Tres Dias Secretariat Meeting
Athens, Texas - Hosted by Trinity Valley
Saturday, March 15,
2008
[Index of Minutes | Tres Dias Home Page]
10:10 A.M. – Call to Order
The 98th meeting of the Tres Dias Secretariat opened with prayer by Charles Allen. President Bruce Cato called the meeting to order in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
October Minutes - The minutes were read and several discrepancies were addressed and the minutes were amended. A Motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes as amended.
Motion passed.
Absent: Pam Belknap, Theresa Dau, Paul Markowitz, Faye Gilbreath, Harry Davis, Paul Dau, Carolyn Davis, Jeanne Norwood, Robert Myers, Paula Boyd, and Bill Boyd.
10:40 A.M. - Financial Report – Don VanLandingham presenting:
Don stated that the treasury was significantly behind in the receipt of community dues. He gave a verbal review of the report and then he opened the floor to questions.
A Motion was made and a seconded to accept the financial report. Motion passed.
Additional discussion:
Wilson Burton asked if the $7500 challenge from Share the Blessing Fund was going to be discussed. Bruce Cato advised that he would not entertain any discussion about the challenge because it was too divisive last year. Wilson Burton announced that 8 scholarships from the challenge last year, in the amount of $500.00 each, is still available to members of the secretariat and committee members who want to serve a foreign Tres Dias weekend. The scholarships must be used this year and are only available for applicable communities.
Community Reports - Paul Weis presenting:
Out of the 47 USA communities 25 have paid. Two new communities are exempt from paying. Eight communities are emerging in the USA. The Membership Committee will contact the late paying communities in an effort to bring all dues up to date.
A request was made from the Secretary to extend the final Community Highlights report by two weeks. There was a significant lack of reports from the communities. Extending the time frame may gain a larger community response.
The secretariat was informed of some struggles that four communities were having. After a review and discussion those matters were turned over to the Membership Committee.
President Bruce Cato reminds the Secretariat members to encourage local communities to have open reunion groups. Open reunion groups help to eliminate the rumors of secrecy and the attitude of elitism and encourage those who have not made a weekend to become a candidate.
Bruce calls for other community concerns. Jim Bailey expressed his concern for the lack of nominees for upcoming elections. There should be a minimum of two nominees’ per office and each vacating office is barely obtaining one.
Discussion came forth about the possibility of a member’s page on the Internet. It was stated that there is an obvious breakdown in communications and we should consider restructuring how we communicate with communities. Wilson Burton suggested letting each committee discuss the issue of communications and try to come up with a better method.
11:10 A.M. – Recess for break
11:20 A.M. - Meeting called back order
Bruce opens the floor to the Trinity Valley Host Community and thanks them for their generous hospitality. No questions or requests were received from the floor.
Old Business: Policy Committee - Jeff Mehl presenting:
Jeff restated the position of the Policy Committee on the issue of using the Edelweiss tune to sing the meal blessing on weekends. The CCLI license does not cover the use of the tune without the original words. Communities are informed that they are in violation of the owner’s copyright and are encouraged to develop a new tune.
Additional discussion: Bruce Cato reminded everyone that TDI does not advocate nor endorse any tune for meal blessings. It is a community issue.
Membership Committee - Chairman Paul Weis presenting:
Paul emphasized the importance of maintaining the Essentials of the weekend. The Tres Dias Essentials were drafted in 1979 and adopted in 1980. Essentials were adopted to keep order by design and to give every community a common basis to work from. It was noted that different communities practice different traditions. However, different traditions should not be threatening as long as the Essentials of the weekend are maintained.
Additional discussion: Jeff Mehl recommended involvement in weekends other than your local weekend as a Guest Pescadore. This can be achieved through the Observer Program. He gave an example of his personal experience of observing a weekend in the South. The comparison to his Northern locale and the Southern weekend displayed some differences in tradition. However, he stated that the Essentials were maintained and the work of the Holy Spirit remained evident.
Bruce Cato also commented about his experience in observing a Mid-Hudson weekend. His experience was nurturing and positive and it helped him to bridge a previous gap in understanding the differences in the Northern model. He went on to say that he had also served on a Spanish Speaking weekend in North Georgia and experienced a whole different environment. Given the number of Hispanic people in South Texas he encouraged South Texas to consider birthing a Spanish Speaking weekend.
