NAECC members in the chapel at the Pallottine Center during the annual leaders meeting, held this year May 8-12.

Twenty-two members of the National Association of Episcopal Christian Communities (NAECC) representing 12 different communities met for their annual leaders meeting at the Pallottine Center in Florissant, MO May 8-12.

According to NAECC President the Rev. Masud Ibn Syedullah, TSSF, the members gathered for Evening Prayer on Monday May 8, and then began each morning before breakfast in small groups with Lectio Divina. Masud gave a president’s address on Tuesday, noting that “we are at a new time in our history, given that the General Convention – for the first time – authorized a Religious Life Sunday on the 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany.” The first one was this year. Masud said the establishment of a Sunday to acknowledge and celebrate religious communities within the Episcopal Church provides a new window of opportunity for religious communities to make themselves known and offer the Church a vast range of resources to support the life and mission of the Church.  He invited the members of NAECC to begin to earnestly use this window of opportunity to think outside of the box regarding ways they can publicize their presence and offer their gifts and talents to the Church.  He noted that communication about and within NAECC is important, and he suggested the communities gathered begin with the website. He said that the website is NAECC’s major electronic way of communicating.

Discussions about the future continued throughout the week, along with a daily Eucharist celebrated by NAECC members, including Masud, the Rev. Canon Beth Tjoflat, LSSC and the Rev. Kate Maxwell, OSB. The preachers were the Rev. Canon Peter Stube, TSSF, Mtr Kate and Br. Ronald A. Fox, BSG.

At the business meeting, Bill Farra, SCC, was re-elected treasurer. The Companions of Dorothy the Worker was approved to move from “Observer” status to “Associate” membership. NAECC has three categories of membership – communities recognized by the House of Bishops Committee on Religious Life, communities seeking recognition and communities not seeking canonical recognition. A relatively new community in the Diocese of Long Island, the Franciscan Community of Compassion, was approved for associate membership. Three friars from the Order of St. Francis attended for the first time.

Communities represented included Anamchara Fellowship, the Benedictine Priory of St. Mary,  the Brotherhood of St. Gregory, Society of the Community of Celebration, Community of Francis and Clare, Community of the Mother of Jesus, Community of the Gospel, the Little Sisters of St. Clare, the Rivendell Community, the Third Order, Province of the Americas, Society of St. Francis, Companions of Dorothy the Worker and the Order of St. Francis.

NAECC and the Conference of Anglican Religious Orders in the Americas (CAROA) had met jointly for a number of years, but CAROA had specific items of interest pertaining to traditional communities that needed to be discussed and met separately. For now, the two organizations will meet on their own “for the foreseeable future,” but will continue a strong working relationship with the executive committees, various committee work and regional gatherings.

The NAECC website can be found at National Association of Episcopal Christian Communities (naecc.net). Their Facebook page is at National Association of Episcopal Christian Communities | Facebook