The Edmund Rice Network
Edmund Rice Christian Brothers Gathering Space
Responding to the synodal invitation of Pope Francis to enlarge our tent.
Chapters of the Christian Brothers gather insights, prayers, and inspirations of Brothers throughout the globe and articulate a plan of action for the next six years. The concluding document from the 2022 Chapter of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America and the Latin American Mission Arear, called Brothers to welcome as companions all those inspired by the Charism of Edmund. Brothers, joined with others touched by the Charism of Edmund, constitute a “we” that come together in a variety of ways.
The engagement takes many forms: university students, teachers, administrators, and other professionals, parents, grandparents, religious, and priests, have experienced the call and respond in ways that make sense in our daily lives on this segment of our faith journeys.
We have struggled with naming the sum of our ways of gathering. Edmund Rice Family, Community, Society, Mission, Movement, and Network have been put forward at different times. Perhaps it is this lack of unanimity on a name that has given fuller scope to the inspiration of the Spirit operating among us.
We present here some of the formats for our engagement and conclude with a video of Br. Kenneth Chapman, CFC, illuminating the Jesus mandate to CAST YOUR NETS ON THE SEA.
ER Communities
- Edmund Rice schools and ministry sites have become the locus of faculty and/or student groups who meet regularly for prayer, community, and service. Each group develops a rhythm that is most appropriate for the members and the surrounding neighborhoods. The diversity and energy of these groups have been a blessing and inspiration for other Edmund Rice gatherings throughout North America.
Benefactors
- In deed and in lessons to his Brothers, Edmund taught generosity: “Give to the poor in handfuls.” The Christian Brothers Foundation supports many of the ministerial and mission initiatives of the Brothers and the Edmund Rice Network. Our financial gifts, essential to sustaining the many good works, make us Partners in Mission. Contributions to the foundation are tax exempt.
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Contact InformationMr. Kevin Brewer kbrewer@cbfoundation.com
ER Mission Groups
- Mission sites established by Christian Brothers have become the destination of students and adults seeking an intensive experience of life and service at the margins of society. Each evening, after a day of work, participants are engaged in gospel reflection on what is happening among us and those we seek to serve. One or two week sessions among the poor often inspire deeper appreciation for the blessings of our own homes and perhaps a desire for a more extended commitment in the future.
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Contact Information
ER College and University Campus Initiatives
- As students inspired by the Charism of Edmund Rice, perhaps through earlier education in an Edmund Rice Network School, participation in the ACTION program, or an ERCB Mission Emersion Experience, we come together on college and university campuses to share our commitment to prayer, community and service. Formally or informally, in large or small groups, we encourage each other in promoting presence, compassion and liberation in the spirit of Blessed Edmund Rice.
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Contact Information
Edmundians
- We are men who devoted some portion of our lives as members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers. Whether we left as postulants, novices, temporary or finally professed, a bond endures. While each individual’s journey is unique, the time spent in the Brotherhood remains a major influence in one’s life. The Edmundian Society is a fellowship whose principal expressions are spiritual vitality, mutual support, and social sharing. Our primary purpose is to better develop our spirituality in the vocation we are now pursuing. The common bond that was once our life has reunited us in collegiality, support and service.
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Contact InformationMr. Robert M. Kman - rk1129@cox.net
Associates
- Women and men with various roles in family, professional, church and community life, we seek to deepen our engagement in the charism, the spirit, and the legacy of Blessed Edmund Rice. We participate in a formation experience leading to a commitment to live the Gospel message through our present calling in life. We make time for prayer, seek opportunities to work for justice, and engage in charitable and educational efforts on behalf of the poor and marginalized. We renew this commitment annually, usually in the context of a retreat.
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Contact InformationBr. P. Sean Moffett, CFC - psmoffettcfc@gmail.com
Vocations to the Congregation of Christian Brothers
- As members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, we are vowed religious, in consecrated brotherhood, devoted to works of the apostolate, missioned by the Church for the evangelization of youth, and especially for the education and care of the materially poor. Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America encompasses our Brothers, communities and ministry sites in the United States, Canada and Dominica, West Indies.
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Contact InformationBr. G. Timothy Smyth, CFC - gts@cbinstitute.org
Edmund Rice Networking Council
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Recognizing that the Charism of Blessed Edmund Rice is a gift, not only to the Christian Brothers, but the whole world, the Edmund Rice Networking Council has been established to foster communication among and between the various manifestations of the Charism emanating from or going beyond the core Edmund Rice School Network.
Read More -
Contact InformationBr. P. Sean Moffett, CFC - psmoffettcfc@gmail.com
CAST YOUR NETS ON THE WATER 1 by Br. Kenneth Chapman, CFC
CAST YOUR NETS INTO THE SEA 2 by Br. Kenneth Chapman, CFC
Video on "Jesus on the Boat" by Br. Kenneth Chapman, CFC
Other Expressions of the Edmund Rice Network:
ENGLAND - www.edmundriceengland.org
IRELAND - Heritage Center Waterford
INTERNATIONAL - UN Advocacy, Ginevra and New York
LATINO AMERICANA (RED) - www.edmundorice.net
OCEANIA - edmundrice.org