The Spirituality Ministry Team of the TEC Conference met for its annual in-person meeting on April 16-18, 2024, at the Nazareth Retreat Center in Dallas, Texas. In addition to its annual in-person meeting, the Spirituality Team meets every month via Zoom. Members of the Spirituality Team include Fr. Robert Murphy, SJ, Heather Bennett, Fr. Brian Nelson, Ron Marinelli, Billy O’Regan, and Dennis Kurtz. All members were present for this meeting.
Since 2013, the team has been working to gradually produce a third edition of the TEC Manual to follow the second edition that was completed in 2004. This work has yielded an updated Section III “Reflections”, Section IV “Prayer Services”, and several articles from Section VIII “The Adult Faith Community” and Section IX "TEC as a Movement.”
At its meeting this month, the Spirituality Team completed its work on a new two-page article for the TEC Manual, “What Makes TEC Distinctive." This article will serve as a formation tool for leaders of established TEC communities. The group also continued its work on a comprehensive “History of TEC" document which, when complete, will include a more manageable “History of TEC at a Glance” article.
Looking to the future, the team set things in motion for a rewrite of the music article in Section VII of the TEC Manual. The team is also beginning work on an update of Section II “TEC Weekend Leaders Guide”, which will bring it into conformity with updates to the prayer services and reflection outlines.
Finally, the team had a rich conversation about the TEC Conference’s strategy for effectively providing formation for TEC leaders. The group decided to schedule a Spiritual Directors' Workshop in 2025. The most recent Spiritual Directors' workshop was in 2019. The team also began sketching out a plan for the TEC Conference to be more accommodating as it provides formation and support for TEC communities. More information about this vision will become public in due course.
In addition to more than 15 hours of work, the Spirituality Team spent time in personal conversation and prayer. Each day of the gathering, they joined the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth for mass and morning prayer. The team feels blessed to have been called to this ministry in service of the whole TEC family.
