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Interview Questions for Candidates
I have been a member of an affiliate since the Spring of 2002, when I worked with others to convince an independent group founded at Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Newton, MA to affiliate itself with VOTF. I served as the first Council Representative of that group (Our Lady’s Voice) for a year. At its second meeting, the Rep Council voted to form the Structural Change Working Group. I strongly supported this motion because I felt that clarifying our third goal was an essential step in building a strong and effective national organization and stepped forward when volunteers were requested to work for structural change. At the next election I became the OLV alternate to the Rep Council to allow more time for facilitating the SCWG, which has been the focus of my work with VOTF since that time. This very talented and dedicated group has worked to articulate a consensus among the members of VOTF about what we mean by structural change, drafting a statement on the subject that was unanimously approved by the Rep Council of VOTF. We have developed education tools such as the Primer on Organizational Structures of the Catholic Church (since we cannot hope to change what we do not understand) and carried out a survey on the state of parish pastoral councils in the US which will provide a solid basis for our efforts to enhance the effectiveness of these existing lay structures. We have also sought to ensure that the discussion about structural change is carried out nationwide, establishing the Structural Change Network. This is a web-based forum that has grown since its official launch on September 8th, 2003 to include more than 100 VOTF members across the US. I am very proud of these achievements, and am honored to have had the opportunity to work with the SCWG over the last few years. 2. How will you contribute to VOTF's pursuit of its mission and its three goals in the office you seek? e.g. What experience have you had that would help in this position? In your work, education, hobbies or otherwise? Do you currently, or have you recently, held a leadership position in any other organization? I have always felt that the goals of VOTF are really trinitarian – that no one of the three goals can be advanced separately from the others. We are working for structural change WITHIN the church, and we must therefore support and work in collaboration with our pastors. If we wish to protect our children from harm and redress the injustices of the past, we must work for change within the institutional church, which has been the agent of that harm. If I am chosen to serve as treasurer of VOTF, I will work to the best of my ability to ensure that our three goals are pursued as a whole, and I promise to carry out the specific duties of my office while never losing sight of the mission to which the Spirit has called us: to enhance meaningful lay participation in the life of our church at this critical moment in its history. The personal and professional experiences of many competent lay people constitute valuable training in organizational effectiveness and financial transparency. I have found this to be true in my case. The financial and organizational skills required for balancing work and raising five children are considerable. My experience as a mother and within the sphere of my profession as a scientist, engineer and technical manager has been as useful as my work in the church (addressed below) in preparing me for the task that I am now agreeing to undertake. This experience includes managing fund raising events for schools, chairing technical working groups, and proposing, winning and managing large funded research programs. The finance subcommittee of the SCWG has proposed excellent guidelines for the activities of diocesan finance councils, and these guidelines were also unanimously approved by the Representative Council. I pledge that my activities as treasurer will be faithful to the spirit of those guidelines. I will work with competent financial professionals to ensure full and rapid disclosure of our financial affairs to our members and to the public, and to establish the financial infrastructure that will be required to move VOTF forward on a sound financial footing. I will always hold VOTF to the same high standards of transparency and accountability that we are asking of others. 3. What are your hopes for VOTF, the movement, in the next year and in the future? e.g., What do you think are the challenges we face? What would you define as "success" for VOTF? We face the challenges of organizing ourselves to model the structural changes that we are seeking within our church. This has proven to be more difficult than some of us might have hoped, but we should not be surprised and must not become discouraged. We must continue to work together to build a church that is more truly the Body of Christ, always listening to each other’s voices and letting love guide our actions. Financial transparency is an important issue (particularly to the treasurer of the organization), but open and fair decision making is even more important. This doesn’t mean that the leadership of VOTF should shrink from making hard decisions, but the reasons for those decisions must be made clear to our membership, to whom our leaders are eventually accountable. Although this can be painful, it is necessary. In addition, new well-defined national governance structures for VOTF must be established as soon as possible. I would support bringing the governance recommendations that are now being crafted by a distinguished group of VOTF members from across the country to our members for approval before they are adopted. New, clearer processes for decision making within the organization must be established and faithfully followed. I would consider the next year to be a success if we can accomplish these internal governance goals, at the same time maintaining our role as a nationally recognized voice for transparency and accountability in our church. 4. Are you prepared to keep any of your hopes and desires for the future of the Church that are not related to our three goals out of public/formal discussions of VOTF? Absolutely! The realization that our children had been harmed. While I remained ignorant of the facts, I could trust the leadership of my church to put the welfare of our children and the pastoral care of the whole Body of Christ above the reputation of the institutional church. When I realized the truth, I became convinced that if I did nothing to change the church that I love, I shared the responsibility for the wrongs that had been committed in its name. This realization enkindled at a very deep level in me a passion to renew our church, and a determination to endure the long-term struggle that will be required. I know that this fight will not be won in my lifetime, but I owe it to my children and theirs to persevere. 6. What work, ministries, volunteer activities have you participated in for the Church? My activities at Our Lady Help of Christians over the years have been varied, but have focused generally on liturgy and on liturgical education. I have served as a choir member, cantor, Eucharistic minister, member of the visitation committee, member of the liturgy planning committee, member of the restoration committee (restoring our worship space for effective liturgical celebration was a critical element of that project) and coordinator for participation of children in the liturgy. I believe that liturgical training is a most important preparation for the work of changing the church, because it is through liturgical celebrations that members of the Body of Christ most truly sense their calling as priest, prophet and king, and begin to understand their right and responsibility to use their God-given gifts for the good our church. Curriculum Vitae Statement If elected, I will work to ensure full and rapid disclosure of our
finances, and to establish the financial infrastructure that will
be required to move VOTF forward on a sound financial footing. Our
organization must model the structural changes that we are seeking
within our church, and I will always hold VOTF to the same high standards
of transparency and accountability that we are asking of others. Financial
transparency is an critical issue (particularly for the treasurer),
but open and fair decision making is even more important for VOTF
at this juncture. Well-defined national governance structures for
VOTF must be established as soon as possible and new, clearer processes
for decision making within the organization must be defined and faithfully
followed. I will consider the next year a success if we can accomplish
these internal governance goals, while maintaining our role as a nationally
recognized voice for transparency and accountability in our church.
In addition to carrying out the specific duties of my office, I will
pursue the goals of VOTF as an integrated whole, listening prayerfully
and with an open mind to the voices of all the members of the organization,
and trying never lose sight of the mission to which the Spirit has
called us: to enhance meaningful lay participation in the life of
our church at this critical moment in its history.
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