15,811 Professed Members in the SFO

I just got my copy of the TAU-USA in the mail. It contains the "State of the Order - October 2008," prepared by Patrick Mendes, SFO, our national minister. He reports that there are 15,811 professed members in the SFO in the United States. (Frankly, I thought there were more of us.) Happily, we saw an increase over last year, which was 15,293 professed members.

Hmm, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007 there were 310,621,159 people in the United States. Approximately 75% are over 18 years of age.

If the SFO is relevant in our contemporary world, and after reflecting on our rule I am convinced that it is, then our numbers should grow. However, we must reach out to others and share our Franciscan spirituality with others, particularly young families.