IACM NEWSLETTER
International Association of Catholic Missiologists
Number 6 – October 2006
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Greetings to all from the Executive Board. We have just finished in early September a Board meeting in Pieniezno, Poland. We were hosted by the SVD Province. This will be the site for the next Missiological Conference and Third Plenary Assembly of the IACM in 2007. This Conference and Assembly will be an opportunity again for the IACM to gather and to move forward.
From Rome, in July 2005 ...
But let us go back to an earlier meeting. In July 2005, the Executive Board met in Rome and set out a few things to do. We are grateful to those who answered the survey in 2005 which was a point of reference during that meeting. One task we gave ourselves was to have a newsletter. We had a designated editor for the newsletter, the first materials were prepared; however, no newsletter came out. We are sorry for that.
We did however publish in English the papers presented in the scientific session of the Second Assembly of the IACM in Cochabamaba, Bolivia (October 2004). These were edited by Lazar Stanislaus and John Gorski and can be obtained by ordering from Ishvani Kendra at ishvani@dataone.in. The cost is $15.00 (US) including shipping. Furthermore, we hope to open our own website by the end of the year. We are very grateful to IAMS for having our material on their site (http://www.missionstudies.org/IACM). We will let all know when our own site will be available.
During the last year, we requested sponsorship from 23 different Missionary Societies of Apostolic Life and one congregation. We did receive positive responses from 10 different groups. We are very grateful for their support and the trust that they have placed in the IACM. We also consolidated the membership lists and now have the latest version. While we met in Rome, we had a cordial visit with Cardinal Sepe. We did ask him for support and for help to establish a bank account in Rome; however, before he was able to answer he was being transferred to the Archdiocese of Naples, Italy.
... to Pieniężno, in September 2006
Recently, as mentionned earlier, the Executive Board met in Poland to prepare the next Missiological Conference and the Third Assembly of the IACM. This Conference and Assembly will be held from August 28 to September 2, 2007, at the SVD Seminary in Pieniężno, in the North of Poland. More details about this event will be presented in this Newsletter and in the coming months. I do hope that many members of the IACM will be able to attend and participate in this Conference and Assembly.
Poland was chosen as the site of this gathering due to the number of missiologists and missionaries from Poland. Practically, it offers also a place where our members from around the world can get a visa without too much difficulty, if they need it. Plane flights to Warsaw should be less expensive than to some other places we looked at, and the costs of our stay less expensive than in many other places thanks to the generous collaboration of the Polish SVD Province.
The Missiological Conference in Pieniężno will not be a conference for the IACM where we invite speakers to talk to us but this will be a conference of the IACM where we all talk and listen to one another. All participants are to be presenters in one way or another. All are asked to personally contribute to missiological thinking around the theme of the Conference: “The word of God grew and multiplied” (Ac 12: 24): Sharing the Good News in the Interaction of Cultures. We will gather and present to one another our research and insights around this theme. This type of conference stresses the professional nature of the association and the competency of all its members. We will learn from one another and, hopefully, the proceedings will be published soon after the Conference in order to share its fruits as widely as possible.
We hope that the forthcoming Missiological Conference and Third Plenary Assembly in Pieniężno, Poland, will contribute to the vitality of the IACM and thus stimulate interest and participation on the part of many members.
Bill LaRousse
wlarousse@Maryknoll.org
FROM THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
The third meeting of the Executive Board of IACM was held at the SVD Seminary of Pieniężno, Poland, from August 30 to September 1, 2006. The agenda of this meeting was mainly dedicated to the preparation of the next IACM Assembly in 2007.
2007 Missiological Conference and Plenary Assembly
The Missiological Conference and the Third Plenary Assembly of the IACM will be held from August 28 to September 2, 2007 at the SVD Seminary in Pieniężno, Poland. The Executive Board agreed on the following schedule:
The arrival at Warsaw will be at the latest on Monday, August 27, and the participants will spend the night in Warsaw so that all can leave together to Pierniężno on Tuesday morning, August 28. This trip will be a time of exposure (information on Poland and its history, visits of historical sites, etc.). The participants will register at their arrival in Pieniężno in the afternoon and the opening celebration will be at 20:00.
