If regions would send us information about their activities and events they can be included in a monthly “Around the Regions” post. Please contact info@ofsgb.org

National Elective Chapter
Later today (Friday, 14th September) our National Elective Chapter will begin at the High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. The Chapter will last until Sunday afternoon, and a new National Executive will be elected by the delegates who will come from each region in the UK. Please pray for discernment so that the delegates choose wisely an executive to serve the order in this country for the period to 2021.

3rd European OFS and YouFra Congress
The 3rd European OFS and YouFra Congress took place in Kaunas, Lithuania between 20 to 26 August 2018. There was a substantial delegation from this country. I am told that it was an inspiring event, and I understand that a report will follow here shortly.

Southern Region: Wintershall
In August, Southern region held a celebration “Loving God’s Creation” at Wintershall, near Guildford, Surrey. The event was open to members from other regions, though none attended.
This is the summary of the day.

We have another opportunity to join the Southern region in November at the Park Place Pastoral Centre near Fareham, Hants for a weekend retreat “Be Still and Know”. Events such as these offer valuable opportunities for affirming, supporting and encouraging one another on our Franciscan journey, for an enriching inter-regional fraternal exchange of views and for exploring the Franciscan way forward in unity and friendship. They can be inspirational. See the diary entry for the Park Place Pastoral Centre retreat here.

Other Upcoming Events
The autumn Arkley Day of Recollection on Sunday 7th October will be led by Fr Jesmond Pawley ofm Conv. These Arkley Days of Recollection are generally well supported by members from the London and the East Anglian regions. They are open to all, and so may well interest members from other regions: the South East and Southern regions in particular. It would also be convenient for members of the Oxford fraternity. If you are interested please do notify Ursula Mott: details on the flyer to be found at the above link.

The Franciscan Action Network have been active in the USA for some years. They are now considering a launch in the UK, and have convened a meeting on Thursday 25th October in Bishopsgate, London, at the very interesting St Ethelburga’s Church. This should be of interest to those active in Presence of the World / JPIC, and those wishing to become more active.

Requiescant in Pace

Celia Brigstocke
We have been told that on Thursday 16th August 2018 Celia Brigstocke, niece to John Bradburne, and secretary of the John Bradburne Memorial Society, passed away at the Royal Surrey County Hospital. She had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer a couple of months previously and after 72 hours of fighting she died with her family around her. She was the most caring mother of the three daughters, Tim, her husband has lost his best friend of fifty years and the seven grandchildren will miss their wonderful granny so much. The funeral was held on Monday 10th September 2018 at St Joseph Church, Milford, Surrey. Should any member or fraternity wish to make a donation to the work of the JBMS, please go here.

London Region: Maria Hilton & Kathleen Crowe
Both Maria Hilton (Stratford Fraternity), and Kathleen Crowe (Arkley Fraternity) have died recently. Maria’s funeral was held at St Francis, Stratford earlier this week, and the requiem for Kathleen is planned to take place at St Joseph’s Church, Highgate on Thursday 27th September. More details on both Maria and Kathleen will appear soon on our Requiescant in Pace page.

And Finally ….
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): “the most important change in data privacy regulation in 20 years”. The following action has been taken, and we believe that this website is now fully, or substantially, GDPR compliant. I understand that the new National Executive will appoint a Data Protection Officer, and that person will, no doubt, wish to review all this.

Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy may be found here. It surely needs to be refined. It will be updated as and when necessary.

Cookie Banner
The cookie banner is in place and should be fully GDPR compliant. It will be seen each time the website is accessed.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)
When transmitting data from our website, it is our responsibility to send it securely, or so James, our technical wizard, tells me. The site has always been https secure. However, James has implemented a code on the server to divert users to the https version on 99% of the site (we cannot control outside links to images etc). This should also help with SEO (especially Google) and site speed.

Email Subscriptions
We understand that we are not required to send an Opt-in email as our system has always had an Opt-in requirement on sign-up, and recorded the person doing so. James has altered the email content the users receive, giving the URL to the privacy policy of this site. This text now reads:

” Howdy. You recently followed this blog’s posts. This means you will receive each new post by email. To activate, click confirm below. If you believe this is an error, ignore this message and we’ll never bother you again. By confirming below I accept the terms and conditions found here: https://ofsgb.org/privacy-policy/

I consent ofsgb.org to use the information submitted to provide me with marketing communications and information relating to the business. Your data can be deleted at anytime by request and you can unsubscribe from any mailings immediately. ”

We will, no doubt, wish to refine this text rather more, and certainly to replace the standard WordPress “Howdy” with something rather more English. We progress?

Read More