MP3 Audio for this letter
April 20 2011 Dear Committee Members and other Marists,
In the past few weeks I have been praying about the direction of Marist Laity Australia. I have also spoken to a number of people about the following 3 suggestions.
SUGGESTION 1 – A Local Focus
The primary function should be our involvement with local Marist initiatives. If we do not participate on a local level we do not reflect the Marist story which carried us to this National committee. Each of us had an initial Marist contact on a local level. This may have been a Marist parish, school, ministry or community. The national committee builds on these local initiatives. There are common elements to these initiative such as prayer, relationships, goals (for example discussion group or outreach), and a time and place the initiative to occur. These local initiatives may not call themselves Marist, but they provide us with frequency, formation and opportunity where our spirit is fed by God. These local initiatives are essential as they are stepping stones of invitation.
If we simply rely on the National committee prior to our involvement at a local level, we cease to develop the avenues which formation brings us to different levels of our life. Formation should lead us down the road which is graced filled. We are fed in faith when we give and receive in relationship.
The national committee cannot provide this because of its infrequency and because of its agenda. Laypeople are at different stages of life and faith. Laypeople want and need different things. For example, at 16 you join a youth group, at 25 you go to World Youth Day, at 35 you join a family group and at 60 you join a seniors group. Because of this diversity the National committee cannot provide for all these needs. However the National committee is an extension to these local initiatives. The national committee supports and provides bridges for laity to discover and grow through their calling with God. Therefore, the National committee is secondary to these local initiatives, because without the local, the national committee would not exist.
As Marists, we need to be more active in our own local communities. It is important that we step up to the plate and take an active role. However, we should not act alone. The disciples were not alone when they were sent out by Jesus, nor the early Marists to Oceania. By sharing these actions we model the process of leadership for others to carry on when we are gone.
SUGGESTION 2 – A National Focus
Marist Laity Australia must become a truly national committee. With development of technology we can connect online via video and Twitter. The ABC program Q & A models this process and technology.
I propose a new type of committee member called a “group representative”. Marist Laity Australia would invite different Marist organisations from across Australia to provide one lay member who will join for 12 months only. Marist Laity Australia might invite different schools, parishes, small groups or ministries to select this “Group Representative”. Thus the agenda of the National committee will shift to meet the new needs of the various groups, but also to provide a platform and the bridge of connection between Marists and their local initiatives. The group representative would provide feedback to their own organization.
If the group representative could not travel to Sydney for the meetings, they would connect is via video and Twitter online. Because of distance, the technology becomes imperative for the committee in its national role. With growth, the location for the National committee may change after a two or three years. Possibly to Melbourne, Brisbane, or Perth.
At the end of the 12 months the group representative must step down. That committee member can then choose or be invited to remain as an individual lay member on the national committee but no longer representing that particular organisation.
SUGGESTION 3 – Individual Lay Members
Individual lay members are an essential part of the national committee. However the national committee is not an end in itself, but rather a supporting bridge and avenue to the local initiatives. Our commitment to the national committee must reflect our development and change as laypeople. As organisations and groups emerge and fold, the national committee must reflect the changing needs of people we serve. By fixing the term for membership on the National committee, this ensures ongoing changes which are needed to reflect the identity as laypeople. I suggest the maximum duration for an individual could be a three or four-year term. By fixing the term we provide an avenue for formation and in a focus for delegation. FINALLY
These suggestions are not fixed or are they representative of the entire national committee. I offer them to you simply as a suggestion for a way forward.
I propose a timeframe for this new structure to commence in July of 2012 with the planning stages in preparation to commence immediately.
With Mary and her Son,
Andrew Dumas
Co-Leader of Marist Laity Australia
| 
