Dare to Be Different

Exploration of Different Forms of Commitment

Twelve years ago Cath Ford began living in community with the Christian Brothers, first in Murupara but mostly in Westport.  She lives the “common life” along with the Brothers, placing any earnings into the common fund and relying on community resources as well as committing to prayer and retreat and expectations for Province or Cluster gatherings.

 Some people have included in their marriage vows a commitment to the values Edmund Rice championed.  Others have been exploring ways in which they can effectively volunteer much of their active life to Edmund Rice ministries.  Yet others have wondered how they might be in a community supported by a common spirituality and with a common outreach to the marginalised.

These people and others with similar yearnings and partially developed ideas seem to be looking for some type of formal way of committing to the Edmund Rice charism.  They may express the commitment in terms of an affiliation to the Christian Brothers, or a commitment to a ministry of justice, or a hope for companionship on a search for their God.  They are attracted by something they see in the life and aspirations of Edmund Rice and those who are inspired by him.  They are experiencing a, perhaps vague, desire to put something of their life on the line in a similar way to Edmund.

The options for making formal commitment to a particular charism used to be largely limited to the commitment of religious life or perhaps to associates, third orders or affiliates.  There are now other formal groupings of people in the Church who may be religious or lay, married or single but all belonging to a particular society inspired by a particular charism.  There is also a vast range of people who have individually committed their lives in service inspired by particular charisms and we have a huge number of such people in the various Edmund Rice ministries and enterprises.  However it is to those who wish to explore, in association with others, the making of some sort of formal commitment to the charism of Edmund Rice that the following is addressed.

The Oceania Province would like to facilitate the conversation among like-minded people interested in similar types of formal commitment to the charism of Edmund Rice.  A number of such people have already made their names known to their local Edmund Rice Network Coordinators.  It is envisaged that people who seem to be seeking something similar will be put in touch with one another forming “Focus Groups”.  The purpose would be to see whether there can be developed some possible pathways that might respond to the yearnings in each person.  These different Focus Groups might discuss such things as a Charter, the scope of commitment they are dreaming of, any daily prayer/ritual, any social involvement they may envisage, what words there might be in a commitment statement.  In short, they are asked to try to determine what they are calling into being, and why.  There will be someone appointed as a Focus Group Coordinator who will facilitate the discussion in each of these groups.

After these initial conversations it is planned to name a Commission.  The Commission will receive the ideas of the different Focus Groups and see whether there are any emerging possibilities for pathways which might reflect the directions people are feeling the urge to explore.  This Commission would be a resourcing and an encouraging group which would coordinate the continuing wider discussion among the various Focus Groups.  It would assist in the establishment of any new formal grouping.

If you are interested in becoming part of a Focus Group to discuss with others a form of commitment to the Edmund Rice charism please contact your local ERN coordinator if you have not already done so.  The coordinators are charged with gathering the names of such people and forming groups of people who seem to be searching for similar types of commitment. 

 So the steps planned are:

1. People interested in exploring the making of a formal commitment to the Edmund Rice charism contact their local ERN coordinator.
2. The ERN coordinators with the Focus Group Coordinator facilitate the clustering of people seeking similar pathways so that those people can continue their discussions.
3. The Focus Group Coordinator (yet to be named) contacts the different groups to see what assistance is required in furthering the conversation within the group.
4. A Commission (yet to be established) is established to receive reports from each of the Focus Groups and to promote sharing among the groups.
5. The Commission works with the various Focus Groups to identify a handful of possible new pathways to different types of commitment which can then be developed and refined further and promoted among the ERN.

The ERN coordinators are:

 Joe Lauren