July Assembly - Beau Bruce, of Tres Dias North Georgia:
Beau addressed our group with a heart felt welcome to all who can attend the upcoming Tres Dias Assembly.
The scheduled dates are July 11- 13, 2008 at the Restoration Church of God in Roswell, Georgia. The registration fee is fifty dollars. ($50.00)
Tres Dias of North Georgia is approaching this assembly as though it were a weekend. The theme for the Assembly is, “Eyes Wide Open”. Their team is working on the Weekend Visual.
The scripture verse is Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,”
Tres Dias North Georgia will also be celebrating their 25th anniversary.
12:00 P.M. – Recess for lunch
Ken and Marcy Oliver, our Saturday Host couple, addressed the attendee’s with a gracious welcome and invited everyone to the dining hall for lunch.
Committee meetings convened following lunch.
4:00 P.M. – The Secretariat was called to an informal session to discuss the new method of calculating assessments and delegates of communities based on the number of candidates instead of active Pescadores.
5:00 P.M. – The informal session was ended and the meeting was called to order.
2008-2009 Budget Report: Treasurer Don VanLandingham presenting for the Executive Committee:
The budget for next year will be $22,000. This is $3000 more than last year and reflects the increase cost of travel to support International communities. To fully fund this increase, the assessment would have to be increased to $71.00.
Discussion: Julie Bohl expressed concern over such a large increase.
Don suggested that we could maintain the $54 assessment and cover the deficit with monies from the Reserve Fund.
Adele Smith suggested that the $71.00 could be dropped to $60.00 and then the remaining deficit could be covered with reserve funds.
Bruce suggested that the president’s budget could be cut by $500.00 and John McKinney volunteered a $400.00 cut in the budget for the Secretariat Executive. These suggestions were not accepted.
Motion - The Executive Committee moves that the assessment amount of $60.00 per unit and budget of $22,000 be sent to the communities for approval by proxy vote.
The vote was called for by a show of hands and carried with a majority rule of 13 votes in favor out of the 17 Members present.
Policy Committee – Jeff Mehl presenting:
The Policy Committee is working on a guideline for the Observer Program. This document is not a policy. It is to be viewed and treated as a guideline. The Policy Committee further proposes that all communities be given this guideline to follow when sending and receiving Guest Pescadores on a weekend. The Committee further recommends that Guest Pescadores from the Observer Program go through the local secretariat rather than the Rector for their team placement. The Guest Pescadore is considered a team member and should be placed in a flexible team position that would allow them to observe the flow of the weekend. The Guest Pescadore is not to critique the weekend. If possible, the Committee recommends the Guest Pescadore attend one team meeting. Financial considerations are presently open in this matter.
The Policy and Procedures database is scheduled for completion by the month of July. Robert and Marcy Myers will need to gather some information from Membership in order to complete it.
General Discussion: It was brought to the Membership’s attention that a tool should be available to publish the needs of the various communities. How can other communities be better informed of the needs of an individual community?
Bruce Cato highly recommended outreach to struggling communities. He says that the new candidate- based assessment program may be helpful to indicate the health of a community by allowing us to track the changes in sponsorship.
Mike Holmes proposes that Secretariat officers be elected for 3-year terms as opposed to two. Julie Bohl gave a personal example from her experience in a 3-year term. She agreed with the recommendation. Beau Bruce recommends 3-year term for officers and a training time for others who will take the vacated positions. Valerie Mehl recommends mentoring a person into the job when a change of offices is going to be made. Jim Bailey likes the 3-year term principle as it only replaces 1/3 of the officers each year and keeps 2/3 experienced people in place to help mentor the new people as they rotate in. Adele Smith asks, “How do we implement the recommendations?” Bruce Cato asks that no motion be made at this time until everyone has had a chance to pray about the issue and sleep on it. No further action was taken.
5:52 P.M. – The meeting was recessed for the day
6:00 P.M. - Dinner
8:40 A.M. - The meeting was reconvened and the Host couple, Karen and Mike Dubberly, extended a welcome greeting to the Secretariat.
The Meeting opened with prayer.
8:45 A.M. - The meeting was called to order
Administration Committee – VP Jim Bailey presenting:
Jim stated that the Administration Committee reviewed the budget for the Assembly and everything was in order. He gave a reminder that the registration for July’s Assembly will be posted on the web. He encouraged early sign up. Jim further stated that we currently have one officer nominee for each of the upcoming Secretariat positions.
An announcement was made that the October 2008 meeting will be held in New Hampshire or in Maine. The March 2010 meeting slot is still in need of a host community. The committee does have a potential sponsor.
Motion - The Administration Committee moves that Harriet Holmes be accepted as a voting member. Bruce Cato accepted the motion and asked for the Secretariat’s approval.
The motion was carried by majority in a show of hands. None opposed.
Services Committee - Eric Borman Presenting:
Eric spoke about the forth coming Team Manual CD. This will give access to the training manual information in CD format. We discussed what was going to be included on the face of the CD: Announcement of use, Essentials, talks, web page address www.tresdias.org, the Tres Dias cross, and a jewel case will be included.
The committee plan is to label the front of the CD with the purpose and also the CD cost. There was some discussion on expected cost.
Ned Heffington is currently working on the community database that the Services Committee will make available to new communities. It was decided that the database will be built using Access. Ned has set a deadline for completion by the July Assembly.
There has been an increase in cost on the following items:
Cross – was $3.00 increased to $4.50 Chief Aux Guide – was 10.00 increased to $12.50 Living the fourth day manual had already been increased.
Rosann Miloscia and Don Bohl have established the flow chart of responsibilities and deadlines for the next two newsletters.
Membership Committee - Paul Weis presenting:
The figures for the non-paying communities were presented again and the numbers of the chartered, emerging and new communities were also reviewed.
The committee has gone over budget due to travel expense to Korea.
The Membership Committee is planning to create follow-up forms to give to those who complete the Essentials training. This will help track the number in attendance and confirm that the training was done.
A sub-committee has been established in Korea to certify and train other Korean communities in the Essentials.
The Membership Committee also discussed the possibility of 3-year term for Officers.
The document and materials list for the “New Community Support Packet” is complete and will be forwarded to the Services Committee.
Executive Committee - Julie Bohl presenting:
Motion - The Executive Committee moves that the Secretariat recommend to the Assembly for proxy vote, a request for approval to create a Tres Dias Endowment Fund as voted on in the October meeting.
The Previous Passed Motion from the October meeting is as follows: "The Executive committee moves that a Tres Dias, Inc. Endowment Fund be created by moving $25,000.00 from the current Certificates of Deposit. Earnings from said fund will be transferred to the general fund. The use of the earnings shall be designated annually by the secretariat."
The motion was carried to send the previous passed motion to proxy.
Additional discussion: Treasurer Don VanLandingham submits a request from A. Ben Seal to spend $25,000 to re-stock Tres Dias supplies. There was discussion on Ben Seal request relative to the decision of the Services Committee to publish materials in CD format. The Services Committee will convey to Ben that the funds are not available for a full reorder of supplies.
John Green requested that we back up and read the last motion made by the Executive Committee. The motion was reread. Clarity on the motion was given. No additional action was taken.
Valerie Mehl questioned the affect of the motion upon the budget and was reassured that the calculations had been made and there was limited negative effect.
Bruce reviewed Bill Boyd’s recommendation of this new fund and why the earnings would be transferred to the general fund for distribution by the Secretariat. The intent is to direct the earnings into the Tres Dias Fund to assist communities in need but in case of emergency, the Secretariat could direct those funds to another account.
A 10 minute recess is called to take time to clarify the wording of the second motion from Executive Committee.
Motion - The Executive Committee moves that the modified method of determining the number of delegates and assessments presented to the Secretariat on 3/15/2008, be sent to the communities for consideration by proxy.
The Vote was taken by a show of hands and the Vote passed unanimously.
Administration Committee – VP Jim Bailey presenting: Jim requests time for an additional motion.
Motion - The Administration Committee moves that the current slate of nominees be approved and that the deadline for nominations be extended and that any additional nominees be approved by email.
The motion carried by a show of hands. One opposed.
New business and general discussion: John Green asked, “Is there a rule against the solicitation of funds in Tres Dias?”
Bruce Cato explained that the rule is as follows. Inter-Community solicitation of funds is permitted only when the solicitation request is approved by the Tres Dias Fund Committee. Julie Bohl states that an alternative would be to go through the Tres Dias Fund and designate the money for the purpose that it is intended for. Intra-Community solicitation of funds (that is raising money within a Community) is a Community issue. No motion is made.
