The historic Interprovincial Convocation began on Monday, June 18, 2007, at the Racine (WI) Marriott Hotel with a hymn and a prayer to the Holy Spirit. Then followed three presentations. Ed Tlucek OFM First of all, Ed Tlucek OFM (Assumption Province), chair of the convocation committee, introduced the special guests, particularly General Definitor Finian McGinn OFM, representing the general minister. He then provided the objective for the commission’s work of steering the gathering on the topic of reframing and restructuring. It is twofold – to assist the brothers of the four Mid-America or Heartland OFM Provinces to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the past, the present, and the future of friar life and mission; and to further the process of dialogue regarding restructuring. To realize this objective, Ed introduced the three main speakers: Dominic Monti OFM, provincial vicar of Holy Name Province, who will provide the historical context in which the friars find themselves; Sister Mary Elizabeth Imler OSF, superior general of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Frankfort IL), who will act as general facilitator; and Michael Weldon OFM of St. Barbara Province who will also serve as facilitator and consultant. Mike Weldon OFM The second presentation was given by Michael Weldon OFM, who spoke about building and rebuilding the Church and applying that to religious life. He spoke from his existential experience as a pastor having to consolidate two different parish communities after the earthquake some years ago in San Francisco, which brought about a major change in what Church meant. He said that he saw the process bringing the worst out of people and was left with the realization of “Woudda, Coudda, Shoudda.” As a result, he discovered five “rule of the road” which can be extrapolated from the experience of Church to the reality of being friars because Church is so intertwined with religious communities: 1) “It ain’t your fault.” An individual or a group did not bring about restructuring. Blame it on the Holy Spirit because it is the work of the Spirit. 2) “What goes around comes around.” Anything not finished – like history or ethos – will come out with a roar when there is the threat of change. 3) “When reshaping boundaries, lots of emotions come out.” When architecture or borders are messed with, there’s a lot of feelings involved. Nobody gets out of it without being unscathed. 4) “Conflict is a pain in the heart” – and in other parts of the anatomy as well. The reality is that there is an opportunity for transformation in conflict. Transformation happens from the very beginning. And conflict management is not respectful of the Holy Spirit. 5) “Bing Crosby is dead.” The memory of this is perpetuated, not in the Church, but in the media. Grieving this picture of the Church in the media paralyzes growth initiatives. Michael concluded that the friars – regarding Church and their religious communities – are involved in the greatest religious re-organization in the history of the Church in the United States. Sister Mary Elizabeth Imler OSF Finally Sister Mary Elizabeth Imler OSF took the podium. She first summarized the changes in the vision of religious life in the pre-Vatican II era and in the post-Vatican II era. She then spoke of the new models of religious life that come from choice, focusing on St. Francis’ concept of “holy newness.” “We are on the cusp of something new,” she said, “and we can’t drift into it; we have to choose.” This choice take shape as the “collective wisdom” of the group making choices not out of a mortality mind-frame (“the numbers are going down!”), not out of a commodity mind-frame (“what do we get out of this?”), not out of a fear-mind frame. The choice needs to echo Francis: “Desire one thing along, namely, the Spirit of God working within you.” The methodology for building up the Body of Christ, she indicated, is through fraternity, through how friars relate to one another. She then outlined the procedure to be used in the group sessions of dialogue called “No Cross Talk.” After acknowledging the presence of the friars and their years of ministry, she said that the friars need to celebrate their resources and passions and to move from willingness to willfulness in making common life visible because this is the mission. The hopeful outcome of this willfulness centers on three questions: “What do we need/choose to stop doing?” “What do we need/choose to start doing?” “What do we need/choose to do in a more intentional way.” Conclusion: The first evening of the convocation concluded with a closing hymn, a “door prize” raffle (Benet Fonck OFM won a statue of St. Francis), and fraternizing among the participants: 53 friars from Assumption Province, 21 from Our Lady of Guadalupe, 79 from Sacred Heart Province, and 42 from St. John Baptist Province, plus two from St. Barbara Province and one from Holy Name.