By ASC Korea province
Social Communication
Seoul, Korea, 16 May 2023 -- The 9th Provincial Congress of the Association of Salesian Cooperators in Korea was held on 14 May on the 7th floor chapel of the SDB Provincial House and attended by 47 members present physically, while other 68 voting members of the 29 Local Councils and the Provincial Council, including the Delegates entrusted with their vote.
During the Opening liturgy, The 9th Provincial Congress was proclaimed and each shared spiritual communion with the other participants.
The event opened with a well-prepared liturgy followed by a video presentation of the past 3 years of activities in the Korea ASC province (May 2020-May 2023), giving thanks for all the good work done. The whole one-day event was focused on evaluation and planning for the large 700+ member-strong province community. The provincial secretary and treasurer reported the evaluation of 2022 and planning for 2023 with all positive developments and the financial situation of the province.
At the heart of the Congress was the election of new leadership, seven members of the provincial council for the 3-year period of 2023-2026. Mr Lawrence Shin Tae Heung was elected as the new provincial coordinator. A new council will start to take over the leadership of Korea province on June 1, 2023.
In the afternoon, the first item was ‘Right now, we are…’- the Provincial Formator explained the ageing status of Salesian Cooperators, the rapid increase of long-term non active members and the sharp decrease of aspirants shown in the analysis for the KOR province statistics (2005-2023). At the same time he shared refreshing suggestions for the new Provincial Council. After this introduction followed a a smaller group discussion about the change of management method given the ageing of Salesian Cooperators, a more effective method for recovering the long-term non-active members and how to increase new aspirants. As a result of sincere discussion and putting heads together to find a solution, various strategies were drawn up. However, it was a beautiful experience of mutual participant encouragement and inspiration through sharing.
In the following session the upcoming 10th EAO Regional Congress ASC in Hong Kong was presented with the theme ‘Youth as the YEAST fermenting TODAY's family’, on 26-26 May. Four ASC from Korea will report on the state of the province and two young adults will be representing Korean Salesian Youth.
At the end of the day was a closing Eucharistic celebration, when all participants gave thanks to God for leading us to overcome the challenging situation of the past 3 years of the Covid pandemic. Fervent prayers were also offered for the strategies fir facing up to the ageing membership, recovery of non-active members and attracting new aspirants.
It was a blessed start for the newly elected provincial council, with one body and one spirit!
