300. Background Information for 1982-1988 Sources

New Branches

During the years 1982-1988 we established the People of Praise in 20 new locations: Corvallis and northern Virginia in 1982; Oahu, Servant Branch and Vancouver/Portland in 1983; Muncie, Mobile, Biloxi, New Orleans and Appleton in 1985; Buffalo, Rockford and Saskatoon in 1986; Charlotte, Indianapolis, Dominica and Kingston in 1987; Shreveport, Cincinnati and Grenada in 1988.

Much time and effort were spent training these new members of the People of Praise. For example, in 1984 the overall coordinator traveled to Servant Branch once a month (except July), for two to four days, and a small group of Servant Branch coordinators traveled to South Bend once a month. In 1985, the overall coordinator and others traveled to Servant Branch four times and in subsequent years traveled there often. Many of these visits included what were called “Pastoral Training” days or weekends. Generally speaking, the focus of these events was pastoral care.

Several of the sources from this time period come from these pastoral training events:

Similar training was also taking place in other locations of the People of Praise. Included in the sources for this time period are a 1982 talk given in Corvallis about “Seven Reasons to be Part of Community (302),” along with the outline for a talk entitled “How to Head Your Wife (316),” which might also have been given in Corvallis. Likewise, at an August 1986 meeting, Kevin Ranaghan spoke about “Traditions and Customs in the People of Praise (322)” and Kerry Koller talked about “Use of Our Time in Families (323).” These two talks were given to all the coordinators in the community, many of whom were new.

Also included in the sources for this time period are two talks described as being from an April 1984 “Women’s Leadership Training.”

These talks were given in South Bend, but there is some evidence that they were given elsewhere as well.

There are two outlines which were, as far as we know, never given as talks and never intended to be talks. They are: “Men’s and Women’s Roles–1986 (321)” and “How Children Fit into the Community (325).” They were intended as background material for teachers of CFS II.

Foundational Documents

In a March 1984 article in the community’s monthly publication Resource, Paul DeCelles commented on what the recent growth of the community meant to our structure: “We certainly couldn’t get all the coordinators together for weekly meetings—that would mean a weekly meeting of about 50 men from all over the U.S.” There was need for a more broadly conceived structure that could support the community in all its various locations, in the U.S. and elsewhere.

By June of 1984, Paul DeCelles was sending all the coordinators a draft of what would eventually become The Spirit and Purpose, Principles of Structure and Government and Policies and Procedures. At the time, this draft document was called the “constitution.” One of our sources, called “1984 Letter to Coordinators (313),” is the cover letter sent with this draft “constitution.”

In August 1984 coordinators from all over the community met to work on “the constitution.” Servant Branch’s publication The Servant (Sept. 16, 1984) has an article about this meeting and the role of Servant Branch coordinators:

The recent Assembly of Coordinators in South Bend was a gathering of over 30 coordinators from most of the branches to discuss issues of great importance to the future of the community. . . . Because we are still an underway branch of People of Praise, the coordinators from Servant Branch did not vote in the actual decisions that needed to be made, but . . . the input from the Servant Branch coordinators present was welcomed and seriously considered by the other coordinators present.

This 1984 meeting resulted in a decision that the community would live for the next year according to the most recent draft version of the three foundational documents. Also, a communitywide consultation on “the constitution” was held during that year.

The coordinators met again in August 1985 at a Constitutional Review Assembly in South Bend, and the process of implementation proceeded. There are December 1985 Vine & Branches articles which chronicle all the new appointments and elections that had been carried out under the constitution, the first of which was Kevin Ranaghan’s election as the South Bend principal branch coordinator on October 15, 1984. These articles are included in our sources under the title, “First Elections and Appointments (314).”

Several other sources from this time period also have to do with our foundational documents. “Purposes of Pastoral Care (324)” is an explanation of the term “pastoral care” in the Spirit and Purpose. “The How and Why of Our Structure (327)” is the transcript of a broad-ranging talk that Paul DeCelles gave in either 1986 or 1987, shortly after our foundational documents were finished. We do not have the audio version of this talk. “Integrating Life and Work:The Matrix (332)” is a retrospective commentary (2018) on the first line of our Principles of Structure and Government: “The People of Praise is structured according to branches and program offices for its life and work, respectively.”

Divisions and Other Happenings

While all this was going on, the apostolic work of the relatively new (1981) divisions was moving forward. This work and the rationale for it are described in the 1983 source called “Review of Our Work (307).” In this talk, there is mention of our Provident and Resourceful teachings, which Kerry Koller summarized in the book, The Resourceful Christian. An excerpt from this book (305) is also included among the sources for this time period. This excerpt deals primarily with five principles, drawn from Scripture, which “form the foundation of a Christian mentality about money.”

The source entitled “Our Goals and Objectives (326)” also sheds light on the work of the divisions. The overall coordinator and the program coordinators evaluated the work of the divisions in terms of the various actions that were undertaken by the divisions to achieve the division’s objectives.

In 1981 Clem Walters gave a talk to leaders in the South African charismatic renewal on “Working Together As Leaders (301).” This talk is included in our sources. During this time period coordinators from the People of Praise continued to meet with the leaders of six other communities in what was called the Fellowship of Communities (see source #200 for more on the Fellowship of Communities). At the end of October 1983, the People of Praise hosted a meeting for the Fellowship of Communities members and guests. The 1982-1988 time period includes two talks from this event: “Coordinator Meetings: A How-To (309)” and “Friendship in Men’s Groups (308).”

Some of the sources from this time period come from South Bend community meetings: “Idolatry (310)” and “Cathedral-Building (320)”. Four come from women’s retreats: one from a retreat for married women, “Working Women (317)”, two from a 1982 retreat, “Training Daughters and Relating to Sons (304)” and “Following Jesus with Strength and Dignity (303),” and one from a 1988 retreat, “Aging Gracefully (331)”.

The “Discernment of Spirits (329)” and “Comments on Ecumenism (330)” sources come from the communitywide Singles’ Conference hosted by the northern Virginia branch in 1988. There were 258 members registered for this conference.

Finally, there’s a set of documents entitled “Showers: A Case Study in Decision-Making (306).” These documents illustrate the role handmaids had in the development of People of Praise wedding and baby showers.