Saturday, November 30, 2013

ARCAN Committee Plan for 2014 Atlantic Conference

Mount Saint Vincent University will be the venue for the third Atlantic Religious Congregations Associate Network conference on June 6-7, 2014.   The theme for the gathering is, "Called to Relationship - Widening the Embrace".  The conference is open to all associates, sisters, and those interested in this new and growing relationship.

The conference presenter will be Anne Walsh, a Redemptorist Associate of St. John's Newfoundland. Anne is currently the Executive Assistant to the Archbishop of St. John's and Director of Adult Faith Formation for the Archdiocese.   She is a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree from St. Stephen's College, Edmonton.  She has presented workshops, courses and retreats in every Canadian province including the territory of Nunavut, and in various places in the United States, England, Ireland and Italy.  She has written numerous articles and worked on a number of writing teams for Religious Education resources published by the Canadian Bishops. She was most recently the principal author for the document On Good Soil: Pastoral Planning for Adult Faith Formation, published by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in May, 2011.  In 2009 Anne was a speaker at the Redemptorist General Chapter in Rome. 

The ARCAN conference is proving to be a popular gathering for sisters and associates throughout the Atlantic area.   As associate groups in individual congregations continue to develop and grow, there is a simultaneous need to build bridges between congregations to share experiences, learn about current trends and issues, and support one another.



2011 conference participants:
Vivian Mancini, sc and Linda McNeil A-csm
In addition to general conference proceedings, a new element will be added to the 2014 conference - a business segment.  The ARCAN Committee will take a small portion of the agenda to present a report of its activities to the assembly and introduce their process for a long range plan for ARCAN.  The Committee has made great strides over the past year and is looking forward to presenting its material and gathering input from sisters and associates that will assist in further developing this plan.  

The associate movement is a growing phenomenon.  It is said to be the fastest growing group within the church.  As other groups continue to decline in numbers, associate groups are showing a steep upward trend throughout North America.