The Shalom Catholic Community Authorities Retreat (AR2021) starts this Friday, 20th, and runs until Sunday 22nd, giving continuity next weekend (27th, 28th and 29th). The retreat is held annually, and once again due to the Covid 19 pandemic, it will be held online, streamed directly from the Church of the Risen One who passed through the Cross, the first Church built by Shalom.
The retreat aims to form a common mentality based on the Shalom Charism in the light of what is discerned as God’s will for the Community. According to João Edson Queiroz, a missionary of the Life Community and General Assistant, “it is an important instrument for the Community to be governed according to God’s desire”.
Witnesses of the Resurrection
With the theme “Witnesses of the Resurrection”, based on the Retreat of the General Council of the Community, the AR2021 will offer the preaching given by the founder Moysés Azevedo and moments of prayer in the mornings. The afternoons will be formative, focused on the presentation of the new Evangelization Plan for the Community and the Development and Sustainability Plan; as well as the evangelization work aimed to reach the youth and the poor. There will be also the presentation of the communication plan, and the activities developed by the two new assistancies: The Community Assistance and the Communication Assistance.
Deacon Saulo Dantas, community assistant of the Community, says that “There was already this big desire that a greater number of people could participate in the AR2021, so we tried to further expand the list of participants from last year, which had already been the largest in the history of the Community”. More than 1600 missionaries spreaded throughout the world will participate, brothers and sisters from Life Community, Convenant Community, and Shalom Work.
Leadership and Communication Seminar
One of the new features of the 2021 Authorities’ Retreat will be the Seminar on New Practices in Leadership and Communication. The event, which will have the theme “Leadership in a New Time”, will be free and open to all members of the Shalom Catholic Community.
With the pandemic, communication gained even more prominence. For this reason, it is essential that the members of the Community understand the possibilities and opportunities that this digital universe offers for evangelization. During the 2021 Authorities Retreat, formative meetings will be made available on the subject.