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Report of the 2006 Annual Meeting
of the Associates of the Presentation
Sisters
National Committee
Melbourne, 3-5
November 2006
The National Committee comprises one member representative
of each Australian Presentation Congregation, with the Presentation
Society President (Sr Bernadette Keating of Victoria) also
attending. Meetings are held annually.
The meeting commenced on the Friday night with each committee
member presenting a report from their group. It is important,
and always quite inspiring, to listen to and share the stories.
Significant points from each are as follows:
Lismore has had reflection days on the spirituality
of the environment as well as the charism and its place in
the church, raising the issue of whether it is possible to
share the charism. They were impressed by the strong commitment
of the Sisters at their Chapter to strengthening and enriching
their partnership with the Associates.
Victoria has three Associate
groups – Melbourne, Myrtleford and Daylesford. Melbourne
has worked on a project to revitalize the preparation/orientation
program through their Faith Sharing groups. “Sharing
our Presentation Story in a New Way” will now be trialed.
The Myrtleford group hopes to put the new program to use next
year because they have had some new friends join their prayer
meetings. Daylesford Associates are missing the Sisters who
have now left the area, but have started a new outreach activity
to assist newborn babies in Africa suffering AIDS.
Western Australia has been
preparing a small group for Commitment. They have found it
interesting that the story of Nano has assumed great significance
because it is unknown to the people joining them. The WA Justice
Contact has provided the Associates with some options for action.
Tasmania has two groups
which meet in Hobart and Launceston. Both have revisited Presentation
Charism this year. Their ground-breaking work on developing
their own Constitution has been completed and will be jointly
signed by the two Coordinators at Presentation Day celebrations.
Wagga Wagga has five Associate groups, one
of which hosts the Two-Yearly Gathering. This year it was at
Lockhart with the weekend of reflection and spirituality focused
on Nature. The Sydney group chose Hospitality as their theme
and attended a workshop “Stepping into Widening Circles”,
as well as supporting the Sisters in their stand with Indigenous
people. The Associates of Young have sponsored a child in the
Philippines and support a mothers and babies group in East
Timor. The Wagga Wagga group, whose theme for the year is Spirituality,
attaches great significance to their Prayer Wheel. Campbelltown
is focusing on refugees and were visited by a group who shared
their stories.
Queensland’s report highlighted the
joy in the formation of a new group at Yeppoon and the sadness
felt with the South Burnett group going into recess. Details
of the monthly meetings, most of which are attended by Sisters
too, were mentioned, as were the outreach projects supporting
the Ecumenical Coffee Brigade, the PNG and Peru Presentation
communities and the IPA Kalomo project. Of particular interest
were the discussions between Associates and Sisters on the
issue of partnership and the relationship to be consolidated
and celebrated as a new way to live it is found. (Click
here for the full Queensland Report)
Society’s recent Congress was reported
on by Sr Bernadette, the theme being “and now a new time”.
She spoke of the process “Affirmative Inquiry” that
was used. (You can access it on Google.)
The Saturday of a National Committee meeting is traditionally
set aside for the formation of its members. This time the committee,
led by Chairperson Pauline, reflected upon the document on Ecclesial
Movements presented at last year’s meeting with
the Plenary Council. Questions for discussion were:
- What does it say to us?
- How do we see it working?
- As Presentation People, are there possibilities for partnership?
- Is collaboration possible and to what extent?
- What does it mean?
- How will we know what partnership looks like?
The very powerful image of a railway track was used as an
illustration. The lines never meet or diverge, but continue
together into the future with many links (the railway sleepers)
keeping them together and enabling both tracks to work side
by side. All groups accepted the challenge of establishing
a collaborative project with the Sisters in the new year. Also,
a paper will be prepared and given to the Plenary Council with
the suggestion that it forms the basis of our meeting in December
2007.
Finally, a brief review of the 2001 Bullen Report confirmed
the progress and successful development of all groups as planned.
Local Associates and Sisters had been invited to join the National
Committee for a Pot-Luck Supper on the Saturday evening, and
this proved to be a most enjoyable conclusion to the day. Presentation
hospitality was very much in evidence.
On Sunday morning, the Committee conducted its general business
and formally welcomed three new members from Victoria (Annette
Atkinson), Lismore (Caroline Thompson) and Wagga Wagga (Tricia
Fogarty who sent a replacement, Pat Williams).
The next meeting, which includes the two-yearly session with
the Plenary Council, will take place in Melbourne, 30 November
to 2 December 2007.
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