Intense Day, Fun Evening (Day 4 - May 9, 2013)

Today was an intense day.  The assembly is organized by the four seasons.  Autumn was designed to take a look at where we’ve been since the last Assembly in 2006 and assess our current realities.  Today, we moved into winter by looking at the challenges that face our Lasallian mission. 

Bro. James Joost leads prayer while
Dr. William Hudson runs the
presentation.

The morning began with a winter prayer created and led by our own RELAN. Our song for prayer would be our mantra for the day:  Nada Te Turbe, which translates to, “Let nothing disturb us—God alone provides.”

Immediately after prayer, we gathered to receive instructions for the day.  Our moderator, while reviewing the first three days for us, noted that in their written and oral reports the five Regions of the Institute identified 123 challenges.  Forty-seven (47) of these overlapped from Region to Region.  And of these 47, seven were common to all five regions while 40 were not.  We were told our task now, as we work in the three thematic groups – Lasallian Pedagogy, Evangelization and Pastoral Ministry, and the Educational Community – is to ultimately winnow these down to six to nine challenges for the worldwide Institute. 

Dr. Greg Kopra, Heather Ruple
and Janell Kloosterman meet in
a thematic group.

With that charge in mind, we broke into our Thematic Language Groups, which comprised of around 20-25 people with the same theme and the same language.  We had 75 minutes to narrow down the long list of challenges from all the Regions to only three.  After a short break, we spent another 75 minutes in our Thematic Groups that was made up of about 50 delegates representing all three language groups to share our list and respond to questions from the other groups.

After lunch, the really hard work began.  The task was to weave together our individual group list of greatest challenges to just three.  There was a lot of great conversation and discussion about very real challenges faced by our ministries, Districts and Regions.  Some challenges were common to us all while others we deemed to be particular to a specific District.  We spent 90 minutes with careful discernment to settled on the final three.

It took great concentration to listen carefully to one another, particularly since what was being said had to be translated into two other languages.  While I am doing a fair amount of generalizing, I am finding that language and culture have a great impact on how ideas are communicated.  English speakers tend to want to get down to their point right away and succinctly.  Spanish speakers will take great care and time to share their views.  The French are very precise and choose their words very carefully.

But wait, the day was not over!  All delegates gathered to receive reports from the three Thematic Groups followed by comments and questions.  It was another lively and intense conversation that provided great feedback.  The task tomorrow will be to incorporate the feedback and craft the final version of the Challenge Statements.

Candy table at RELAN-hosted social

We were rewarded for our hard work with another great dinner followed by a social planned by RELAN.  It was great fun.  All of us from the Region brought candy unique to our area.  There were Jelly-Bellys from California, Hersheys from Pennsylvania. Salted Nut Rolls from Minnesota, Jolly Ranchers from California and more.  We served Martinis, Budweiser Beer and Jim Beam Bourbon.  It was all a big hit.  The entertainment for the evening was a not-so-good rendition of the Hustle performed by the RELAN delegates.  It set the tone for the evening and was followed by nearly two hours of non-stop dancing to many American songs as well as international hits.  It was a great way to blow off steam and unwind after a very intense day.

Dr. William Hudson
President of Totino-Grace High School in Fridley, MN