Report on the Xristos Community Society
AGM, 24 June 2000
Xristos members gathered at Chris and Naomi
Diamond’s for pot-luck, liturgy and business. As President, Arthur Menu
reported that Xristos has functioned well over the year 1999. Xristos has
functioned as hoped The Journal, its chief ministry, has been produced
with good quality and with no financial worries. The Secretary-Treasurer,
Alanna Menu, noted that Xristos had 85 Canadian donors and 15 American
donors supporting the ministry. The total donations for 1999 were $4,449.66
and have remained almost the same as 1998. Expenses for 1999 amounted to
$4,024.35. The goal for the Journal in the coming year is to create a wider
distribution. Arthur Menu said that The Journal is published on the
Corpus Canada Web site, and this may result in more people reading it and
requesting the printed version. Arthur also said he thought it would be
a good idea for the Corpus Canada Web site to acquire its own domain name.
Michael Zarb, the Web master, is working to improve the site by putting
pictures on it.
Xristos’ members approved spending funds to hire a person to help with
the desk-top publishing of the Journal to reduce François Brassard’s
workload. The present Journal editorial board will remain in place for
the coming year. The Sidney Corpus group will continue to handle
assembly and distribution. A motion was passed that Xristos Community Society
make up to $500.00 available toward transportation costs of members of
the National Advisory Council (the same people as the Corpus Canada National
Coordinating Team) who will be attending the Ottawa meeting of the National
Advisory Council in the fall of 2000.
The members discussed wider issues such as the role and function of priesthood,
enabling Corpus members to solemnize marriages, and where Corpus is going
in the future. We need to help expand the growth of small faith communities.
This is one way to reach the unchurched or those who choose to be unchurched.
The priest should be the pastoral leader of the faith community. It is
the community of faith, not the priest, that celebrates the sacraments.
It is the role of the priest to bring a wider view and good order. The
role for Corpus as a national organization is not just to support married
priests but also to educate and renew the priesthood, and to empower lay
people in their priesthood. The Journal is the main ministry of Xristos.
One member expressed the view that it is not within the power of Corpus
Canada as a national organization to increase Corpus’ membership or to
be an agent for change. It is only the local small faith communities associated
with Corpus that can do these things. Corpus Canada is not attempting to
imitate the top-down structure of the Roman Catholic Church in which
centralized authority exercises control over parish life. The relationship
between Corpus Canada, the national organization, and the local Corpus
communities calls for the local communities to give life and direction
to the national body through local community representatives on the Corpus
Canada National Coordinating Team. The national organization will evolve
depending on what happens in the local community. At this time we do not
know how the national organization will evolve.
Alanna Menu, Sydney BC
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