Handbook|Chap.3

Chapter 3


THE EDUCATIONAL AND PASTORAL COMMUNITY


The fundamental requirement for carrying out the Salesian Youth Apostolate is the community. A community which involves young people and adults, parents and educators, in a family atmosphere … that can become a living experience of Church and a revelation of God’s plan (Const. 47).


The SEPP requires the convergence of the intentions and convictions of all those who are involved in preparing it and carrying it out.


This community – simultaneously the agent , the recipient and the locus of our educational and pastoral work – is called the “Educative and Pastoral Community” (EPC).


In this chapter we will discuss this community’s identity, the dynamics of its growth and the channels through which one can direct and foster its growth.



1. THE IDENTITY OF THE EPC


1.1 Foundations


From the very beginnings of the Oratory, a family-like community began to gather around Don Bosco. Young people were an active part of this community. They lived in a youthful atmosphere impregnated with the values of the Preventive System, with very distinct spiritual and pastoral characteristics, with clear goals and with all roles conceived in the light of serving young people.


This community gave birth to the Salesian Congregation and Family. According to Don Bosco, Salesians with their community life are centers of communion and sharing for other educators who make their contribution to the project and who spread the charism (Cf. CG24, 71-72, 75).



  • This charismatic reality is something the Church demands; real communion which manifests the gift of Trinitarian communion and is sent out into the world to promote communion as the starting point of God’s Kingdom. This organic communion thrives in the diversity of gifts and services – which it sees as complementary. It is lived in mutual reciprocity and in service of the same mission (Cf. CG24, 61-67);

  • This charismatic reality is a decisive factor in evangelization; this is the task of the whole people of God who through their community witness and service carry out the first proclamation of the Gospel; this is a community in which everyone – especially lay people – are active participants, protagonists in the evangelization of individuals and cultures (Cf. ChFL, 55-56; CG24, 96);

  • This charismatic reality is a necessary pre-condition of our educational work, based on the unity and unique nature of the subject, that is, the young person we are educating. This pre-condition exists in an extraordinarily complex world, in a culture of sharing and active participation; to educate is a social fact, it is the result of a convergence of people, work and preparation in a program shared and carried out with mutual responsibility (Cf. Const. 34; CG21, 63, 67; CG24, 99);

  • This charismatic reality is a characteristic of the Preventive System and Salesian Spirituality. It requires an intense and open atmosphere characterized by sharing and sincere, friendly and fraternal relations; it brings together educators (individuals and communities) and students in a single, dynamic experience; it makes the values of Salesian Spirituality the source of its communion and participation in the mission (Cf. CG21, 96, 102; CG24, 91-93). Since the EPC is not just the subject but also the object of our Youth Apostolate, all its members must be committed to constant formation.



1.2 The Salesian Way of Being Present Among Young People


The EPC is the Salesian way of animating every possible educational situation and of carrying out Don Bosco’s mission. It is not some new structure to be superimposed on those organs of administration and work that already exist in our various fields of apostolic endeavor. We see the EPC in everyone of our activities as a community of persons dedicated to educating young people, that can become for them an experience of Church that will pre-dispose them for an encounter with Jesus Christ.


The EPC is a community; it involves young people and adults, parents and educators, in a family atmosphere so that it can become a living experience of Church (Cf. Const. 47). it is not just a work organization or a technique for sharing work; the fundamental unifying factor is not work or efficiency – rather it is the combination of those vital values (educational, spiritual, Salesian …) which create a shared, heart-felt identity.


The EPC is educational; the heart of all its projects, reports and organization is a concern for the all-round welfare of young people, that they should realize their potential in every possible way: physical, psychological, cultural, professional, social and transcendent.


The EPC is pastoral; it prepares the ground for evangelization, it assists young people in their encounter with Christ; it provides an experience of Church where young people can perceive the values of human and Christian communion with God and with others (Cf. CG24, 156).



