MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT
SR. ODYSSA D. ESTOR, OSA
President
Hearty Welcome to the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies!
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Welcome to our web page!
IFRS, former SFI (Sisters’ Formation Institute), is an Institute that was established in 1963 by the Association of Major Religious Superiors of Women in the Philippines (AMRSWP) to provide a program of studies for young consecrated women in formation, providing them a practical knowledge in Spirituality and a holistic approach to Theology and Scriptures.
Later, it was opened to the different Congregations and Churches of Asia Pacific Region including Vietnam, China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia, and also to men religious and lay Church servants. Over the last twelve years as to date, the Institute has catered to students from almost 36 countries already.
This year, 2024, marks its 61st Founding Anniversary. We are indeed grateful to the Lord for allowing us to serve Him and His Church all these years as we form and assist Formands, Formators, Sisters, Priests, and Lay people from different congregations, parishes, and nationalities. We continue to provide our students an integrated, contextualized, inclusive, and transformational religious studies and formation activities which will help them be dynamic and authentic witnesses of the Gospel values in a very challenging world today.
As of the present time, the Institution has continued to search for ways to update and expand its courses to meet the changing needs of the times and to make its educational services more efficient and effective despite the limited financial resources. However, it has not left its legacy of being a place where the dream and daily struggle to integrate faith and life is reflected on and experienced in the actual context. The Institute has lived on in its vision of educating and forming hearts and minds of people centered on Christ, of building a community where everyone is included and where every individual “may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
Come, learn and grow with us here at the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies!