Colourful Dreamer

Charlie McCarron TSSF from the USA is now an Episcopalian Third Order member. He was Catholic and is deeply rooted in the Franciscan tradition from both the Catholic and Episcopalian viewpoint. He is a bit of an intellectual – he has done studying and lecturing on this stuff and is really good value. He was elected Minister Provincial for the Americas shortly after IPTOC. Good choice Americas. You can find other videos of his here . He continued looking at some important aspects of the church environment at the time of St Francis, exploring some of the context out of which Franciscanism grew, and which still informs our charism today. Francis was much less the maverick we sometimes make him out to be but was shaped by and shaped the tradition that was going on around him. Charlie focussed this session on: Action and contemplation in the early Franciscan source. He began by suggesting that the key concepts for early Franciscans were: solitude, fraternity (he said it was hard to find

The question I brought to this event, and still carry with me today – is what is mine to do as a Franciscan priest in the Anglican tradition. It is so good to take some time now to reflect on all this and to remind myself of the rich input we were offered. You can find the videos of all these sessions here. I think it also has a link to the summaries as well.   The first full two days of the gathering in England last year was spent exploring our roots as Anglican Franciscans. To do this we had Paula Pearce OFS from the UK - a Catholic Franciscan and notable authority on the early writings of Francis. We also had Charlie McCarron TSSF from the USA who focused on some of our Episcopalian/Anglican roots. It laid the groundwork for my ongoing reflection. The primary source of all Franciscans is Francis of Assisi and his writings, particularly his rules.   Over recent years a lot more attention has been placed on St Clare of Assisi and her writings. Other important sources include the

Every six years the Minister General for TSSF is responsible for organising and running the the Inter-Provincial Third Order Chapter. For at least the last 18 years this has been held in conjunction with the Joint First Order Chapters. Last year it was held at High Leigh Conference Centre just out of London. IPTOC is held every 6 years. JFOC is held every 3 years. As minister general I had the privilege of also attending that on behalf of the Third Order. This was my fourth IPTOC, a crazy number really. Most people might get to one. It is a 9 day gathering of the minister provincial and two other representatives from each of the 5 provinces , as laid out in the constitution, chaired by the Minister General. It is the ultimate decision making body of the Order. I first attended my first one in 2005. It was held at at the Franciscan Centre in Canterbury UK. It was there that Dorothy Brooker became our MG, and people suggested I put my name forward to be the new MP. I was way to busy, did