1.3 Many people involved in the Salesian Pastoral Educational Program


All those in any way involved in carrying out the Salesian mission in a particular field constitute the EPC. This includes:

the Salesian Community: a guarantee of Salesian identity and a center of communion and participation;

young people: the fundamental point of reference for the community’s work; the community not only works among and for them – but with and through them;

parents: those principally and primarily responsible for education; the family must be seen as the fundamental and primary locus of education and evangelization;

lay people: who in various capacities (responsible, collaborators) work in the Salesian apostolate – especially members of the Salesian Family.


All these people on different levels collaborate in drawing up the SEPP – the point at which all our work comes together. They are our co-workers in the educational process described in the SEPP. They enrich and inspire each other and share in the common formation process (Cf. CG24, 157).


The EPC, thus defined, works together and is open to:

all who work for the welfare and formation of young people in a given area,

former students who still feel a strong attachment to us,

young people and adults in the area to whom we offer education.


1.4 Experience of communion and sharing the spirit and mission of Don Bosco


The Salesian presence becomes a genuine experience of communion and place for evangelization in which the SEPP serves to create a harmonious synthesis of the Gospel and culture, of faith and life (CG24, 96) when these four objectives are kept in mind:


  • involve everyone’s efforts in the animation of the process of education; encourage the specific contributions of the different vocations; make certain that all share a common direction in line with the educational and pastoral program.

  • create an educational environment marked by communication and personal relationships among teachers and students that allows all to experience the educational and evangelical values of the Salesian program in a significant and positive fashion.

  • promote an experience of Christian life that reflects the Salesian style and encourages openness to God, the proclamation of the Gospel and progress in faith education.

  • collaborate in the promotion and evangelization of a society and culture through an educational and ecclesial presence of high quality in a given territory.


1.5 The Local Church and the Local Area


1.5.1 The Educative-Pastoral Community as a Meaningful Experience of Church (Cf. Const. 47) should:


  • integrate itself into the ministry of the local church


The EPC should make the Salesian Educative-Pastoral Plan (SEPP) a part of the diocesan or regional pastoral plan.

It should coordinate its efforts with all the other Christian bodies working for the education of young people (religious congregations, Christian Teacher movements, etc.).

It should express, as a community, allegiance to the local Church through actions appropriate for the level of faith the EPC has reached.


  • the EPC should make a specific contribution to the local ecclesial community


by taking an active part in the work of parish or regional pastoral councils;

by offering professional service as teachers of the young;

by contributing proposals and projects to serve the educational and pastoral mission of the local church.


1.5.2 As a meaningful presence in a given territory


  • The EPC should serve as a point of contact


The community ought to involve all the social forces in the area or local Church in its educative ministry. The EPC should strive to integrate itself into local society and the Christian community in which it is operating. It should engage in dialogue and a mutually beneficial encounter with local groups. It should take an active part in promoting the human and Christian welfare of young people by working closely with all those bodies that share this goal (Cf. CG21 17,132; CG23, 229-230; CG24, 115).


To achieve these goals, the EPC must


become a center of hospitality and encounter for the greatest possible number of people (young people, lay co-workers, parents, members of the Salesian Family, all those who work for human and religious welfare in the area). The whole family should be involved in this process. The EPC should be especially committed to raising the consciousness of parents, so that they recognize their responsibility as educators vis-à-vis new and emerging paradigms. The EPC should guide and assist their formation and involve them actively in the EPC itself.


  • The EPC should become a source and agent of transformation for the world around it


Through its members the EPC is present in the life of a territory. There may be calls upon its educational and pastoral expertise to help to solve the problems of young people (Cf. CG24, 235). This situation would lead the EPC to

make a critical evaluation of what is going on in a given area;

take an active role in local cultural and educational projects;

organize civic groups to influence current political policy regarding young people;

make the local area the object of youth group commitment (Cf. CG23, 210-212; CG 24, 53);

create new possibilities for collaboration (volunteer work);

support and encourage committed Christians in the local area.



2. EPC ANIMATION


2.1 The EPC is a growing organism


More than a pre-existing structure or institution, the EPC is a living organism whose life can be measured by the extent to which it grows and develops. For this reason one’s primary concern ought not to be maintaining its organization but rather developing its life. The following elements can be used to measure the vitality of an EPC; they are also indications of how one can stimulate positive growth.


