before the Second Vatican Council, many laypersons turned to religious communities to assist the religious in their mission and to work or volunteer in their ministries. They also sought the assistance of religious for growth in their spiritual lives, in societies and prayer groups, in individual conversation, and in spiritual direction. Beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, religious communities welcomed associates, offering them formation and a forum to develop their spirituality and their commitment to mission. Initially, the number of associates was small, in comparison to the number of sisters, and associates were invited to many of the sisters' celebrations and events. They came and committed themselves as individual associates in the broader community of sisters. Over time, some communities invited increasing involvement of associates in the life of sisters’ communities, and questions arose regarding whether or not there should be boundaries or limits on participation of associates in the life of the sisters, and what those should be. It became clear that there were different understandings of the nature, purpose, and character of association, both among sisters and among the associates. As the movement continues to develop, there is a growing desire to identify an Association that has a modicum of autonomy to invite, form, and engage associates and to develop their own leadership for the Association. This Association has its own internal authority and ‘center-of-gravity’ alongside the sisters’ community. And they move toward a more mature partnership and shared responsibility for charism, mission, and spirituality while retaining the distinct charism of religious life and lay spirituality. Many acknowledge that the growth of an Association, in partnership with the Religious community is a positive development.

This evolution has not been completely linear and has not been without significant growing pains. Because it is a movement that has developed in many different places times and charisms, it has had the benefit and challenge of differing hopes, dreams, and expectations.

Associates and Religious continue to explore the contours of these developments, hoping to understand how an Association can help to give form and support to the growing movement, without clipping the wings of the spirit. Test everything, hold to what is good, as the scriptures say. We bring from the movement both the old and the new, and word to integrate the blessings of the past with the evolutionary developments of the present, always ready to embrace the call of the spirit into hope and holiness.

There is a strong sense of God's inspiration and the “new thing” that God is doing with and for the community of faith. Yet they also face the challenges of the growing organization with its need to balance structure and flexibility in bringing the charism into lived expression.