Dominican Priory of St. Martin de Porres
COMMUNITY VISION STATEMENT
RALEIGH PRIORY
RENEWS VISION
by Bruce B. Schultz, O.P.
In its annual weeklong September retreat, the friars of St. Martin de Porres Priory in Raleigh dodged a hurricane, renewed their community vision and declared as its overarching community project: "to foster, support and encourage the laity in the exercise of their baptismal gifts, especially the proclamation of the Gospel.”
The retreat built on a lector session a month earlier from Paul Philibert, O.P ., who shared the essence of his recent boo, The Priesthood of the Faithful, in which he calls for all the Baptized to embrace their anointing as "priest, prophet and king." The community also had two days of preliminary meetings where the Community Vision Statement was reflected upon and re-edited. Steve Smith, O.P., participated in these pre-retreat sessions, but had to travel to another part of the state for the annual priests' retreat in his role as Vicar for Priests in the Diocese of Raleigh.
The time away on the Outer Banks of North Carolina was punctuated by Morning and Evening Prayer, Mass and a half hour of communal centering prayer. After an initial desert day, the schedule featured three hour morning sessions, free afternoons, dinner prepared by the brothers, and evening substantive conversations led by a friar.
We were joined by Minlib Dallh, O.P., "a son of the priory," who first met the Dominicans in Raleigh and is now doing doctoral level Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary. Minlib led an evening conversation on finding God in the Other - which is the subject of one of the chapters in his dissertation.
Bert Ebben, O.P. briefed us another evening on issues in Kenya and the other sub-Saharan African nations now in flux. Art Kirwin, O.P. led an evening discussion on the recent liturgical changes promulgated by the Diocese of Raleigh.
Richard Archer, O.P., our steward, helped us think through our needs for house repairs and other stewardship issues.
Jude Siciliano, O.P. kept close minutes of all the decisions we made and who will be responsible for carrying them out.
Bruce Schultz, O.P. chaired most of the discussions, including an initial session where we reflected on each friar's gifts and talents.
Dominican Priory of St. Martin de Porres
COMMUNITY VISION STATEMENT
As a community of the Southern Dominican Province, we are committed to the "Holy Preaching.”
We embrace the "Holy Preaching" as an apostolic way of shared life which is an essential part of our ministry to preach the Word.
With this guiding vision of the "Holy Preaching" for our time and place, we commit ourselves to be a community of friars, recognizing our diversity, yet fully committed to the pillars of the Dominican Order: prayer, study, contemplation and ministry. Therefore we strive:
□ to placing contemplation at the center of our shared life.
□ to the regular practice of faith sharing and scripture sharing.
□ to a simple lifestyle with sharing of goods and solidarity with the economically poor and the socially marginalized.
□ to ongoing personal and communal study, including regular reflection on major contemporary issues in the light of the Gospel.
□ to hospitality.
□ to ongoing evaluation of community and ministry.
□ to seek out and foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life and to collaborate with the Province's program of initial formation and to actively participate in ongoing formation of the friars.
□ to a model of leadership that is participative, responsible and accountable.
□ to foster and provide a hospitable setting for a chapter of the Dominican Laity.
□ to leisure and recreation as an integral part of our life.
□ to collaborative and interfaith ministry with clergy, religious, laity and all people of good will.
□ to affirm and encourage the priesthood of the baptized, especially in the gift of preaching.
In the light of our Vision Statement we accept as our "COMMUNITY PROJECT": To foster, support and encourage the laity in the exercise of their baptismal gifts, especially the proclamation of the Gospel.