From the OEF Council: Betty Lou, Bruce James, Jacoba, Juniper and Markie
OEF Chapter Convocation for 2020 will happen over St Clare’s day. The Order will gather Monday August 10th till Wednesday August 12th. This will be a Chapter/Convocation in place. Following a practice that we have learned from our Buddhist siblings, we are all invited to spend the time together each in our own location.
Each day will start with a morning worship and end with an evening worship. We will gather in two sessions of one and one-half hours each on Zoom. The rest of our gathering can be built of times of prayer, times spent on Br Coyote’s walks to reflect on Mother Earth. We can also gather informally on Zoom for meals/snacks and just to hang out. We may find that there are multiple Zoom accounts that we can use for the gathering allowing multiple hangouts. For the daily worship and sessions, we will use one Zoom account including the breakout rooms allowing us to meet in small groups to reflect and work.
Since our Order now spans the world, we must attend to time zones:
1:00 pm Monday Pacific Daylight time /Arizona time is
2:00 pm Monday Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) is
3:00 pm Monday Central Daylight Time (CDT) is
4:00 pm Monday Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is
9:00 pm Monday in Ireland is
5:00 am Tuesday in Tokyo and is
8:00 am Tuesday in New Zealand.
For our gathering all times will be given in CDT
Here is our working schedule in CDT:
Monday
9:00 am – Morning worship
2:30 pm – Midday worship
3:00-4:30 pm – The community gathers, checks in about the last year under the care of Clare
5:00-6:30 pm – First Convocation session exploring the gifts given to us by our sister Clare
10:00 – Evening worship
Tuesday
9:00 am – Morning worship
2:30 pm – Midday worship
3:00-4:30 pm – The chapter of the Order including elections, budget and other business
5:00-6:30 pm – Second Convocation session exploring the gifts given to us by our sister St Clare
10:00 – Evening worship
Wednesday
9:00 am – Morning worship
2:30 pm – Midday worship
3:00-4:30 pm – Gather for renewal of vows and possible welcoming of postulants, novicing and professions
5:00-3:30 pm – Juniper Cup & Wrap up on “exploring the gifts given to us by our sister Clare”
10:00 – Evening worship
There is no cost to this in-place gathering.
We have maintained our booking at the Pallottine Center. It remains unclear to us as to what the situation will be with the COVID pandemic in mid-August. The council has spent much time considering the Order’s responsibility for the health of the members. We also remember that all OEF members are adults living under the direction of the Spirit. The Pallottine Center has generously said that we do not need to commit to using our reservation until late July. The Council will continue to monitor the COVID situation in Missouri and will decide whether we believe we can in good conscience host an in-person gathering in August. If there is an in-person gathering, it would be for only those driving to St Louis.
This is of course a new method of being together. We are inventing it as we go along. Please pray with us and think with us and communicate with us about how to most creatively and intimately use our time to build the common life of our little order.
These are strange times. We wish that you all remain safe and that together living our rules of life we can shine the light of Jesus’ love sharply in all the places that God put us.
