Conference emphasizes a relationship of sisters and brothers

Brother Bill Short, OFM

Brother Bill Short knows it is unusual to be invited back to speak to the same group. He says it happens for one of two reasons, “either the group sincerely wants you back or they have something they need to say—and need to say it to your face.” The attendees at the 18th annual FSPA Sponsorship Conference on Nov. 2, A Communion of Saints, sincerely wanted him back. Brother Bill, OFM, a Franciscan Friar of the Santa Barbara Province, was invited back to deepen attendees’ knowledge on what it means to be Franciscan. This year he focused on the elements of a Franciscan culture—one he describes as a culture of brother and sister (relationship), ethical harmony and perfect joy.

Specifically, Brother Bill asked attendees to consider how relationship is being served in their institutions. Do the Franciscan values mirror the real life institutional culture? He shared an example of Acme Widget Company. At Acme Widget people are important, but their importance is limited—they are simply filling a function in the company. An important part of the Franciscan approach is what we are not. We are not Acme Widget. “In a Franciscan culture, the people are the building blocks to the organization’s success,” explained Brother Bill. “It is important we are not failing in our responsibility of caring for our colleagues as sisters or brothers.” He described ethical harmony as a balance of an organization’s law of justice (policies and guidelines) and law of charity (exceptions to policies and guidelines). “The test of an institution comes not by how it runs under normal operating procedures, but how it handles the exception,” said Brother Bill. “Harmony doesn’t happen all at once; it takes hard work.” Finally, he told the crowd that true and perfect joy consists of being able to endure success and failure. He asked the audience to silently reflect on their organizations’ successes—and failures. “Look at the failure experiences not in the failure but how you responded to failure,” said Brother Bill.

Conference attandees gather in small groups and discuss Franciscan values.

To evaluate the Franciscan culture within each organization, Brother Bill asked attendees to determine where they fit between a culture of function and a culture of relationship; what is their harmony of justice and charity; what is their way of measuring success; what is their way of living with failure; and where is their true joy.

Brother Bill’s keynote presentation paved the way for the audience to engage in small group discussions about Franciscan values. Each group included representation from different sponsored institutions and was given their choice of three scenarios to discuss. Each group was charged with determining how they would deal with the situation detailed in the scenario in light of the Franciscan values discussed by Brother Bill. Lively discussion filled the room and groups shared their thoughts with the entire audience. One group discovered the benefit of collaboration between institutions stating that during discussion each shared plans they have in place to deal with similar scenarios. The group recognized the amazing collective wisdom present in the room.

St. Anthony Regional Hospital earned the Christian Mission Award for its No One Dies Alone program. Under the guidance of the St. Anthony Pastoral Care Department, the No One Dies Alone program offers trained volunteer companionship to patients or residents who are in the end stages of life and have no family or friends available during their final hours. According to the program’s mission, “No one is born alone and in the best of circumstances no one dies alone at St. Anthony Hospital.” The program received $1000 for embracing the values of Clare and Francis.

At the conclusion of the conference, the audience was treated to reflections from pilgrims who recently returned from Assisi. “It’s difficult to put this experience into words,” said Barbara Saatoff, Franciscan Skemp legal counsel. “We were changed and now we know our work everyday is about relationships. We were inspired to look into ourselves. We are called to pass on the mission of Francis and Clare . . . to gaze, consider, contemplate and pray.”

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