Here you will find important facts about ACTS!
Please check back frequently as content will change every few weeks. 

ACTS Missions wishes to afford as many people as possible the opportunity to experience serving on team. The standard team should consist of 1/3 with some team experience and 2/3 with no team experience. The intent is to give the retreatants from the previous retreat the greatest opportunity to serve on team for the next retreat. This model should be strived for when selecting team. With this in mind, individuals serving on Core have met the mini-mum requirement of serving on at least two teams, and therefore have had this opportunity. It follows, then, that the best practice for an ACTS Core member is to take a step back from serving on team so others may have this opportunity. Serving on the ACTS Core is a unique privilege and responsibility that includes putting others in the parish first. This “other’s first” attitude exemplifies Christian leadership.

Core members serving on team have many times confused their role as a team member with being a Core mem-ber, and attempted to exercise their “authority.” This defeats the purpose of cultivating lay leadership because the Director is undermined; even if the Core member is “right.” Also one of the Core’s main roles is to support the team in putting on the retreat particularly with Send-off and Candle Light and a Core member could not properly provide this support if they were on team. These are some of the main reasons why Core members should not serve on team.

Why is this a “should not” instead of a “cannot”?

ACTS Missions does not wish to impose a “directive” or “rule” on a parish doing the best with what it has to put on a retreat. As an example, when a parish receives ACTS and completes the missioning process, a Core member may need to serve on team so that the minimum numbers are met. This is perfectly acceptable because the parish is using the resources available. This decision needs to be made in consultation with the parish pastor and retreat Di-rector. On the flip side, in a parish that has had ACTS for many years, there are many eligible persons to serve on team so an effort should be made to incorporate those individuals instead.