The District Assembly on Mission that will take place this summer will mark a new chapter in the shared mission of Brothers and Partners in the District of San Francisco. As outlined in Brother Visitor's Message, similar gatherings of De La Salle Christian Brothers and their lay and religious colleagues will be taking place throughout the International Institute.

One of the many advantages of shared mission has been the tremendous wealth of knowledge we have gained about our roots through ongoing Lasallian formation programs. Successful achievement of shared mission requires that the Brothers and their associates continue to learn about our heritage, which began with Saint John Baptist de La Salle and his founding of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Rheims, France, in the late 1600's, for the purpose of providing Christian education to the children of the poor and working class. Today, more than 6,500 Brothers and over 65,000 lay and religious colleagues worldwide minister to 800,000 students in 1,081 educational institutions in 87 countries on six continents. In the District of San Francisco alone, over 9,000 students attend our grammar and middle schools, high schools, and the undergraduate program at Saint Mary's College of California. Still more participate in other District apostolic ministries for children and adults of various cultures and needs. Four schools have been opened in the District in the past four years, expanding the work of Lasallian education on the West Coast.

In 2001, in the District of San Francisco and in the Institute globally, Brothers comprised 5% of the teaching and administrative personnel in Lasallian schools, and lay persons and other religious made up the other 95%. Brothers and our lay and religious colleagues complement each other and associate together in the accomplishment of the mission. Together, we are increasingly growing into "a better understanding and an effective living of that complementarity and communion in fulfilling the mission, through processes… discussion… and provisional structures to facilitate the sharing of the Lasallian mission" (excerpted from District Chapter Act #187, 1999). Our District Assembly on Mission will provide such a structure.

Assembly delegates are men and women, lay and religious, who are actively engaged in and fully dedicated to the work of education in the San Francisco District in the many and varied forms in which it is lived out each day. Delegates will undertake the preliminary work of the Assembly in regional meetings in late April and early May 2002, in the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Regional meetings will provide participants an opportunity to meet other delegates from their local area, to become acquainted with Assembly procedures, to select committees on which they will serve, and to discuss issues on which they believe the Assembly should take some action. Some delegates will visit two educational works other than that in which they currently serve, to increase their knowledge and understanding of the District's work as a whole. The Assembly itself will serve as the important and historic vehicle through which, for the first time, Brothers and Partners will together fully participate in deliberations and decisions on the directions for the Lasallian educational mission and the means for implementing it in the District of San Francisco for the next four years. I invite you to learn more about the District Assembly below.

Brother Stanislaus Campbell, FSC
Auxiliary Visitor, District of San Francisco
Chair, Preparatory Committee for the District Assembly on Mission
April 12, 2002

Note: A Glossary of Lasallian Terms provides helpful definitions of many of the terms below.

Purpose of the Assembly

To fulfill Propositions 5 and 6 of the 43rd General Chapter, Rome, June 2000, an historic District Assembly on Mission will be held in summer 2002. Assembly delegates, to include Brothers and Partners from across the District of San Francisco, will formulate direction for educational mission in the San Francisco District and designate means for fulfilling it through the next four years, 2003-2007. Decisions made by the Assembly will be reviewed by the Brothers' Eleventh District Chapter convening in October 2002. The first-ever assembly will give the Brothers' colleagues an opportunity to take a more active role, with voice and vote, in the Brothers' deliberative bodies.

Background

Assembly Delegates

Participants in the Assembly number approximately 140* and include: