INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
of TRES DIAS

January 3, 2006

To: All Local Tres Dias Secretariats:  Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:

We hope you all had a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Thanks be to God the Father for sending His one and only son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and Redeemer.

The last time we communicated with you was on July 15, 2005, when we sent a letter to let you know that the Assembly of Tres Dias Secretariats had passed by an overwhelming majority, the revised rollos and spiritual director meditations.  At that time, you were advised the International Secretariat of Tres Dias would be publishing a new “Tres Dias Guide for Lay Team Members and Spiritual Directors”. 

THE NEW “TRES DIAS TEAM GUIDE” HAS BEEN PRINTED AND IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.

The new “Tres Dias Team Guide” (hereafter “Guide”) merges into one document and replaces the two current “Guides”, called: “Tres Dias Guide for Lay Team Members” and the “Tres Dias Guide for Spiritual Directors”.  In addition to containing the three parts (“Purpose and Situation”, “Outline” and “Commentary on the Outline”), for each rollo and meditation, the new “Guide” includes other important information for a team member including:

1)         “Welcome to the Tres Dias Team”,

2)         “Preface”,

3)         “The Role of a Team Member”,

4)         “How to Prepare a Rollo”,

5)         “The Relationship of the Talks”,

6)         “The Spiritual Director for the Tres Dias Weekend”.

These sections are followed by the three-parts of the rollos and meditations, in the order in which they occur on the Weekend.  In other words, printed first are the two meditations given on the first evening.  Next is the meditation given in the morning of Day One, followed by the five rollos of Day One.  Next is the meditation given in the morning of Day Two, followed by the five rollos of Day Two.  Finally, the meditation given in the morning of Day Three is printed, followed by the five rollos for that day.

We believe this “Guide” will be extremely helpful in communicating information which will be critical to each team member in the role they are called to fulfill on the Weekend.  It is important to recognize there is a wide spectrum of Christian denominations and independent churches which attend and serve on Tres Dias Weekends.  Because of the wide spectrum of Christian churches represented, some terms included in the “Guide” may not have wide application within your community.  In such event, we suggest you remember to demonstrate charity (love) for your fellow Christians and Tres Dias communities, and substitute whatever similar term(s) which might be commonly used within your own community.

The Services Committee of The International Secretariat of Tres Dias was asked to produce not only an attractive but more importantly a durable product allowing for long term use by multiple teams.  We believe this request has been fulfilled.  While possibly costing a little more at the outset, over time, your costs of providing team materials should be dramatically reduced.  Secondly, this one “Guide” replaces the two previous “Guides”.

As information, some communities have decided to charge each team member for their “Guide” when it is issued to them and to refund that charge when the team member returns the “Guide”.  Should the team member want to purchase their own “Guide” or for whatever reason decides not to return it, the money can be used to replace the Guide.

The International Secretariat voted to make an initial distribution of one copy of the new “Guide” to all chartered Tres Dias communities free of charge. Your free copy is included in this mailing.

Please take the opportunity now to look the “Guide” over and determine how many copies your community will need.  It is important to know -- In order to allow the various communities to purchase as many “Guides” as needed at the outset, orders received before the end of February 2006 and in quantities of 20 or more will be provided at $6.50 per copy.  The charge for single copies and quantities less than 20 will be charged $7.50 per copy.  It is also important for you to include with your order a physical address for the drop shipments to be made.

We pray you will find this new “Guide” to be a valuable and essential resource in the training and equipping of team members, as well as including the three parts of each of the revised rollos and spiritual director meditations.  The Lord be with you.

In Christ’s service,

Terry Bill

  Terry Gilbreath, President                   Bill Boyd, Executive Vice President

  Member, BRC                                   Chairman, BRC

P.S.  Please be aware that the “Guides” are copyrighted and may not be produced in whole or in part, without the express written approval of The International Secretariat of Tres Dias.  However, with regard to communities where a language other than English is spoken, special arrangements can be made which will allow these communities to translate the “Guide” into their language.