The General Curia has produced a ground-breaking new landing page with a special focus on formation of mission partners. It’s aimed primarily at those organising mission partner training programmes, but mission partners themselves will also find it useful.

“The main idea behind all this”, said John Dardis, Counsellor for Discernment and Apostolic Planning, “is that there’s a one stop shop for all the resources that we have on mission partner formation. Some are produced by sectors such as the education sector; others are produced by Provinces or Regions. Where the resources come from doesn’t really matter. What matters is the quality and the scope.”

Mission partner formation programmes are usually offered in three modules. There’s an introductory model suitable for everybody who’s joining a Jesuit ministry. Here people can find an introduction to the Province or the apostolate and some introductory remarks about the Society. A mid-level module follows and gives more detail about the mission, going deeper into our spirituality. A third and final model is aimed at those in leadership positions or those further on in their journey with the Society. At this level people will be feeling a kind of a call or vocation and a deeper sense of belonging.

“It’s key that there’s a coherent approach to mission partner formation”, said John Dardis. “In the past it’s been a bit haphazard and now we are changing that. The Society is offering a range of resources – a menu if you like. Those who find resonances move along the journey, going deeper and making a kind of pilgrimage. Some people stop along the way for a few years and pick up the journey later. Others might stop at a certain point, satisfied at where they have arrived. What’s important from the side of the Society is that there’s an offer, an invitation and that nobody feels forced or coerced.”

The landing page offers a few sample frameworks based on what some Provinces have already designed.

“If you are a Provincial or Major Superior you don’t need to start from scratch and invent your own mission partner formation programme”, says General Curia mission partner Germán Muñoz who did a lot of the spadework gathering the data. “Much of the work is done already. You can just get it as a gift from others who have gone before you. That is the beauty of the Society of Jesus – we share what we have. There is a really useful search function in the software. Just type in a query and, hey presto, you get answers and ideas.”

The site also gives you access to what’s in the frameworks – real content such as PDFs, documents and even video clips. Check out the page and see for yourself by clicking here. And if you have resources to share with us, contact Manuel Martínez, Assistant for Mission Partnership at the General Curia.