  • The quality of human relations that exist within the EPC


Inter-personal relations within the EPC should go beyond the purely functional – collaboration, responsibility; they should evolve into fraternal relations – respect and interest in each other’s welfare.

Inter-personal relations within the EPC should go beyond mere friendship or meeting of like minds, they should embody the shared, fundamental values of the Salesian mission and way of life.

Inter-personal relations within the EPC should go beyond simple collaboration out of good will; they should establish clearly degrees of responsibility and shared functions.


  • A growing sense of belonging


is apparent from an ever more conscious and clear agreement on the goals and guidelines of the SEPP;

is apparent from the willingness to make a more generous and appropriate contribution to the EPC’s educational and pastoral responsibilities – to the extent that one sees this as a vocation;

is apparent from the improved quality of information and communication both within the EPC and outside of it as well.


  • Developing the educational-pastoral identity in each teacher and throughout the whole community:


sharing everything from our own personal values and particular interests and activities to those central values of the Salesian Educative and Pastoral Plan.


This evolving identity can be seen in:

- commitment to one’s own ongoing formation;

- personal and collective effort to achieve greater professional competence as a teacher and as a Christian;

- commitment to renewing and updating institutions and structures in line with the SEPP;

- an effort to be present to young people, and to create harmony and dialogue.



2.2 The central importance of animation in the EPC


Clearly the EPC’s fundamental task is animation: one must strive to create a genuine family in which young people and adults, parents and teachers, professionals and volunteers, all share the same educational and pastoral program. Each one makes that contribution which he alone can make; each one enjoys the mutual assistance of the others in their growth as people and as Christians. They become for each other a genuine experience of Church (Cf. Const. 47).


Everyone is involved in this process of animation. Through his behavior or relationships with others everyone either promotes or harms this process of animation. It is impossible to be neutral. Everything that happens in daily life either advances, retards or blocks the EPC’s growth and development.


2.3 Important aspects of EPC animation


Animating and fostering the life of the EPC involves a variety of tasks which ought to be prioritized.


Certain tasks concern the external and operational aspects of the EPC:


  • Promoting EPC organization and coordinating the various teams that carry out its work and make it effective. This involves


good communications, inter-personal relations, information, dialogue;

drawing up, carrying out and verifying the SEPP together;

seeing that the various structures, teams and channels of participation are working effectively and in conformity with the SEPP;

respect for roles and responsibilities that conform to the principles of social justice.


Other tasks regard education:


  • Paying particular attention to the educational quality of our goals, contributions and undertakings


directing all our plans and projects in line with the SEPP with special attention to education among the very poor;

developing an educational methodology that represents reflection-action; placing the SEPP in its cultural, social and ecclesial milieu.


Other tasks are primarily concerned with Salesian identity:


  • Pursuing high quality educational, spiritual, Christian and Salesian formation on all levels:


by encouraging and organizing a systematic process of ongoing formation;

by assisting people in their educational and Christian growth and in fostering their vocations;

by promoting the experience of Salesian Youth Spirituality.


  • Assuring Salesian originality


by establishing an approachable, friendly and significant presence of devoted Christians and Salesians as examples for young people;

by creating a high quality educational and Christian atmosphere with specific programs for the more motivated;

by providing clear and appropriate vocational possibilities.



2.4 Specific Service of Animation: the Animation Nucleus


All the members of the EPC, Salesians (SDB) as well as lay people, take an active part in animation, but some have very specific responsibilities: encouraging everyone to contribute; involving the largest number of EPC members possible in responsible participation in all its animation projects; paying special attention to the quality and coordination of animation; following closely animation in its more important stages – those related to Salesian identity, and quality of education and evangelization. The people with these special responsibilities make up the “Animation Nucleus” – the inner cabinet of the EPC.


