Report from the Province Leadership Team

July 13, 2005

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 Open to new realities, we in leadership are accountable

for revitalizing and transforming ourselves and our brotherhood

through heart-centered spirituality and service with the marginalized.

 

Introduction

This report covers the deliberations of the first meeting of the new province leadership team for Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America.

 

Commissioning Ritual

On Friday July 1, the members of the team gathered in the chapel at Vancouver College Brothers’ Residence along with members of a number of local communities and several brothers from the O’Dea Community in Seattle for the opening ritual for the new province.  Following the ritual there was a bar-b-que to celebrate the event as well as to celebrate Canada Day.

 

Retreat/Reflection time

The members of the team began a three-day period of retreat and reflection on the evening of July 1.  The facilitator and animator of this time was Br. Barry Lynch.  The underlying theme of the retreat was “Heart-Centered Spirituality”. Barry led the team through a reflection and sharing process on each of the Seven Insights from the 2002 General Chapter. The intent was to give each member of the team an opportunity to reflect on each of the elements as it relates to the mandate from the brothers. 

 

The retreat concluded on Monday afternoon, July 4^th   Following this the members of the team went to Grouse Mountain overlooking Vancouver for a dinner to celebrate Independence Day.

 

Community Leaders’ Meeting in Tucson

This topic was a holdover from the April meeting but it was agreed to make it an item for discussion at our August meeting in New Rochelle.

 

Portfolios and Areas of Responsibility

Considerable time was spent during the first two days of the meeting in gaining a better understanding of what areas will be covered by the various members of the team.  In the last report there was published a list of areas of responsibility.  This list was reviewed and each area was given a space of time to develop its terms of reference and areas of responsibility. Each committee was also asked to give some thought to what they felt would be some objectives for the coming year.

 

Leadership Style and Process

Considerable time during the meeting was spent in discussion around the topic of leadership style. The discussion also spent time with the issue of how best to fulfill the mandate from the Cornwall Assembly to engage the brothers in the process of restructuring and to practice a collegial and collaborative style of leadership with a strong effort towards subsidiarity. 

 

Visitation Process

Each member of the team was given a preliminary list of the communities for which he would have responsibility for the annual visitation.  Some refinement and adjustments are needed to this list and we expect that it will be available following our next meeting in late August.

 

        New website

     The  new website for the new Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America has been posted and is available for viewing.  Brothers are encouraged to check it out at  www.ercbna.org

 

Confidentiality

A discussion on the role of confidentiality in our ministry and in our relationships with the Brothers throughout North America took place.

 

In our role as leaders, we greatly value the confidentiality that exists between the PLT and the Brothers at large.  We view our conversations with Brothers as privileged opportunities for deepening the spirituality of our brotherhood.

 

As we continue in the service of leadership, our standard operating procedure re: confidentiality will be based on the understanding that information shared with an individual PLT member, when it affects the decision making process of the entire PLT, will be held confidential amongst the Team.

 

CALENDAR UPDATE

Updates from Edmund Rice Institute for the Fall.

 

    September 22 – 25, 2005                    ACTION Workshop

    October 19 – 21, 2005                        Called and Gifted II

    October 26 – 28, 2005                        Called and Gifted I

   March 8 and 9, 2006                          Board Chairs, Vice Chairs, School Administrators and   

                                                            PLT

 

Summertime Contact Information

Brothers are asked to remember and note the list of names and phone numbers that was included with the last report.  This will be the means of getting information to and from the PLT during the period of July 11 to September 4^th.

 

Next Meeting                        The PLT will gather again on August 29^th in New Rochelle for its next meeting.  In the meantime, those members of the team who are moving to New Rochelle to take up residence will be arriving throughout the summer.