Six New Oblates at the Mount

Six women made their oblation on April 17 at vespers with the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica. Oblates are lay women and men who wish to incorporate Benedictine values in their lives and connect spiritually with the prayers and good works of a monastic community. They have been journeying during Lent with one of the Benedictine sisters and then make a formal lifetime commitment to the Benedictine way of life during the Easter season.


From left to right: Sandra Custard, Terry Diehl, Kay Druart, Anna Livingston,
Claudia McKinsey, and Connie Wilson.

Sandra Leigh Custard, a native of Michigan, holds an early childhood degree and elementary certification. She moved to Kansas City in 1978, and went on a Celtic pilgrimage with Sister Therese Elias several years ago. She joined an oblate group and has a desire to “exhibit the qualities of the Benedictines that are important to me: listening, hospitality, dedication, generosity loyalty and calmness.”

Terry Chamberlain Diehl received journalism and education degrees from the University of Missouri. After graduating from Yale Divinity School, she was ordained by the Disciples of Christ. She has been pastor of Hickman Mills Community Church since 1976. She has attended a series of retreats for ministers led by Sister Therese Elias as well as oblate meetings with Sisters Ann Dietrich and Molly Brockwell, and special classes at the Mount. She believes that being an oblate will help her “sit at the feet of the Lord.” She and her husband, Paul, have three children.

Kay K. Druart lives in Frontenac, Kan., and is active in her parish, organizing retreats and developing an adult religious education program. She and her husband Jack are frequent visitors to the Mount. “I continue to need the guidance, love, faith, support and prayers of this community of Mount St. Scholastica,” Kay said.

Anna Livingston and her family live in Roeland Park, Kan. She is a customer service advocate at a mail order pharmacy. Making a retreat at the Mount and witnessing funerals of sisters, made her want to be a part of the Mount community. “I needed a family that understood something of the way I relate to God — in silence, in listening deeply, in psalms, in seeking to make every part of my life an extension of my faith,” Anna said.

Claudia McKinsey, a native of Corning, Kan., earned a BS in Education and an MA in speech from Kansas State University. She lives in Alma and worked as a speech-language pathologist, and then as a music, art and Title I reading teacher. Four years ago she joined the Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka where she serves as a prayer minister and is studying Education for Ministry. In Alma she met Sisters Bettina and Marjorie who gave her information about the oblate program. She has a daughter and granddaughter.

Connie Wilson grew up in a religiously diverse setting. After a divorce she found a vital church and later married a committed Christian. She has two children and three grandchildren. Looking for spiritual mentoring, she enrolled in Souljouners training, which led her to ordained ministry in the United Methodist church. She decided to become an oblate “out of gratitude for Benedictine women and in honor of the rich wisdom preserved in the monastic tradition.”