District Chapter Day 3 focus is on ‘Restructuring’
Day three of the District Chapter was hosted by the St John’s Community, St Helens, on Saturday, June 17th.
Once again it was an open and positive gathering on the theme of ‘Restructuring’ that allowed delegates to discuss items of importance, both in plenary and in small groups, with much of the emphasis on issues of governance.
The day began with morning prayer, which set the theme of restructuring in the context of growth and life. In the first reading, taken from a talk by John Johnston, a previous Superior General, the final paragraph stated:
“… we have to live authentically and wholeheartedly in the present moment - with dynamism, creativity, enthusiasm, joy, and pride. One aspect of living fully today is that of making decisions that will help to prepare for the tomorrow of our vision. What we decide to do and what we fail to decide to do today will inevitably affect the lives of Lasallians tomorrow.”
Later in the prayer service, a reading was taken from Deuteronomy chapter 30, which stated,
‘I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live, …’
The first session began with Bro Ben Hanlon, Visitor, presenting the paper ‘Safeguarding Structures: District of Ireland, Great Britain, and Malta’, which gave an update on the robust safeguarding structures that we have in place and which we are continuing to develop in our three countries in order to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults (‘Adults at Risk’ in GB) in our care. The Chapter Members unanimously supported the Safeguarding Structures that are at present in place and those being developed. They also supported the excellent work done by those who are working in this area on behalf of the District.
The next paper to be presented was a seventeen-page booklet on ‘District Mission Structures – a Common Rule Book, March 20’. Although this booklet is the responsibility of the District Council to approve, it was presented to the chapter for them to endorse it, which they unanimously did. Joe Gilson, Director of Mission, was present in the Chapter room to answer any questions.
After a break, the Auxiliary Visitor, Br. Michael Curran, spoke about restructuring our Charitable Trusts in order to safeguard the funding of the Lasallian Mission beyond the time when no local Brother is able to be a trustee. Whilst he acknowledged that the decline in Brothers might be seen as a negative, the rapidly increasing involvement of our Lasallian Partners provides hope for the future. Brothers from abroad are already trustees of our various Trusts, but there is a necessity to involve our local lay partners as they will know the needs of the Lasallian Mission in each country. We already use lay experts to advise the Trusts and it is a natural step that we will have lay trustees on our Trusts. This move has already been taken in Malta.
The difficulty of appointing a lay trustee to our present Trusts is that they would not be protected from any legal and financial liability. For us to protect future lay trustees, we need to incorporate our Trusts, and this restructuring will limit the liability of individual trustees.
Regarding the GB Trust, all this, including any concerns, was fully explained in a previously presented paper from their legal advisor, Tim Rutherford of Stone King, entitled ‘Potential for the incorporation of the Charity’ which reminded delegates of the current structures, the reasons they might consider incorporation and become a Charity Incorporated Organization (CIO), and the processes that are involved. The Chapter members unanimously endorsed the decision of the GB Trust that it should restructure itself as CIO.
Aidan Kilty presented a paper relating to how, in Malta, lay people are already involved in this way. For legal reasons, Malta has to use the term ‘Sector’ in its legal documents. The Chapter members were very pleased with the developments in Malta and unanimously endorsed all the directions Malta had taken, and recognised how much hard work has been undertaken over many years to get to this point in restructuring.
Finally, the route the Irish Trust is considering in order to appoint lay trustees with limited liability was discussed, the discussions being based upon the paper prepared by Una Burke from Mason Hayes and Curran LLP, legal advisors to the Irish Trust. After some discussion, the Chapter members endorsed the direction of travel that the Irish Trust is considering taking in order to ensure there are always people domiciled in Ireland on the Trusts.
The day ended with a Mass, the celebrant being one of the Capuchin Community at ‘Reaching the Unreached’ in India (RTU) who is visiting the UK. This was followed by a celebratory meal.
A big thank you to Sr Liz Murphy, who, as in the last two sessions of the Chapter, guided the Chapter through the day. We now look forward to the final day in Ireland on Saturday 15th July.
We cannot end this report without thanking the staff and Brothers of St John’s House whose planning and warm welcome made the day run smoothly.