In his letter Esperti, testimoni e artefici di comunione, the Rector Major defines the animation nucleus this way: “It is the group of persons identified with the Salesian mission, educational system and spirituality who in solidarity take on the responsibility of bringing together, motivating and involving all those who are interested in a given project; with these interested people they will create an educational community to carry out a program of evangelization and education for young people” (ACG 363, 8-9).

2.5 The Contributions of Salesian Religious and Lay People to EPC Animation


2.5.1 The SDB Community


The SDB community, as a religious community that lives, preserves, studies and constantly develops the charism of Don Bosco, has a specific task in animating the EPC. The Rector Major’s letter cited above goes on to say: “The reference point for this group is the salesian community … its spiritual heritage, its educational method, its brotherly relationships, and co-responsibility for the mission, provide in each case the guiding model for the pastoral identity of the animating nucleus’” (ACG 363, 9). The Salesian community has been called:

  • to give witness to religious life, by showing the primacy of God in one’s life along with total dedication to the mission of education and evangelization;

  • to guarantee the identity of the Salesian charism;

  • to be a center of encounter and sharing where lay people are invited to participate in the spirit and mission of Don Bosco;

  • to be primarily responsible for spiritual, Salesian and vocational formation (Cf. CG24, 159).


To take on this responsibility for animation, the Salesian community must re-think its position and function as a religious community in the EPC and in the educational and pastoral process. In the past the Salesian community assumed almost exclusive responsibility for the work and environment of education – helped by lay people when necessary. Today we must ask lay people to share this responsibility and to perform their specific tasks in the EPC.


2.5.2 Responsible Lay People


Conscious of its specific responsibilities, the SDB community invites lay people to join the EPC and share responsibility for its animation.


Lay people make a specific contribution to the EPC and to its educational mission. They provide concrete examples of secular lives lived in families, in professions, in particular social and political milieux. They contribute their own particular professional, educational and pastoral expertise, their own way of living out the religious dimension of life and the Christian vocation in the world.


The reciprocal contributions of SDB religious and lay people provide the EPC with an educational presence; they constitute a genuine experience of Church – a witness and a meaningful example for young people. Consequently it is important that each of us develop his maximum potential in everything we do.



3. STRUCTURES AND MODELS OF ANIMATION FOR THE EPC


3.1 A Shared Operational Model


“The type we are dealing with here, which ought to lead to the implementation of provincial plans for relocation and redimensioning, is one in which the salesian community is present in sufficient numbers and in quality to animate, together with some lay people, an educative community and project” (ACG 363,9). The effective role Salesians play in this model will depend on their number and function.


It is up to the provincial and his council to determine which precise model of the EPC should be implemented (CG24, 169).


The following are some of the essential elements of animation.


3.1.1 The Salesian Community

must be conscious of this new operational model and accept its own specific responsibility as the animation nucleus of the EPC.


This presupposes a re-thinking of the place and function of a religious community within the EPC and the educational and pastoral process.


Awareness of this new situation gives rise to specific, important attitudes and behavior. e.g.


  • each member must be a joyful example of religious and community life within the educational and pastoral mission;

  • each and every member must be committed to living the fundamental values of the Salesian identity: to be a close and meaningful presence among the young; to be open to personal contact; to implement fully the SEPP in every single activity. All Salesians must share a collective vision to promote solidarity and collaboration in every facet of their mission;

  • each member must work loyally with all the many participatory institutions already in existence;

  • each member must actively participate in the formation processes already going on in the EPC;

  • each member must be concerned with developing Salesian vocations among the young and among our co-workers.


It would be appropriate at this point to recall what the Rector Major wrote: animation “ raises questions, gives motives for hope, brings people together, prompts collaboration, and gives rise to an ever more fruitful communion for the realization together of a plan of life and action in line with the Gospel” (ACG 363, 22).


3.1.2 The SDB Director Has Primary Responsibility for the EPC


He animates the animators and is at the service of the over-all unity of a project;

In dialogue with the provincial and in agreement with the provincial program he protects the charismatic identity of the SEPP;

He promotes the formation and reporting processes;

He carries out provincial directives for bringing together and training lay people; he acts as a liaison between the Salesian community and the EPC (Cf. CG24, 172).


