Sister Kathleen Kenkel remembers getting cranky phone calls from priests and laypeople alike when the Franciscan Spirituality Center in La Crosse first began offering yoga.

How can Catholic sisters have programs like that? the doubters demanded, said Kenkel, 85, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and one of the founders of the center in 1984.

Her answer: One of our goals is to develop the whole person spiritual, mind, body and movement.

Reflecting on the three decades of the center, where Kenkel was the first director, she said, I think it has opened up peoples mind and hearts that spirituality is for the whole being not just retreats and silence and prayer, but the whole body and mind.

Audrey Quanrud, the current director of the center at 920 Market St., describes Kenkel as one of the facilitys wisdom figures.

Shes amazing because she still comes to programs here, even though shes heard everything they would say, said Quanrud, 60.

The center found its roots in Vatican II, a council in the early to mid-1960s that opened new roles for nuns and laypeople in the Catholic Church, Kenkel said.

The council said the church is all the people of God, she said. Before that, it was the hierarchy, and we were just the helpers. Vatican II said all are called to evangelize.

The center answered that call, ushering in the evolution from a church where only priests could lead retreats and interpret the Bible to one where sisters and laypeople can do so, she said.

One of the big things we debated was whether to call it a retreat or a spirituality center, Kenkel recalled with a smile. Retreat conveys just silence and direction, but spirituality is broader.

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FSC marks 30 years of helping people in spirtual quests