M.E.R

M.E.R stands for Mission Education & Research . It is the structure that Fr. James Knight SVD developed to make sure that the teaching about and research on the mission of the church was kept alive within the Asia Pacific Zone and, eventually, within the Society of the Divine Word. Within the Asia Pacific Zone MER is headed by a Zonal coordinator working together with the national and/or provincial coordinators. The roles of the coordinators is to make sure that confreres have access to quality missiological formation be it first or ongoing, and that the academic research on issues pertaining to mission is kept alive. The Zonal coordinator aims at making the working together possible and easier.

In Australia MER brings together SVD scholars and postgraduate students who are specialized in the field of mission, culture, religion, and inter-religious dialogue. It meets at least four times a year. The meetings are called and chaired by the coordinator who sends the suggested agenda to the members. The Provincial is always invited to participate. The agenda covers reports on the activity of the members and on their plans for the future. Academic papers by the staff are presented and discussed. The Provincial presents the needs of the Province and what MER might do to help.

Issues tackled by MER have been, for instance, the ongoing formation of the Confreres, the Orientation Course for newcomers to Australia , the Overseas Training Program for SVD students intending to immerse themselves in the mission of the Society in Australia These issues have been presented by the Provincial, discussed by the team and eventually finalized.

The Ongoing Formation Program has been opened up to other interested people in the area be they lay, religious, or clergy and so fare there is been a good response, though, we learn as we move along. The first Orientation Course in taking place and, once again, the evaluation will teach us how to improve it. The Overseas Training Program has been finalized and put on the website so that it can be accessed by SVD students from all over the world.

The MER in Australia serves as a support structure for the confreres already working in the specialized fields of mission and for those who prepare for it and makes sure that they feel and are felt as part of the Province, that team of SVDs who offer their SVD charism to the local church in Australia