Eric Borman asked if a decision was made in regards to the NCF fund. Bruce states that Tres Dias Fund Committee has full authority over methods of distribution. He continues with a review of the NCF funds and the changes that have been made in it. NCF does not charge for their services. All non-USA grants go through Givers Trust. There is a processing charge according to grant size and the country. In the past, the minimum amount of a grant to be processed was $5,000.00 – that amount has now increased to a $15,000.00 minimum. As a result of these changes in their procedures, NCF is not a viable group to assist Tres Dias in the distribution of monies to international communities. NCF may still be of value in the area of fund raising. The Tres Dias Fund Committee will determine how funds are distributed. The expectation is that this committee will come up with decisions that satisfy the Secretariat since they serve at the discretion of the President with Secretariat approval. No motion is made.
Douglas Pitt expresses concern about the heart of our leadership having too much emphasis on money and not enough focus on people. “We need to be committed to take the gospel to the mission field.” Harriet Holmes responds with a reassuring word of encouragement that the focus of International Tres Dias is on people. However, she notes that there is also a mandate to use money wisely when propagating Tres Dias throughout the world. Julie Bohl gives an invitation for prayer and Doug Pitt graciously accepts when Bruce asks him to lead the group in prayer.
Secretariat takes time for Prayer.
Meeting resumes. No motion is made.
Some general discussion followed and no motions are made.
Bruce extends a warm thanks to Trinity Valley Host Team and gives special thanks to Richard Thornhill for organizing the event.
A Motion to adjourn is made and seconded.
Motion passed.
10:00 A.M. - Meeting adjourned
Respectfully Submitted by,
Judith Herren Judith Herren – Secretary TDI
Committee Minutes
Executive Committee Minutes Athens, Texas - March 15th, 2008
The meeting opened with prayer.
Roll Call: Present at Roll Call were: Bruce Cato, Don Vanlandingham, Julie Bohl, Judith Herren, John McKinney – Secretariat Executive, and Doug Pitt- Observer.
Absent: Pam Belknap, Darla Meyers, and Theresa Dau.
Don Vanlandingham states that the term “fiscal year” shall equal 12 months.
Candidates that are accessed at a possible $3.00 per head shall be determined per each community’s fiscal year.
Treasury Report on budget: Don Vanlandingham presenting.
Of the $1000.00 allocated, nearly $600.00 was spent.
Expenditure breakdown is as follows:
Bank Service charge $ 160.00
Insurance Bond 170.00
General office 175.00
Postage 41.00
Printing 49.00
Total $595.00
Review
The Executive Committee also reviewed a budget cut from $1500.00 to $1000.00 John McKinney offered a $400.00 budget cut for Secretariat Executive as well.
The Executive committee utilized the balance of their remaining time reviewing the wording of the votes that are to be carried to the Communities for proxy.
Services Committee Minutes Athens, Texas - March 15, 2008
a. 4/25 articles, draft 5/19, pub 6/1
b. 8/22 articles draft 9/5 pub 10/1
c. Don Bohl discussed the flow chart of articles of article production with Rosann. They discussed content for article inclusion. IE: Emerging communities, observers. Bruce’s letter, advice column. Rosann will publish the flowchart and distribute the list of articles by Tuesday night for the next newsletter.
Administration Committee Minutes
Athens, Texas - March 15, 2008
The meeting was opened in prayer by Cathy Allen at 1:11 pm.
Attendance taken as follows: Members Present: Cathy Allen, Jim Bailey, Beau Bruce, Harriet Holmes, Charles Ligon, Jill Routzon, and Valerie Mehl
Absent: Jeanne Norwood, Paula Boyd, Steven Decillis, and Pat Maynard.
Introductions were done around the table.
Officers in place as follows: Recording Sec: Linda Cappelletti Linda.a.cappelletti@delta.com Registrar: Elizabeth Lauster justoneliz@charter.net Treasurer: Angie Bruce asbruce@bellsouth.net Financial Sec: Andrea Grayson andreagrayson@westminster.net Banners Committee: Patty Jo Bach Parliamentarian: Jim asked Beau to find one for the Assembly since Bill Boyd will not be there.
Bruce Cato wants Jim to have time and place to meet on Friday before the Assembly with Secretariat members for an informal meeting.
Budget as follows:
Administration $ 1,000.00 Food 3,500.00 Facilities 1,000.00 Palanca/Decorations 2,500.00 Transportation 500.00 Banners/Stands 200.00 Misc. Materials/Supplies 835.00 Event Insurance 365.00 Music 50.00 Housing 50.00
Based on 200 attendees at $50.00/person
Jill Routzon made a motion to approve this budget. Cathy Allen seconded the motion. Budget approved.
