Sister Barbara (Mary Mercy) Borders, ASC, celebrated 65 years as a vowed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ on Sunday, June 1, 2025, at the Wichita Center in Wichita, KS. Sister Barbara made her first profession on July 1, 1960, and her final vows on July 1, 1965. She marked her anniversary with the celebration of the Eucharist, and a meal at the Wichita Center.
Sister Barbara was born in Atchinson, KS, to Blaine and Murl Borders. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education and English from Sacred Heart College, now Newman University, in 1963, and her master’s in English from St. Mary University in San Antonio, TX, in 1974.
As a teacher of English, Sr. Barbara taught at the elementary, secondary and university levels. She taught departmental Language Arts at St. Joseph Elementary in Conway Springs, KS, and St. Anne in Wichita, where she also instructed the Upward Bound Reading Class. In Okarche, OK, she taught secondary English students in the mornings and elementary in the afternoons. Her ministry as a teacher of English at secondary schools also included Aquinas in David City, NE; Sacred Heart in Sedalia, MO; Bishop McGuinness in Oklahoma City, OK; Nolan in Ft. Worth, TX, and Hayden in Topeka, KS. She was the Instructor for a Freshman Summer English Writing Class at St. Mary University in San Antonio, TX.
For several years, Sr. Barbara worked in various capacities with WIN, Women’s Initiative Network, in Wichita, before returning to education. For 12 years, she served as a math and writing tutor, and part-time as an adjunct faculty member and teacher of English at Newman University. She is currently Living Mission in Later Life at the Wichita Center.