Brotherhood of St. Andrew
Dallas Assembly
Episcopal Diocese of Dallas
|
|
|
MISSION The sole purpose of the Brotherhood is the spread of Christ's Kingdom. Its mission is to bring men and boys into the deepest possible relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ by following the disciplines of prayer, study, and service. The discipline of prayer is to pray daily for the spread of Christ's kingdom, especially among men and youth, and for God's blessings upon the labors of the Brotherhood. The discipline of study is to study the Holy Scriptures regularly and the teachings of the Church, to attain a better understanding of how to follow Christ and bring others into his kingdom. The discipline of service is to make continuous efforts, week by week, to bring others nearer to Christ through His Church. Prayer is a vital part of any Brotherhood meeting, and one of the three basic rules. Here are some suggestions as to how to incorporate prayer into the Chapter meetings. The Chapter Director should open, and close each Chapter meeting, leading the brothers in prayer using the prayers from the Brotherhood Devotional handbook, pages 3, and 5 respectively. In addition, each chapter should have a prayer list dedicated to the prayer needs of members, and their families and friends. One brother should be assigned to keep the prayer list updated on a continual basis, for the prayer needs articulated during the portion of the chapter meeting dedicated to prayer. The prayer list should be distributed to brothers in printed form at each meeting, or electronically by e mail after the meeting, or a combination of both. It is suggested that the prayer list be divided into categories such as: guidance, healing, surgery, thanksgiving, and recruiting new members. The prayer list is to be kept confidential within the chapter. The rule of study is the most important of the three Brotherhood rules. “The sole purpose of the Brotherhood is the spread of Christ’s kingdom by bringing men and boys to Christ”. Studying God’s Word is one of the primary ways, along with worship, that Christians use to know Our Lord more intimately, and to grow spiritually fulfilling our mission statement. Selecting the study for the chapter should be done very thoughtfully. The Rector can be of assistance in recommending interesting, and challenging study programs. These study programs may involve the study of Holy Scripture or they may involve study dealing with issues that men face in their day to day lives, and how to handle these challenges using scripture as a reference. The selected study program should be continuous in nature, so there is continuity of studying the particular subject on a sustained basis. The study program selected should be lay led, rather than clergy led, and should be assigned to a brother, on a rotating basis, to lead the study as a facilitator, asking pertinent questions for discussion among the brothers. All brothers should be asked to read the study assignment, and be prepared to discuss it at the next meeting. The Rector, when present, should be available to answer any perplexing questions, but should not attempt to lead the discussions. The study portion of the meetings is to be lay led by the appointed brother for that particular chapter meeting. Also, if there is a brother who is particularly versed in Holy Scripture, the Chapter Director person should not have him take over the assignment of facilitator on a regular basis. The facilitator role should be rotated among brothers to encourage ownership by all brothers in the study part of the chapter meeting. Finally, the time allocated for the study portion of the meeting is recommended to be at least 45 minutes. This amount of time is need to present, and discuss the subject matter in a meaningful way, so that men leave the meeting feeling they have learned something to help them grow spiritually. Service is the Brotherhood rule that enables brothers to put their faith into action by helping others in need. Service is also a key part in maintaining an active Brotherhood chapter. Helping others brings a sense of spiritual satisfaction to members by being obedient to Our Lord’s commands. Chapter leadership, along with creativity, and input from all brothers, is required in selecting service projects for the Chapter. There are several criteria to be considered in selecting service projects: 1) Select an ongoing “Flagship Project” that will serve those in real need which will be interesting enough to attract participation by other men in the church, whether they become Brotherhood members or not. The Brotherhood Chapter will become known throughout the church for the ministry through its “Flagship Project”. A good example of an ongoing project for the Dallas Assembly of the Brotherhood is the annual build of a Habitat House by brothers from several churches in the Diocese of Dallas, assisted by men who are not Brotherhood members. 2006 is the 11th consecutive year that the Brotherhood has coordinated the building of a Habitat House in the Dallas metroplex. 2) Select projects that have a spiritual benefit to others, hopefully outside of the immediate congregation. 3) Plan service projects that involve boys, such as the Boy Scouts, or boys within the congregation. This might be visits to the local VA Hospital thanking veterans for their service, a parish dinner honoring youth of the church who have made special contributions, or a joint outing involving sports. The new All Saints Camp at Texoma can be a valuable resource for joint activities with youth. 4) Refrain from a being a “catch all organization”, that finds itself responding to all kinds of requests, many mundane, from various organizations within the church once they learn of a men’s ministry being formed. Have a policy of being limited to meaningful projects that bring spiritual value added by helping others in need. Once the service projects are selected by the Chapter, it is up to the Chapter Director, and other Chapter officers to coordinate the scheduling and assignment of members, so that the projects are successfully completed. 5) The Chapter Director should make sure that the Chapter does not assume responsibility for more service projects than the Chapter can handle. Too many demands on men’s time, especially on mundane projects, can cause attrition of chapter members. |
|
Version 0.3, February 6, 2007 |