Registration forms will be sent to John McKinney to put on the Tres Dias website and to Judith Herren to email to communities and Secretariat members.
Administration Committee Budget: Banners: $ 1,000.00 Travel: 800.00 Secretariat meeting hosts: 1,000.00 Copy/Supplies: 200.00
Total: $3000.00
Budget approved by the committee. The budget was submitted to Don Van Landingham, treasurer for Executive Committee.
Nominations in hand:
Paul Weis /Abundant Life President
Julie Bohl/Fairfield City VP of Executive
Richard Thornhill/Trinity Valley VP of Membership
Linda VanLandingham/Georgia Mtns Financial Secretary
Members: J, Harold Thurmond / N. Florida
Virginia Jill Routzon /N. Texas
John Green/ TD of Germany
Steven Decillis/ Long Island
Harry Davis/ Southeast Tennessee
Linda Van Landingham/ Georgia Mountains
George Treutle / Mid Hudson
Possibilities to contact: Merv & Judy LeMasurier/Central Ct Pat Maynard/Vermont Pat & Ken Kessler/N. Virginia
Beau – N. Georgia to finalize his form
Pam Belknap /Cleveland
Wilson Burton/Music City when does he need a year off?
Cathy Allen/ Trinity Valley
We discussed how to get more people from different communities involved. We also talked about the financial burden involved in coming to meetings. Let’s think about this over the next year to see how we can help people to come to meetings.
Future Meetings: 2008 July 11-13th Assembly, North Georgia
Oct 24-26th Portland, Me
Uncertain but New Hampshire can fill in if necessary
2009 March 13-15TH Music City, Nashville, TN
July 10-12 Cleveland, Oh
Oct. 23-25th New Hampshire
2010 March – open
July – N. Virginia - not confirmed
Oct – Long Island
2011
Open
Harriet Holmes requested voting status. Jim Bailey will submit her name to Secretariat.
Harriet Homes will still be our advocate. As our advocate, she spoke to Janet Biggars and she did not desire to appeal the decision.
Jill Routzon closed the meeting in prayer.
Jim Bailey adjourned the meeting at 2:43 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Valerie Mehl
Acting Secretary
Email addresses: Jim goodnews021@embarqmail.com Cathy a.charles.allen@gmail.com Charles charles@nett-works.net Jill jillroutzon@hotmail.com Valerie Valerie@vmehl.com
Membership Committee Minutes Athens, Texas March 15, 2008
Present: Paul Weis, John and Joan Green, Mike Holmes, Jane Henderson, Adele Smith, Richard Thornhill, Suzanne Heffington, Linda VanLandingham, Chuck Allen, Sheryl Allen, Judy Ligon
Observers: Dieter Korner, Marvin Wrinkle, Victoria Dryden, Sherry Tharp, Mike Mackenzie, Ken Oliver.
Absent: Carolyn Davis, Faye Gilbreath, Terry Gilbreath, Lorraine Hufnagel, Doug Jenkins, Barbara Truetle, George Truetle
Meeting opened in prayer by Chuck Allen.
The minutes were reviewed from the last meeting. One mistake was noted and reported to the TDI Secretary. Mike Holmes moved that the minutes be accepted as corrected. Richard Thornhill seconded the motion. The motion carried.
New Business:
There are 47 chartered communities in the U.S. At this time, 25 have paid their dues as of 3/5/08; two do not owe (Rocky Mt. West and Western Kentucky) as they are new communities. There are eight Emerging communities in the United States: Carolina Seaside, Central Savanna River, Foot Hills of GA, Greater Orlando FL, Minnesota, Sabine Creek (TX), South GA, Central TX, and Albany NY.
We are still following up with Grace Korean Speaking and NY Korean Speaking, who have indicated that they desire to be chartered communities in the United States, along with the International communities of: Taiwan, Japan (both English speaking) and Korean Speaking, Canada.
There are 15 Chartered International communities.
Emerging Communities: Vancouver Island, BC; Ottawa, Canada; Peru; Costa Rica; Ireland; Havana, Cuba; Lima Peru; Montego Bay; St. Petersburg, Russia; Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Inquiries about Tres Dias: Portland, OR; Idaho; Washington State; Las Vegas, NV, the Philippines
The budget for the membership committee: $9,000 total, with $3,000 of that indicated for International travel.
