Introduction Lay members are central to the life and mission of the Spiritan community. This reality reaches back into the original foundations of the Order, as expressed in the original Latin rule. Sodales, the Latin term meaning "associates" stands witness to the inclusive vision of Poullart des Places and Claude Libermann, our Congregation's original and second founders. From the start, we have sought to be one: one mission, one community. Current lay Spiritan missionaries, educators, and social workers have as their apostolic ancestors lay individuals who served as cooks, tailors, and health care workers with des Places in the early 1700s. They were followed by missionaries to the Congo as well as married lay associates at the turn of the twentieth century. Within its three hundred years of existence, our Congregation has often been ahead of the rest of the Church in our cultivation of a common Christian community shared by lay and religious. Centered in God, we have always worked together for the greater good...finding that the work and witness of our lay brothers and sisters extends the Spirit's presence in ways we could have never imagined. Our shared history is witness to these truths.