Conferences

Vincentians regard the Conference as the paramount unit of SVDP life. It is at this grass-roots level that the great majority of Vincentians find themselves engaged in the person-to-person service of those in need.

It is the environment in which members develop and nurture a common spiritual life, where they grow in their closeness to the Lord through their encounters with him in the needy. The fundamental Vincentian action is their involvement together with persons and families in need.

For most Vincentians, this person-to-person work has been associated with a Conference operating within a Catholic parish. It is the natural nesting place for faith-motivated Christians who wish to band together on a journey with the poor. It is the structure wherein their faith is nourished and renewed, a natural gathering of people similarly motivated.

Yet the richness of this Christian experience is not confining or limiting, so Conferences do spring up in other settings, such as at high schools and universities, and around a particular ministry as at a prison, at nursing homes and shelters, and so forth.

The Society's Rule allows for great diversity in the formation of Conferences, including around people of similar professions or cultural interests.

From the beginning of the Society, the central and most basic activity of Conferences has been the visitation of the needy in the home. This action is the clearest symbol of the Vincentian charism which dictates the highest respect for the dignity of the poor: the visitor becomes the guest and the person being helped is the master.

It symbolizes the fact that Vincentians are to reach out to the needy, rather than requiring them to report to an outside service site. It is in the home environment that needy persons feel most free to entrust their stories of struggle to the helper. It is there, in the family setting, that Vincentians are asked to listen, offer humble advice, and render assistance.

A related tradition is that Vincentians always visit in pairs. This requirement is based on the fact that the Conference is a community, not a collection of individuals who "do their own thing." The visiting team is ideally composed of Vincentians of both genders, various age groups, and different life experiences, so that a better perspective of the needy person's situation can be gained, and various courses of action explored.

• View a list of SVdP Green Bay Conferences (PDF)