Essentials Training will have a follow up form in the future, to verify that the training was done, how many attended, issue or concerns, etc. Paul Weis will create this form prior to the July meeting.
John Green made a motion to allow the certified trainers in the Korea region sub-committee to train trainers in Korea. Jane Henderson seconded. Motion passed.
Membership discussed the concept of changing the term of office for International Secretariat officers, based on the concept that it takes nearly a year to get up to speed.
Old Business:
We now have a “New Community Support Packet” for the purpose of supporting emerging communities toward chartering. This New Community Support Packet includes:
13. Inventory
This will include information for the sponsoring communities:
4. Support the community for 2-4 years.
Terry Gilbreath has been asked to download the sample by-laws from the tresdias.org website and add the paragraph (section 6 of the existing TDI by-laws) referring to Christian lifestyle, and then send the updated document to John McKinney to be posted online. This still has not been done. Paul Weis will follow up.
2:40 p.m. Adele Smith motioned that we adjourn. Jane Henderson seconded the motion.
Policy Committee Minutes
Athens, Texas - March 15, 2008
A meeting of the Policy Committee was called to order by Chairman Jeff Mehl with prayer by Wilson Burton at the ‘Inn on the Hill’ in Athens, TX
ATTENDANCE:
Ř VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:
o A. Charles Allen ()
o Mary Bailey (mbailey@admin.fsu.edu)
o Wilson Burton (huntandfish@comcast.net)
o Denver Henderson (denver49@juno.com)
o Sue Loveland (sueloved40@hotmail.com)
o Jeff Mehl (jeff@jmehl.com)
o
Dave
Routzon (droutzon@sbcglobal.net)
Ř OBSERVERS PRESENT:
o Mike Dubberly (mddubberly@earthlink.net)
Ř ABSENT:
o Paul Dau (pauldau2u@aol.com)
o Harry Davis (hed_vmi@alltel.net)
o Bob Decker (jbdecker2@yahoo.com)
o Marcy Myers (mctd2003@aol.com)
o
Robert
Myers (mctd2003@aol.com)
MINUTES OF THE PRIOR MEETING: The minutes of the October, 2007 meeting in Torrington, CT were read and accepted as written. (Motion by Wilson Burton; seconded by Dave Routzon).
REQUESTS FOR COMMITTEE VOTING STATUS: None
GUIDELINES
FOR OBSERVERS: Dave Routzon reviewed the revised guidelines for guest
observers with the committee. After some minor changes, the attached copy was
approved unanimously. (Motion to accept by A. Charles Allen; second by Denvir
Henderson). A copy of the approved document is attached.
POLICY MANUAL: This was tabled until the July meeting due to the absence of Robert & Marcy Myers who have spearheaded this project.
COMMUNICATIONS: With the above items completing our planned agenda, we had a general discussion regarding communications between the International Secretariat and the local communities. Concerns were raised as to how new protocols, procedures, rules, etc. are relayed to the communities. The document we just completed concerning observer guidelines is an example. Members were concerned that this information would not be adequately disseminated. The feeling of the committee was that the Tres Dias website is the primary source of information for the communities, but sometimes fails to be an effective tool. The following suggestions were made which will be verbally presented to the Secretariat and included in the minutes:
- Consider enhancing the website to provide clear, easy and consistent access to new and existing policies/procedures and other data of interest to the local communities;
- Redesign the website to permit direct links to specific areas of interest to local communities;
- Include these links in the newsletter, emails, etc.;
- The ability to identify those communities, domestic and foreign, who are accepting observers or looking for team members.
The meeting was adjourned and Jeff Mehl thanked the committee for their assistance during his tenure as chairman.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeffrey T. Mehl
Jeffrey T. Mehl
Policy Committee Chair
____________________________________________________________________________________
Guest Pescador
Guidelines
Overview
Tres Dias is experiencing rapid growth as communities sponsor new communities. Many Pescadores are traveling to other communities to assist as guest team members. When people from different communities serve together, the phrase often heard is, “But we do it this way… ” When this happens, we learn to appreciate the diversity within our larger worldwide body of believers, while sharing the same Essentials. International Secretariat believes this is healthy and desirable, and wants to encourage communities in fostering this cross-pollination within this ministry.