The Missiological Conference will last three days, from Wedneday, August 29, to Friday, August 31, and the IACM Plenary Assembly will be held on Saturday, September 1.
On Sunday morning, September 2, the participants will travel together from Pieniężno to Warsaw. This trip will be a second opportunity for exposure (Sunday Eucharist with a local community, visit of historical sites, etc.). The participants will spend the Sunday night in Warsaw and their departure from Warsaw (for home, for an optional tour in the South of Poland or for any other destination) will take place at the earliest on Monday morning, September 3.
More information about the inscription, the cost and the program of the Missiological Conference and Plenary Assembly of IACM will be available soon.
Membership fees
The Executive Board agreed on membership fees of 30.00 US$ for every member, without distinction, beginning in 2007.
What region?
Looking forward to the Plenary Assembly of IACM, the Executive Board wants to raise a question about the Statutes. Article IV, 1 calls for an unspecified number of Regional Representatives. Article IV, 2e, says that: “The Regional Representatives shall promote the objectives and activities of the IACM in the geographical or ecclesial areas assigned to them.” At present our “regional” representatives are “continental” representatives. The vastness of the areas assigned to them is a difficulty for effective communication and coordination. The Statutes allow us to define “regional” in any manner that best fits our various situations around the world. What are the “geographical” or “ecclesial” areas that would be most effective for the regional representatives?
New publication
L. Stanislaus SVD and John F. Gorski MM, (eds.), Sharing Diversity in Missiological Research and Education, New Delhi: Ishvani Kendra / ISPCK, 2006, 255 pp; ISBN 81-7214-924-7. Price: $15 (including postage).
This book gathers together the papers presented in the scientific session of the Second General Assembly of the IACM (Cochabamba, Bolivia, September 30-October 3, 2004). Copies can ordered to Fr.Lazar Stanislaus, SVD, Director, Ishvani Kendra, P.Box 3003, Off Nagar Road, Sainikwadi, Pune 411 014, M.S., INDIA. Email: ishvani@dataone.in
Bertrand Roy
bertrand@smelaval.org
FROM THE TREASURER
The method of payment of the membership fees is still a problem. As was explained at the assembly in Cochabamba, we had to close the account we had at the Vatican Bank. This leaves us only with the bank account at Techny, Illinois, USA, that we have due to the help of the SVD Mission Office there.
Dues can be paid by sending a US dollar check made payable to the International Association of Catholic Missiologists. (The name must be in full and not abbreviated as IACM). Please enclose a note that it is for the payment of your membership fees or a donation. This should be mailed to:
IACM
Divine Word Missionaries
Mission Office, PO Box 6099
Techny, IL 60082
United States
A direct transfer can be made to the account name: International Association of Catholic Missiologists to the LaSalle Bank NA, Chicago, Illinois, ABA 071000505. The account number is 5200956596.
For record keeping, please send me a copy of your note to the SVD Mission Office or an e-mail to inform me of this payment.
Some comments from the survey of 2005 regarding dues:
- Develop a system for regional or country payments or have a national coordinator.
- Credit card payments were suggested but these are very expensive.
- Pay at the assembly.
- Perhaps some religious groups could assist in sending in payments since they have access to dollar accounts.
- It would be good if we could pay in Rome where many congregations have their headquarters.
- Fees can be collected if we have regular contact with the members through Newsletter.
- Give us possibilities of banking directly the money from bank to bank.
- Where there is a will to pay, one can find the way.
- Pay for 4 years at a time.
Thank you,
Luisa Melo Leyton
Via Stazione di S. Pietro, 6
000165 ROME, ITALY
lcapple@virgilio.it