3.1.3 The Community Council

will assist and work with the SDB Director in his role as the person primarily responsible for the EPC.

In determining the necessary links between the Community Council and other bodies taking part in the EPC certain priorities should be borne in mind:

The Community Council should participate as members of the EPC council playing a direct and active role in discussion and decision making;

The Community Council should make decisions in those matters which directly involve Salesian identity, and the training and recruiting of lay people;

The Community Council should promote communication between the communities and the EPC bodies; it should foster easy communication, dialogue and respect for the responsibilities of individual EPC members.


3.1.4 The EPC and/or Project Council

is the organism that animates and coordinates the whole Salesian apostolate through discussion, dialogue, planning and review of educative ministry (Cf. CG24, 160-161; 171).


This council is a coordinating body that guarantees the unity of the Salesian program in the territory where the EPC is operating – or several EPC’s are working together in more complex projects (Cf. CG24, 161). This council does not replace or take precedence over the various EPC bodies by making decisions for them, rather it should help them to:

preserve the integrity of a project;

feel co-responsible for setting up, carrying out and reviewing projects;

be aware of the over-all needs and demands of young people;

encourage cooperation and collaboration – particularly in those services which affect everyone – the formation of teachers, for example.


Members of this council should be aware that the SEPP is the framework for all planning and activity in the various sectors. They should be willing to cooperate and work with all the elements of the Salesian Family in their area; they should have a sense of Church along with a determination to meet common needs and better serve young people and their world.


It is up to the Provincial and his Council to establish guidelines for the make-up of this council, its competence, levels of responsibility and liaison with the Council of the local Salesian community (Cf. CG24, 171).


3.1.5 Other Organisms and Functions of Animation and Government in the EPC


For all to participate and share in responsibility the EPC is made up of various bodies concerned with animation and administration; it is through these bodies that participation is possible.


Certain factors must be present in our description of the various roles Salesians and lay people will play in the EPC.

The roles and functions of everyone involved in the EPC must be complementary.

Everyone must have the SEPP as their frame of reference; they should share its anthropological and religious assumptions, its educational perspective and interpretation of events, its way of being present to young people, its goals and the methods and strategies it will use to reach these goals;

Everyone must grow as Salesian educators (human maturity, teaching competence, Salesian identity, Christian witness). This growth will be achieved through a process of ongoing personal and community formation.

Everyone must be actively present to young people; they should share their milieu, help them to come together as a group, help them to grow as human beings and as Christians, help them to be open to the educational, cultural and ecclesial world in which they live.


In accord with the Provincial and his council, areas of lay responsibility should be defined: what decisions they can make, what their relationship with other bodies should be, and what responsibilities they will share with the local Salesian community and the Province (CG24, 125 and 169).

3.2 Other Models of EPC Animation in Salesian Projects


- Salesian projects in which the community’s presence is very much reduced and the principal responsibilities have been entrusted to lay people.


With the help of the Province


  • the Salesian community should continue to act as the Director of the EPC as a guarantee of Salesian identity and cooperation with the Province;

  • the Salesian community should involve Salesians above all in ministry and in the formation and guidance of teachers;

  • the Salesian community should strive to bring together and train lay co-workers according to the norms found in CG24, 164 and involving as many members of the Salesian Family as possible.


- Projects administered by lay people within the Salesian Provincial Plan


As long as an activity or project can be considered a part of the Provincial Plan it should display the criteria of identity, cooperation and significance proper to a Salesian work and should be carried out under the responsibility of the Provincial and his Council (CG24, 180).


Since it is responsible for the animation of these projects and their EPC:


  • the province should assist in both animation and administration just as it does in those EPC’s where the Salesian community is present: provincial visitation, review of local programs, liaison between the lay director of a project and the Provincial, periodic participation of a representative of the Provincial in the EPC council;

  • the province should promote the constitution of the EPC Council;

  • together with the laity the province should devise a serious program of formation in Salesian identity;

the province should establish a stable link between this project and a nearby Salesian community – or the provincial center of animation; this is especially important for matters