Mid-chapter Preparatory Meeting on Zoom

Published: 25 July 2020

In a new step for the members of the Australasian Province of the Order of St Augustine, a Zoom video conference on 23 July 2020 video-linked friars in Korea, Vietnam and Thailand with those in the three eastern mainland states of Australia.

This multinational video conference happened because the Coronavirus pandemic led to the postponement of a constitutional Augustinian Mid-Chapter earlier this month. A Mid-Chapter is a biennial gathering to outline and review Augustinian community life and ministry in the Province.

During this introduction to Zoom technology for most of the participants, the video conference as a preliminary step raised basic issues, e.g., Gospel values, the need to relate well to the signs of the times in contemporary society, the task of preparing for the new normal in post-pandemic society, etc. Online discussion at the video conference generated follow-up written reports, hence the process of the Mid-Chapter in January 2021 is now launched.

Sr Karon Donnellan ISMAPNG (lower right) facilitated the videoconference using the Contemplative Dialogue Process