QUEEN of PEACE REGIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSISTANTS CLASS
2018-2020
People who are eligible to take the course:
· Friars
· Seculars who have been professed for a minimum of 5 years and recommended by their local fraternity council
· Franciscan religious
· Clergy and members of other religious Orders
· Spiritual Assistants who wish to upgrade their knowledge
People who MUST take the course to serve as a Spiritual Assistant:
· Those wanting to serve the Queen of Peace Region in a local fraternity
· Seculars who have been professed for a minimum of 5 years, and recommended by their local fraternity council
· Franciscan religious (even those currently serving local fraternities)
· Clergy and members of other religious Orders (even those currently serving local fraternities)
Primary Resources for class:
Order from: Smokey Valley Printing, (785) 227-2364 or
· Franciscan Family Connections, revised edition 2011
· Handbook for Spiritual Assistants to the Secular Franciscan Order, revised edition 2012
· Essential Documents of the Secular Franciscan Order, revised edition 2012
· Handbook for Secular Franciscan Servant Leaders, revised 2010
· Elements of Formation, 1992
Order from: Franciscan Media, (800) 488-0488 or www.franciscanmedia.org
· Ritual of the Secular Franciscan Order, 1985
Personal:
· Bible
Preliminaries:
· After ordering the Franciscan Family Connections book, read pages i-iv.
· Page ii, #3. REGISTRATION will be done through the Regional Spiritual Assistant, Kathy Taormina, OFS. DO NOT send your “Letter of Intent” directly to the Provincial Spiritual Assistant [PSA].
· Send ALL of #3 to Kathy and she will forward it to the appropriate bonding Province.
Course Work:
· The course is primarily accomplished by correspondence.
· The coursework will be sent, preferably via email or post mail if necessary. One chapter per month.
· We will meet face to face at the beginning of the course and at least once a year, preferably twice a year if feasible.
· The face-to-face classes will be held with ALL of the students in the SA Class. In this way, we will have time to share, learn, and mentor each other. This time will be a resource for each of us as we serve the OFS.
Schedule:
· June 1, 2018 – 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., class meeting in Buffalo, Minn., coinciding with the Annual Regional Meeting.
· July 2018 – Class 1 begins, chapter 1.
· August 2018 to May 2019 – Chapters 2-11 (1 per month)
· May 31, 2019 – 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., class meeting in Buffalo, Minn., coinciding with the Annual Regional Meeting.
· July 2019 to February 2020 – Chapters 12-19 (1 per month)
· March 2020 to May 2020 – Observations of 3 separate SAs in a local fraternity
· June 5, 2020 – 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., class meeting in Buffalo, Minn., coinciding with the Annual Regional Meeting.
· Saturday of the 2020 Annual Regional Meeting, certification of class completed, and commissioning of the new Spiritual Assistants.
· July 2020 to December 2020 – Intership (in fraternity) by current local Spiritual Assistants.
· January 2021 to June 2021 – 6 month probation period serving as a SA in a local fraternity.
Class Director:
· Regional Spiritual Assistant Kathy Taormina, OFS
Kathy Taormina, OFS
Queen of Peace Regional SA
920 Whitney Drive
Apple Valley MN 55124
This is the official class of the Queen of Peace Region. We are all called to learn, mentor, and most importantly SERVE one another and our local fraternities. The class is open to change as we see the need for accommodation.
PRAY, DISCERN, and then PRAY more! The role of a Spiritual Assistant is a role of servant leadership that is most vital to the fraternities served and to the Franciscan Order as a whole. May we all learn and grow together.
“I have done what was mine to do;
may Christ teach you what you are to do.”
Saint Francis of Assisi
STEPS TO BECOME A SPIRITUAL ASSISTANT in the Queen of Peace Region
1. Discuss this with the fraternity, for they will/must recommend you in writing.
2. Understand the seriousness and the commitment required to be a Spiritual Assistant (SA).
3. If the fraternity and the interested person agree, contact the Regional Spiritual Assistant (RSA) to begin the procedure.
4. Begin the SA class by procuringall the required paperwork and documents.
5. Begin the class. The class is mainly by correspondence, but there will be times when we meet.
6. The SA class takes two and a half years to complete, along with 2 in-person interviews.
7. No one is guaranteed certification just by taking the class.
8. During the time of the SA class, the person is required to attend all of their fraternity meetings and Formation sessions.
9. When the person is certified, the RSAwill consider the person for commissioning.
10. If the RSA states the person is well-prepared, the person will be commissioned as an SA.
11. The fraternity Council then sends a request to appoint the SA to their fraternity to the RSA.
12. The RSA will then begin the process of getting the person officially appointed by theProvincial Spiritual Assistant.
13. Once the official appointment is made, the person will be installed as the fraternity's SA.
14. SA terms are for three years, up to a total of 12 consecutive years.
Reminders...
***A person taking the class, or passing it, does not ensure an SA appointment.
***This is a long process, which enables the person to become a "well-trained" SA for the OFS.
***Friars and Franciscan Sisters are to take the course to be “well-trained” in the OFS governing documents (Rule, Constitution, USA Statutes, the QOP Regional Guidelines, the Statutes for Spiritual and Pastoral Assistants to the OFS, and the Handbook for Spiritual Assistants to the OFS) and to clearly understand secular spirituality, and moreover Franciscan secular spirituality.