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Friday October 10 2008 17:52:36 CDT
Welcome to the Fellowship Friary!
Fraternal greetings, sisters and brothers! I’m Br. Dick Gray, aka Masseo, the Fellowship Coordinator for the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans.
My task is to facilitate face-to-face contact among OEF members, postulants, inquirers and guests in the several fluidly-defined regions of our little Order. Our Website and mailing list are vehicles through which we establish initial contact and maintain a virtual fellowship, but an online presence is not enough to make a real community. Even phone conversations don’t do the trick. That’s why we strive to make regional meetings happen.
As with any family, there’s no substitute for in-person encounters, whether for long-time professed members, or for those newly discerning a possible calling to join our Order. In a far-flung and sparse order such as ours, community is particularly difficult, and hence it’s especially important to get as much “face time” as possible.
To further this essential community-making, I’m in the process of recruiting fellowship “conveners” for each region, to work with me in planning and developing our regional fellowships.
Currently we have the following Regional Conveners:
- Sr. Lorraine DiDio, Northeast Fellowship (wants to “retire”)
- Br. Francis Leo Canizares, Great Lakes Lighthouse Region
- Sr. Katie Cook, South Central “Bluebonnets”
- Br. Masseo, Western Fellowship
If you have a passion for community and a bit of organizational skill, and are willing to spend time conferring with the convener team and taking the lead in your region to make meetings happen, please email me at  , or call me at 602-789-0708. You don’t have to be a professed member to volunteer for this service.
I’ll be posting information about events in each region on this page (see below), as I learn of them. If you know of an event in your region that doesn’t appear on this page, please let me know about it. Keep in mind that regional meetings are open to anyone. You don’t have to be a Texan to meet with the Bluebonnets!
I also strongly encourage you to seek out and make contact with Franciscans of other orders in your area. We’re all one family, after all.
Pax et bonum!
Regional Events
The Northeast Regional Fellowship invites you to its annual retreat at Little Portion Friary on Long Island, NY, from Friday, 12 September through Sunday, 14 September 2008. Details to follow. Sr. Lorraine DiDio, OEF, is organizing the retreat. The last retreat was heavenly, so don’t miss this opportunity!
The Great Lakes Lighthouse Region will also host a retreat on the same dates. See Br. Francis Leo Canizares or Sr. Chris Petersen for details.
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