Over the last fifty years many new religious communities (the “new movements”) have sprung up, especially in France, Italy, and Spain – Focolare, Neo-Catechumenal Way, Regnum Christi, Emmanuel, L’Arche. These often are made up of priests, religious, and lay people committed to a deep spirituality, gospel lifestyle, and particular mission.
Chemin Neuf (French for “new way”) is one of these communities. It was founded in Lyons, France in 1973 by a small charismatic prayer group of seven young single people led by a Jesuit priest named Laurent Fabre. From its beginnings, the Chemin Neuf Community was marked by the presence of members from several Christian denominations. It can now be found in 30 countries, with 2000 members that include priests, consecrated sisters, single people, married couples and families who have chosen the adventure of community life to follow Christ and serve others. They come from the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Churches, Anglican Communion, Reformed Churches, Lutheran, Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches, and choose to live, pray and evangelize together while remaining in communion with their respective Churches. Members serve in retreat centres, parishes, student residences and various formation programs run by Chemin Neuf. The spirituality of the Community is rooted in the Ignatian tradition and in the experience of the Charismatic Renewal. Its mission is evangelization, Christian formation and unity of all kinds – between Christians, countries, families, and within the individual.
Members live either in “common life fraternities,” (together in large houses which are often former monasteries) or in “neighbourhood fraternities” (where they remain in their own homes, are gainfully employed, but live the spirituality of the community and help with its mission.) The life of every community member is moulded by Ignation spirituality, through simplification of lifestyle, daily Bible reading and meditation, and the practice of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises.
The Net for God Network was established in 2000 to further Chemin Neuf’s mission of Christian unity. The Network has been producing thirty minute documentary films every month since that time. These engaging films paint a portrait of an inspiring individual or group, or delve into a particular topic regarding spiritual growth. Each of these films are translated into 26 languages and distributed in 80 countries to over 1000 “Net for God” small groups. These groups, with well over 25,000 members worldwide from Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches, meet monthly to watch and discuss the latest film, and pray for peace and unity. The members of this Network form the International Ecumenical Fraternity. The documentaries can also be seen on www.netforgod.tv
In 2005 my husband, Ted, and I were lay pastoral workers in the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, Winnipeg. Though we liked our work, something was missing. We felt that our work in a parish was only touching people on the surface, and that we needed a new paradigm for our lives. One day a friend, who knew the Chemin Neuf Community in France, invited us to a “Net for God” meeting. The documentary film we watched touched us very much and we felt drawn to this new community. It seemed like a paradigm designed for us! We wrote and asked to visit the fraternity house in England. That summer we spent a month there, helping in the community’s missions and attending a retreat for married couples (called “Cana”) which changed our lives. About twelve months later we decided to return and spend a year with the community. That year stretched on to almost four years, which included nine months in France and a 30-day Ignatian retreat. In 2009 we joined the Chemin Neuf Community.
Chemin Neuf, like most religious communities, only goes where it is invited by a bishop. The Archbishop of St. Boniface at the time, Emilius Goulet, invited the Community to establish a foundation in his archdiocese. We returned to Winnipeg in 2010 to explore this possibility. Our efforts were greatly blessed by the gift from the Missionary Oblate Sisters of the 21-bedroom St. Charles Retreat Centre, located on the banks of the Assiniboine River. Though there is a francophone foundation in Quebec, this is the first Chemin Neuf Community in English-speaking North America.
St. Charles Retreat Centre, Winnipeg
So here we are, only two of us, but well-supported by brothers and sisters in Quebec, England, and France – a lot happens by Skype and email! Ted is working for the Archdiocese of Winnipeg to help make ends meet. We rent out space in our retreat centre for outside groups and individual retreatants. I do the cooking, cleaning, and managing, with the help of volunteers. We offered our first week of Spiritual Exercises this past spring and a week-long Cana session this summer for couples, as well as other weekend retreats.
The past three years have been a time of planting seeds and of learning to pray and trust. We don’t know how and when the community will grow. We are waiting to see what God will do.
Ted and Nancy Wood are members of the Chemin Neuf Community in Winnipeg. Nancy serves fulltime for the Community, while Ted is Director of Pastoral Services for the Archdiocese of Winnipeg. Contact them at StCharlesRetreat@hotmail.com or 204-885-2260
(Click on images to enlarge)
Cana Couples and Families Mission, Winnipeg (Ted Wood, standing far left; Nancy Wood, kneeling far right)
Nancy and Ted Wood with the Missionary Oblate Sisters (Sr. Cecile Fortier, Superior, centre) and Archbishop James Weisgerber
