Open for Business...
vocations on the rise internationally —
new discernment communities in Adelaide & Perth

T IS NO DOUBT WELCOME NEWS that Vocations at long last seem to be on the rise again for the Christian Brothers internationally. The Congregational Leadership Team in Rome has recently published a list of 179 young men presently in formation with the Brothers around the world. The regional breakdown is as follows.

Country	No. in Formation
India	42
Kenya	23
Papua New Guinea	10
Peru	13
S’n Africa (Congo)	1
S’n Africa (Lesotho)	1
S’n Africa Zimbabwe)	6
Sierra Leone	32
Tanzania	12
United States	4
Zambia	35
TOTAL:	179

Anecdotally, Vocations Directors in first world countries are beginning to notice a rise in enquiries and four presently in training in the United States might be the "first sparrows" of a new summer in vocations in the Western world. In our own region a young man in New Zealand has recently begun the journey of discernment following exposure to the work of the Brothers through a volunteer immersion experience working in East Timor.

There seem to be two distinct attractions, or types of calling, that the leadership are picking up from recent enquiries in our parts of the world. Some are attracted to make the sacrifices long familiar in religious orders where individuals say goodbye to home and go off to work for long periods in foreign lands far from their birthplace ministering to those who really are at the very margins in today's world. There seems to be a new form of enquiry coming through from increased spiritual consciousness in the developed world where individuals are searching for forms of community where they can share a spiritual charism for temporary or open-ended periods. Some of these people have already been working with religious congregations like the Brothers in volunteer placements and various spirituality programs and associate programs like our own Edmund Rice Network.

In order to provide more structure to these newly emerging trends, the leadership team in Holy Spirit Province is in the process of establishing two new "Intentional Communities". One of these is being established in one of the former Community Houses adjacent to the Province Office at Westcourt and the other is being established in the former Community House at Thebarton in South Australia.

This is a bold experiment for the Brothers. Each of the communities will have a small core of resident Brothers but there are a number of rooms for individuals from the wider community to spend time "in residence" to experience life in a religious community while they discern their vocational direction. The common facilities available in each place are also being opened for use by school and mixed age groups from the wider community for particular programs related to spiritual formation.

Br Bernard White is coordinating the new community in Perth and Br John Webb is coordinating the similar community at Thebarton in South Australia. Bernard and John welcome enquiries from individuals, from schools and from other ministries who might like to use the facilities for programs related to formation, volunteer work in Edmund Rice Ministries and Spiritual Formation programs for small groups.

The contact details for Bernard and John are as follows:

The photo at the top of this story was taken at the recently refurbished house adjacent to Westcourt when Bernard hosted the Qavah participants and members of the Province Leadership Team for drinks prior to a dinner at Westcourt.