FRANCISCAN FEDERATION OF THE SISTERS AND BROTHERS OF THE UNITED STATES
March 2022 | Volume 1, No. 7
Message from the Co-Presidents
Statement on Ukraine
The Franciscan Federation in the spirit of fraternitas, compassion and non-violence deplore the continued war, devastation and attack upon Ukraine and its people. We join in prayer with our sisters and brothers throughout the world for an end to this violence. We ask the members of the Franciscan Federation to reach out to governmental leaders to engage in non-violent efforts to bring an end to this human tragedy. Also, however possible, the members are asked to assist in humanitarian efforts.

May our response to attack on the dignity of a people and their human rights be expressed in the words of a familiar Franciscan Prayer: … where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light …

The Search for our new Executive Direction is underway.
We hope to have our new director begin in July. The official posting has been sent to all our member congregations as well as to the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities, NCR, Secular Franciscans, Franciscan School of Theology, FAN, Franciscan Mission Service, Franciscan Institute, and others.

To date a total of 35 resumes have been received with 12 potential fits. The first round of zoom interviews will be conducted in late March. The later part of April could be the time for members of the search committee to meet in person for the final interviews. It is not too late for additional applications to be considered, as they are accepted on a rolling basis. We will keep the search active until the preferred candidate is identified. Applicants need not be a Vowed Third Order Member to apply.

If you know of someone who would fit our needs at this time, please encourage her/him to apply. We ask all to join in daily prayer for the selection of the best candidate to bring us into the future where we will thrive as a renewed Franciscan presence bringing forth a true Franciscan Renaissance for our day. NOW IS THE TIME! Franciscan life is rooted in penitential prayer. Join us in contemplation and prayer for the success of the Franciscan Federation Executive Director Search.
Annual Franciscan Conference
The registration and schedule for our AFC 2022 is posted on our website. Registrations are coming in daily! Click here to register now. The registration fee of $380.00/person will increase to $425.00 after May 1. (Additional information regarding the AFC is found in the February Briefing.)

Our Friday evening Opening Ritual and Session One will present significant background for this year’s Conference – our critical context – including introductions of the various persons who will be speaking with us and leading our sessions. Please plan to be present for our Opening Ritual which begins at 6:30 pm, followed by a festive social.

For the safety and comfort of all participants, everyone attending the conference must be fully vaccinated. This means both vaccinations plus the booster, unless you are exempted by a doctor’s statement. You will need to show proof of vaccination, or the doctor’s statement, at the AFC Registration Table. Thank you for your understanding.

We want you to know that there are no restaurants within walking distance of our hotel. However, we are pleased to inform you that a Food Truck will be joining us both for lunch on Saturday (Revival Chili) and Sunday (Revival Pasta). Please consider availing yourself of this wonderful service. You might want to check out their amazing story! In addition there is a full restaurant in the hotel plus a “Grab N Go” for pick up of sandwiches, pizza, etc.
Transition Task Force II
The next round of consultations with the Commission of Charism Services, Commission of Elected Leaders, Commission of Regions and the Peace and Justice and Finance Committees is now underway. The results of this work will be brought to the Commission of Elected Leaders on March 31.

In April we will hold open consultations on the full slate of proposals for all members to review and comment. Watch for the dates of these two national consultations to be announced in early April. Your participation in these zoom sessions will provide helpful information for the work to be done at the Assembly.

We will begin to outline steps for board re-structuring. At this point, we believe that should follow the assembly and be tied to the start of a new executive director’s term.

As we stated in our February Briefing: We also are working on general considerations that are part of our realization that certain customs or practices need to change in order to make sure that the work loads of volunteers for committees and the board are reasonable. One of these items is the realization that we do not have a working definition for the difference between a commission and a committee. For that reason we will probably be advocating some changes that clear this up.

Questions about by-laws changes come up often. It will be our recommendation that we postpone by-laws revision until we have worked out all the new structural changes and approved them. In this way a revision can be done with all the new plans available to the group charged to do this work. This prevents us from having to make changes constantly but when there is a question of necessity, the board will be able to convene the CEL as it did last month to address the need. We believe that the board and new executive director can be entrusted with sufficient authority to make provisional changes in coming months and to prevent a continual need for emergency meetings for formal by-law revision. Our learnings in this process lead us to believe that a major overhaul of the by-laws will be in order and should be a task undertaken with canonical and civil law expertise.
AFC 2022 — June 3-6
Double Tree — Green Tree | 500 Mansfield Ave., Pittsburgh, PA
"Young Adult Leadership Panel: Preferential Option for the Young"
Elizabeth Hughes, Executive Director of Franciscan Mission Service
Sr. Mary Beth Gianoli, OSF, Vice President, Mission Integration at Marian University
Nicol Perone, National Coordinator of ESTEEM
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Ilia Delio, OSF
Brian McLaren
Click here to register for AFC 2022 See you in Pittsburgh!
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