THE NATIONAL FRATERNITY OF
THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER - USA
APOSTOLIC COMMISSIONS COORDINATOR
Jane DeRose-Bamman, SFO
737 Valverde SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
505-254-0512
Email: janedbsfo@msn.com
Annual Report to NAFRA, October 2004
Activities of the Apostolic Commissions Coordinator, November 2003 - October 2004
All Commissions Conference
My main "project" was managing the arrangements and details for the All Commissions Conference (ACC) held June 17-20, 2004 in Denver, Colorado. The ACC was a great success due to the Holy Spirit, the preparation by Carol Gentile, and the efforts of the National Commission Chairs, Marie Amore, the members of the National Commissions and Keynote Speakers. Also, the participants immensely contributed to the success. A summary of details by topic follows:
1. Funding. NAFRA received a $50,000 grant for the ACC from the May Bonfils Grant from the Holy Name Province. NAFRA approved an additional $17,000 from the 2004 NAFRA budget for the ACC to cover transportation costs for the National Commission chairs and members and other expenses that would not be covered by the May Bonfils Grant. The ACC expenses totaled approximately: $66,300; $700 under the budgeted amount.
2. Details. The Commission Chairs and Apostolic Commissions Coordinator attended to all logistical issues for the conference of 244 persons at Regis University in Denver, Colorado. In addition to the many Regional Commission Chairs and Regional Ministers who were able to travel to the conference, other special guests included: Bill Wicks, former National Minister; Richard Morton, former National Minister; and Murdoch Macleod, OFS, National Minister of Canada. Invitations were sent to: Archbishop Chaput of Denver; Archbishop O'Malley of Boston; Anneta Duveen, former National Minister; Jose Samuel Murguia Mercado, National Minister from Mexico; and Fr. Matthew Gaskin, OFM.
3. Keynotes and Presenters. Fr. Richard Trezza; Deacon David and Therese Ream; and Mary and Anthony Mazotti provided keynote addresses; one each morning. Cassette tapes of their talks are available through CEAVCO out of Denver.
Because Diane Halal and Juan Lezcano were not available to attend, Marie Amore facilitated the Servant Leadership sessions. I assisted Marie with these sessions. The Commission Chairs and Commission members facilitated sessions for their respective commissions.
4. Evaluations. Approximately 120 evaluation forms were returned with feedback on the ACC. The comments will be summarized for the benefit of planners. In general, the keynotes and commission sessions received good ratings. Areas for improvement included: the facilities (overcrowding), food, guest rooms, and the process for payment for the shuttle service.
5. Information/Handouts. As a means of sharing the flame with people in the Regions, all participants were encouraged to think about "what they were going to do with the information" when they returned home. In addition to that means of dissemination, the keynote addresses, information and handouts from the Commission and Servant Leader sessions were posted to the NAFRA website at http://www.nafra-sfo.org/ACC/.
Commission Chairs Appointments and Recruitment
I served as acting Apostolic Commission Coordinator from November 2003 - January 2004 and the EC appointed me to serve as Apostolic Commissions Coordinator in January 2004.
The list of the terms for the Chairs of each Apostolic Commission is updated as of Oct 2004.
The Ecology Commission Chair completed his 2nd year of service.
The Family Commission Chairs resigned as of June 30, 2004. The position is currently vacant.
The Peace & Justice Commission Chair completed her 1st year of service.
The Work Commission Chair completed her 4th year of service.
In January 2004, I started the process for recruiting the next Family Commission Chair(s) by submitting advertisements for the TAU-USA requesting that applications be submitted, ultimately, by July 15, 2004. In March, the EC appointed Sonia Bernardo as the Multicultural Committee Chair, effective July 1, 2004. In June, both Sonia and Jaime Bernardo submitted resignation letters and Richard and RoAnne Fetkovich agreed to serve as acting Family Commission Chairs. I received applications from five sets of candidates. In early July, I reviewed the applications and interviewed the applicants. In August, the EC selected Barbara Bender (Lady Poverty Region) to serve as Family Commission Chair. Due to health issues, Barbara resigned in September 2004. The Executive Council is currently evaluating the appropriate next step to fill the position.
Reports/Routine Duties
I drafted a standard job description for the Spiritual Assistant to a National Commission (drafted February 11, 2004) which was submitted to the Conference of National Spiritual Assistants (CNSA) in June 2004 for its review. I believe that the Spiritual Assistants were going to discuss the draft at the September 2004 meeting.
In August, I drafted protocols and procedures for new National Commission Chairs. This document will be reviewed by Commission Chairs and EC members.
TAU-USA Themes for 2004
The first and second issues of 2004 (articles due Jan 15 and April 15) were dedicated to preparing SFOs for the All Commissions Conference. The third and fourth issues (articles due Jul 15 and Oct 15) were on the Franciscan response to Globalization. Fr. Richard Trezza, OFM, prepared two articles. The Commission Chairs will prepare commission-related questions based each article.
Commission Chairs' meeting in Santa Barbara
The October meeting of the Commissions took place at the Santa Barbara Mission, Santa Barbara, California from October 27 through October 29, 2004 prior to the NAFRA meeting. I prepared the minutes for the meeting. The agenda and meeting minutes with the All Commissions Conference (ACC) action items list and tentative schedule were submitted previously to the EC and are available upon request.
Networking
The Apostolic Commission Chairs and the Ecumenism Committee Chair provided input on the CIOFS "Presence in the World Survey." I coordinated the input and provided the final version to Deacon Juan Lezcano in early January. Deacon Juan then forwarded the final version to Doug Clorey, CIOFS English Speaking Representative. The final survey was emailed to Regional Ministers through the NAFRA-L early in 2004.
The following project is still on hold until further notice: Jim Morrissey, St. Francis Region, suggested that we have a national database of apostolic activity to assist regions. The National Commission Chairs are agreeable to this activity. The previous National Minister, Bill Wicks, supported the idea to include a network (database) of like apostolates within our National Database. The NAFRA Database Manager, Bob Herbelin was previously contacted about this project.
Presentations
I assisted Marie Amore in the ACC Servant Leader Workshops for Regional Ministers and provided the ACC closing remarks on the interconnectedness of the commissions.
If you would like any additional information on these items or on anything else I neglected to mention in this report, please let me know.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane DeRose-Bamman, SFO
Apostolic Commissions Coordinator