There are three ways Guest Pescadores can strengthen other communities:
1) Established Local Communities can allow Pescadores from other communities to serve on their weekends. Since the primary purpose is to experience how other communities run their weekends and to bring back information to their home community, a person from another community may ask or be asked to serve, or a rector, with Secretariat approval, may ask someone from another community to serve. This is healthy.
2) New communities are in need of experienced team members willing to travel to help the new Pescadores gain needed experience to grow a strong new community. Often a sponsoring community will allow individuals from the new community to be candidates or team members on the sponsoring community’s weekends. This exchange of experience helps build well-grounded Pescadores with diverse experience to assist in strengthening new communities. This is desirable.
3) International communities often cannot afford to put on weekends without financial support from sponsoring communities and/or outside team members who pay a substantial team fee to support and encourage the international community. Our hope is for international communities to become strong and self-supporting; however this may be difficult in some foreign economies. Worldwide growth for Tres Dias is healthy, desirable and exciting.
This document is intended as a guideline to communities and not a policy. It is not mandatory. It describes the role of Guest Pescadores in Tres Dias. It can apply in any of the options listed above. However, although there are obvious differences in terms of distance, expense or language, the role of a Guest Pescador on new and international communities closely parallels traditional team implementation.
A Guest Pescador entering a weekend in an established community requires some additional coordination. Typically, weekends within a community initially take on the characteristics of their sponsoring community. Over time, weekend activities other than Essentials begin to take on the unique personality of that community and its members. This is a richness that Tres Dias International wants to encourage, as long as the Essentials and Dynamics are maintained and the Guest Pescador doesn’t interfere with the running of the weekend. Although they are not Essentials, Mananita, Serenade, Forgiveness Ceremony and Agape have all become very special and meaningful to the communities where they are practiced. Sharing in these events, understanding why they have become so special and observing other factors such as how a community works with unusual and varying facilities helps promote understanding and information transfer between communities with widely differing traditions and environments.
To initiate sending a Guest Pescador to another community, the appropriate leadership of the local Secretariat should contact the designated Secretariat contact person of the other community. Often these names are available on a community website. Requests should go through the local Secretariat and not directly to a specific Rector. Communities may choose to establish a local guideline to supplement this document. They may choose to accept all such requests, a specific number per year or deny all requests. This guideline is not intended to place a burden on any community either financially or functionally. No community is under any obligation to implement the Guest Pescador program. Although encouraged, it is a local option.
Guest Pescadores should be active members of a community and sufficiently familiar with their community and with enough weekend experience to make a visit beneficial. Former Rectors, leaders of the local Tres Dias School and officers of the local Secretariat with weekend experience sufficient to qualify as Rectors, would be ideal and would provide maximum gain for both communities. Once an individual has been presented and accepted as a Guest Pescador on a specific host community’s weekend, he or she should be considered as a team member. A word to Guest Pescadores; please remember that you are a guest on the weekend. You are not there to critique a community or its weekend. Your interface is the Rector, or their designee.
It is suggested that the Guest Pescador pay his or her own travel expenses. Their community may choose to supplement this or pay the entire amount at their own discretion, as may the host community. Team fees are generally intended to offset the expense of a team member on a weekend. Payment of these fees should be agreed to by the two communities prior to the weekend. Housing will normally not be a concern. However, these arrangements need to be included in the up-front discussions between communities. Host home(s) are one possible solution. Such arrangements should not be left until after the Guest Pescador arrives.
Communities, Guest Pescadores and Rectors should keep in mind that a Guest Pescador is not there to pry into their weekend or “look over their shoulder”, but is an experienced Pescador and is there to benefit from their weekend and what makes it unique and special to their community.
It is strongly suggested that for maximum information transfer, a Guest Pescador have a flexible role on the weekend allowing them to observe Rollo room activities, view behind the scene activities, participate in team meetings on the weekend, etc. Rarely would a Guest Pescador serve as a Rollista in an established local Community. If they do, the talk would need to be critiqued.
Finally, although in most cases it will be financially prohibitive, the Guest Pescador should try to make one team meeting prior to the weekend. It is, however, important that the Rector introduce the Guest Pescador concept at a team meeting and remind the team at the last meeting that this will be happening, reiterating the purpose, the Guest Pescadores’s name, creating a name badge, etc. The Guest Pescador may wish to send a note to the team in advance, introducing themselves with their background in Tres Dias and perhaps include a personal photo. These help bridge communication and build team unity. A Guest Pescador should above all follow the ideal and model Jesus through loving service.