Starting with "Sodales": Des Places' Foundations Soon after opening his seminary community in 1703, des Places recruited students to help in his work. He also admitted lay sodales or associates who worked as cooks, tailors, and shoemakers for the theological school. Although not yet a priest, des Places wrote a rule for the early laity: they attended Mass daily, participated in morning and evening prayers and spiritual reading with the larger community. Called "brothers," they lived a life of evangelical poverty that continued up until the Revolution in 1792. Moving into mission Guiana The first lay missionary associates were active in Guiana during the 1770s. While their presence was essential to the continued success of Spiritan missions, Fr. Becquet, superior general at that time, distinguished mission associates from "mere affiliates." Fr. Henry Koren suggests that the latter term indicated priests who volunteered for Guiana without a personal commitment to the Congregation. The Congo River and beyond Lay associates were also vital to the last effort of the 18th century to evangelize the area of Laongo, north of the Congo River. Supported by a continental community that provided supplies and reinforcements, Spiritan priests, along with several lay associates (among them a doctor and skilled craftsmen) set out on mission. However, sickness overcame all members of the expedition and in a short time the doctor and three others died. Lay volunteers also participated in the first expedition to the Two Ginueas; some were gathered by Bishop Barron, others by Fr. Bissieux -- from a foundling home. Libermann's lay legacy: Coming to terms One in the same Although a priest himself, Libermann saw more commonality than difference among the Church's faithful laborers intent on building God's Kingdom. While bishops and priests were truly "sharers in the priesthood of Christ" they also were members of the People of God. For this reason Libermann saw no inherent conflict between the mission of the clergy and the the lay workers. For him the layperson's role was never simply limited to helping priests in their mission, but rather and more importantly, they were impelled by God to activate their own mission. According to Fr. Henry Koren, Congregation historian, for Libermann "the two do not have a mission of their own in opposition to each other ... but share in a common mission: both categories carry out the mission of God's people in accordance with their situation in the Church." Formalizing the lay life From Libermann's time on there were always a "small number of committed laity" who were not formally Brothers of the Congregation. With Libermann, came the shift in terminology that identified these individuals as agrégés rather than "associates." Affiliate memberships were also developed under Libermann's guidance. The Constitutions of 1875 have a specific section (no. 25, pp. 83 ff.) on aggregation and affiliation. Affiliation was accorded to both individuals and groups; it implied sharing in the "spiritual goods" of the Congregation as well as a commitment to remember its works through prayer. Aggregation was divided among three spiritual paths, all of which were lived in community. Clerical and brother agrégés could wear the congregational habit, except for the blue rabat which indicated full profession. The lay agrégés, while living in community, dressed in secular clothing and did not participate fully in the liturgical life. All participated in the spiritual and material benefits of community life. Although the constitution contained no formal statements concerning the marital status of these lay members, the obligation to communal life essentially annulled any chance for married associates. Extending the family -- married associates admitted In 1895, however the paradigm shifted. The General Council, at the request of Bishop Le Roy, admitted married men as agreges. A rule was drawn up for these first married associates which specified a one year probationary period, sharing in the spiritual and material benefits, and the rights and duties of associate membership and community life. The rule also required that the married man obtain his wife's permission to become an associate. These associates donned a cross around their necks rather than taking the religious habit. The Twentieth Century: Deepening the Vision (1965-1984: History of the Spiritan Associates Program) Lay commitment: Consistent with council Following directives from the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) concerning religious communities and the laity, particularly the "universal call to holiness" and the Church as the "people of God," religious orders and dioceses began to make more room for committed lay people in ministry leadership. The Spiritans convened a General Chapter in Rome in 1968 to formally address its decisions. Here are some of the Chapter's resolutions: Affirmed its commitment to missionary apostolate among peoples whose needs were the greatest. Mandated that local communities seek to train and help those who wished to serve in missionary works, allowing for the possibility that some may want to live and work with members of the congregation. This concept became known within the Congregation as the "Wider Spiritan Missionary Community" as well as the "Associate Movement." This new mandate encouraged creative responses throughout the Congregation including the Trans-Canadian Province's founding of Volunteers in International Christian Service (VICS) in 1971. VICS was primarily understood as an ecumenical volunteer service under Spiritan leadership focused on placing volunteers in technical and educational works in third world countries. The following year the Spanish Province's lay mission initiative was established enabling lay people to work with Spiritans in Angola, Cameroon, Tanzania, Paraguay, and Brazil. As the Congregation in the larger context of the Church moved into the 80s, it became increasingly clear that the Associate Movement, especially its emphasis on lay missions, was steadily evolving. Seeds were sprouting to be cultivated. Both the East and West provinces began to particularize their approach to lay life and ministry within the Spiritan community. USA East Province During the 1970s and 80s various members of the province participated in an ongoing conversation concerning the missionary nature of the Community. Many American Spiritans had dedicated their lives to the work of global missions. Many others had spent much of their career with works in the Home Province. What eventually developed was a renewed understanding of mission work that encompassed both national and international ministries. An informal arrangement of inviting laity to join the missionary work of the Spiritans developed in the 1970s and continued into the early 1980s. Most of these lay people were relatives or close friends of the Spiritan missionaries in East Africa, and came to join them in their work, mostly as teachers. This initiative became formalized and took shape in the early 1980s when the U.S. East Province approved guidelines for a program of recruiting, preparing, and placing these Associates or volunteers. The Province's engagement with laymen and women during this period was primarily through the lay missionary program in Africa. In 1989 Ann Marie and John Hansen, former lay missionaries with the Spiritans in Tanzania, moved to Pittsburgh to become the lay directors of the loosely-organized associates. They provided hospitality and orientation to other lay missionaries preparing for their work in Africa. In all, several dozen volunteer missionaries came to East Africa through this program, most staying from three to six years before returning to their home country. The U.S. East Province is currently moving toward a new lay program, providing opportunities to join the Province as lay members here at home. Such a model will help unify the lay Spiritan program across provinces. USA West Province What has emerged in the Western Province is a community-oriented formal lay associates program made up of a core group of lay men and women who are interested in applying Spiritan spirituality to their daily lives. Rather than focusing on particular projects or ministries, the West Coast lay associates seek to live in practical union with God wherever the Spirit leads them. This model had its genesis in a series of meetings arranged by Fr. Michael White, the West Coast's current provincial, between Peter and Judy Stubbs and Superior General Fr. Timmermans. On the Horizon As both professed and lay Spiritans continue to find new ways of sharing community and ministry with one another, one of the greatest challenges facing them is the continued growth of Spiritan institutions in the midst of a declining priesthood. Just as their early ancestors -- the seminary tailors and Congo missionaries -- have done throughout the Congregation's history, today's lay Spiritans must seek creative and prophetic ways to continue the Order's unique work. These times call not for lay followers but for co-laborers and leaders. Exciting things are happening not only with the lay Spiritans, but through them. Theirs is a journey worth making in the present.