May 5th Spring Assembly
On Saturday, May 5th, Associates, Sisters, and friends gathered in Chicago, Wisconsin, and Michigan for the Spring Assembly. The theme was “A Surprise by the Spirit: Exploring the Franciscan Sister & Associate Relationship”. An earlier presentation given by Geri and Rick Dietz in Cleveland was shown on a video. The couple shared their personal history and journey of how they discovered their Franciscan calling to become Associates with the Franciscan Sisters in Little Falls, Minnesota. Throughout the day there were small group table discussions followed by a general sharing of the large group. Sisters and Associates shared their understandings and appreciation of the Sister/Associate relationship as they experienced it in their own local areas. At the end of the day all were encouraged to write down what we can do next to further develop our Associate Relationship and to invite others to join us as Associates.