CLC STRUCTURES AND ROLES

I. CLC's Structures as a World Community

CLC is made up of persons at different stages of growth and identification with the whole body: there are members with a full commitment to this way of life, there are members with a temporary commitment and there are members still undecided whether they are called into CLC by the Lord. Quite often there is a larger group of people coming to CLC in order to use certain elements for the peace of their souls but not ready yet to make a greater commitment to its goals and programmes.

Unity among them is fostered by the General Principles, the World Assemblies, the World Executive Council, coordinating teams at continental level and a variety of formation and apostolic programmes of international scope, national and local coordinating bodies.

Membership: Members participate in the life of the community at several concentric levels. The local community (also called "small CLC community" or simply "group") sometimes is part of a wider community based on a city or pastoral centre. These local communities are affiliated into the National Community. The National Communities officially established, form the World Community.

Each National Community as a branch of the World Community establishes its own statutes in conformity with the General Principles and General Norms. At present there are 50 National Communities officially established.

The World Assembly This General Assembly is the supreme governing body of CLC. It is made up of the Executive Council and the delegation of each National Community. Each delegation will consist normally of three delegates, one of whom should be the Ecclesiastical Assistant or his representative [GN 15]. This G.A. determines norms and policies, giving the main directions for the period to come. The G.A. meets every five years.

The Executive Council (ExCo) is responsible for the ordinary government of the Community. It is made up of 7 elected members and 3 appointed members (the World Ecclesiastical Assistant, the Vice-ecclesiastical Assistant and the Executive Secretary) and a maximum of two coopted members. The ExCo usually meets once a year and is responsible for implementing the directions given by the General Assembly.

The World Secretariat in Rome carries out the policies and decisions of the ExCo. The head of the secretariat is the Executive Secretary, who is appointed by the ExCo and works in close cooperation with the Vice-ecclesiastical assistant, who is also the head of the Jesuit Central Secretariat for CLC.

II. Roles in CLC

Functions and roles in CLC can only be understood as a call to serve. More precisely, to help the members on their way towards the aim: to follow Jesus Christ more closely and work with him for the building of the Kingdom, who have recognized Christian Life Community as their particular vocation within the Church [GP 4]. Therefore any function or role aiming to foster the Christian growth of individuals and groups has to do with discernment and can never be a self-imposed mission.

We are dealing here with small communities (generally 7 to 12 persons). The roles of assistant, guide, coordinator described here, are to be seen in this context. These small groups are part of larger communities and therefore, hopefully, can get help from these communities, even with regard to the functions of assistants and guides.

The CLC members are the essential element In CLC. Each individual member shares the responsibility of the community and its mission. CLC's objective is apostolic but is based on the personal vocation of each one of its members. The expectations regarding the members depend on their degree of spiritual and apostolic growth. At least, the members should show:
* Sincere interest for the growth of their own spiritual life,
* Desire to improve in their human, social and apostolic life,
* Desire to be part of a stable group in which there is sharing of friendship, ideas, experiences and apostolic activities,
* Readiness to take an active part in the group meetings and activities, attending the group meetings with regularity and on time, assuming responsibilities within the group.

The community coordinator is a member of the group and is chosen by its members for a definite time (1-2) years. His/her main responsibility consists in making sure that all the members contribute to the functioning of the group. This means that the coordinator's responsibility is not so much to do things by him/herself, but rather to assure that they be done through a growing participation of all members. For a good functioning of the group he/she assumes, in cooperation with the guide, some concrete tasks:
* making sure that somebody in the group prepares the meetings and activities of the group,
* assuring communication with and among all the members,
* facilitating the exchanges in the group and being sensitive to what is fostering the sense of belonging to the group,
* fostering the group's apostolic commitment according to the group's degree of spiritual growth.
* attending regularly the meetings of coordinators in the region.

The community guide. There is a similarity between a guide accompanying an individual through the Spiritual Exercises and a group guide helping the group on its journey. The group guide is aware of the group's stage of development, enabling the persons to live it fully. This includes two main functions:

* to help the group to discern and to decide on the level of relationships and group process, to face their situation and the decisions that are called for and to discern the movements at work in the individuals as well as in the group;
* to point to, care for and provide appropriate means of formation so that every comer of the person's life becomes illuminated and strengthened by the Word of God, with the result that the group as such grows into a Christian Community, a cell of the Church.

The most important and time-consuming contribution will be offering to the group members, with help of other spiritual guides not necessarily belonging to CLC, spiritual guidance on an individual basis.

The guide is often better placed for introducing the group members to apostolic and charity institutions where they can offer their services. In the adult communities the guide can be the link between Church Institutions and the group members providing new possibilities for mission.

The guides do not belong to the group they accompany, but they have their own community, They need to keep a distance between themselves and the group, if they want to be free enough to help the group on its ongoing journey. While resonating deeply with people's feelings, they do not become identified with their emotional problems. This distance does not exclude participation.

Guides should have a clear idea of the goal of CLC and of the short term objective of the stage the group is at. Their knowledge and personal experience of apostolic spirituality, a deep integration of faith and justice, prayer and action, makes them act as formators providing challenges and enlightened evaluations as they accompany the growth process of each member of the group.

It is very important for the guides to work as a team, rather than in isolation. If the group guides from the same region hold regular meetings, they can share experiences, ways to address the problems and overcome obstacles in the community's journey.

Good group guides are not easy to find. Formation courses for guides are necessary, but certainly not enough. In fact, the ongoing formation of guides never stops. Essential in the formation of guides are:
- A yearly experience of the Spiritual Exercises and accompanying others through them,
- Being accompanied on a regular basis by a spiritual guide,
- Taking part in CLC formation courses for the initial and adult stages,
- Being accepted by the majority of the group members, demonstrating in this way his/her capacity to establish rapport, and the pedagogical skill to accompany others.
- Working as a team with the other group guides of the region and National Community.

The ecclesiastical assistant. Christian Life Community on each level has an ecclesiastical assistant, designated in accordance with Church law and the General Norms. The assistant takes part in the life of the community in its various levels according to the General Norms. Working in collaboration with other leaders of the community, he is principally responsible for the Christian development of the whole community, and helps its members grow in the ways of God, especially through the Spiritual Exercises. In virtue of the mission given him by the hierarchy, whose authority he represents, he also has special responsibility for doctrinal and pastoral concerns and for the harmony proper to a Christian community [GP 14].

How these different roles are spelt out in daily life of CLC varies quite a bit according to the situation in different national communities and according to the needs and resources available. In any case the quality of life and mission of a community depends, to a large extent, on the quality of these services.

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