Reports from the Field

This is Donna Doucette's final installment of her coverage of the Boston College Workshop on "Leadership Issues in the Church Today." The workshop was held in April. Donna's coverage began in the April issue of In the Vineyard and continued through the May issue. Many thanks to Donna for her outstanding reporting on a vital aspect of being Church in the 21st Century. Readers can access past issues by selecting "Archives" on any current Vineyard page.

There wasn't enough time during the workshop to cover what Br. Sofield and Sr. Juliano label the levels of collaboration and common myths about collaboration. But they provided handouts to participants that covered those topics. The descriptive labels are informative even without explanatory comments.

LEVELS OF COLLABORATION

Level 1) Co-exist: Participants are part of a larger organization; they are independent and separate.

Level 2) Communicate: Interaction with others in the organization begins; participants realize they have bonds with others.

Level 3) Cooperate: People begin to work together towards goals and understand their interdependence.

Level 4) Collaborate: Unity and mutuality prevail.

COMMON MYTHS OF COLLABORATION (or what collaboration is NOT)

Collaboration is easy.

Membership in a group constitutes collaboration.

Collaboration is an end in itself.

Collaboration is primarily about decision-making, power, and authority.

(Remember, this is a list of what collaboration is NOT ...)

Consensus is the only appropriate decision-making process in a collaborative group.

Collaboration is egalitarian. There is no place for a designated leader.

Collaboration is limited to staff/team.

In the final segment of the workshop, Br. Sofield and Sr. Juliano focused on "giftedness," which they say is the essence of collaborative ministry. A parish must help its people identify their gifts, they said, and then get them to put those gifts in context and see how their gifts can benefit the work of the parish.

The process of discerning giftedness should begin with the Scriptures. The "light of the world" passage in Matthew is but one of the passages suitable for contemplation. There are more Biblical passages dealing with "giftedness," they said, than with any other topic.

Why then do people fail to see and to utilize their gifts? One reason may be a false humility - my gift is too small, too insignificant, not worthy. Conversely, a fear of pride may compel some people to overlook their own gifts, i.e., it's a sin to take pride in doing something well or in telling others what you do well. Also, some people genuinely may not realize that they have gifts or, equally likely, overlook the gifts that another may bring.

The process of discerning gifts involves several steps, they said. For example, you must truly believe that everyone is called by God and has a gift. (Br. Sofield noted that if you DO believe this, then you will be able to delegate some of the tasks needed and thus avoid burnout.)

Other thoughts related to the discernment process include the following:

Look for the gifts possessed by any groups or individuals not ordinarily seen as gifted - because we are all gifted.

Take responsibility for using your gifts: to identify, accept, and then see how your gifts may be used. "People's lives only have meaning when they discern and use their gifts."

We cannot come to a full understanding of our gifts in isolation; we need community.

Gifts change. Your ministry may change. You are not "stuck" in the same role for a lifetime, because gifts change over time, as a result of experience.

No one has ALL the gifts. That's why we must collaborate. That's why it is fruitless to feel guilty if we cannot do everything; we should be working with others instead of doing it all ourselves.

ALL the gifts needed to accomplish the mission of Christ are given; we simply have to find them.

Br. Sofield also distinguished between the TYPES OF GIFTS we may possess. These are the gifts that come to us from our faith experience, Faith gifts. There are the natural gifts of creativity, hospitality, leadership, humor, etc. And there are gifts of training and education that come to us through work and study, as well as the gifts we acquire by experiencing trauma or crisis or tragedy.

In the final minutes of the workshop, Br. Sofield and Sr. Juliano demonstrated a process for discerning gifts. It was a drastically shortened version of what they teach in their work with parishes. For the demonstration, they asked one member in the audience to stand and say what his gifts are. After this, others in the audience related what they saw as that person's gifts. The demonstration succeeded so well that at one point an audience member stood and said, "John, I don't even KNOW you and I can tell that you have the gift of humor and charity."

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Br. Loughlan Sofield and Sr. Carroll Juliano have written three books on collaboration and community. All are available from the Ave Maria Press. They are: Collaboration: Uniting Our Gifts in Ministry; Building Community: Christian, Caring, Vital; and Design for Wholeness.

NOTES FROM AUSTRALIA - Jim Post

Jeannette and I were in Australia from June 19 to July 3, visiting Melbourne, Broome, and Sydney. We met/talked with VOTF leaders in both Melbourne and Sydney.

Melbourne

Our visit began with a meeting of VOTF leaders Peter Kaufman and Adrain Farrell. We had lunch with them, as well as Maureen Farrell, a survivor named Mary Jo, and one of her friends/fellow teachers.

Discussion focused on three issues: (1) new cases of abuse - diocese is applying the Australian protocol, but there is no public disclosure; (2) moving of priests out of country - Salesian Brothers case (Frank Kleb) was very current; and (3) growth of VOTF - slow but steady.

In a separate meeting, we met with Helen Last, a victims' advocate, who is "the" person to get things done in Melbourne. With her was a priest from New Zealand who is taking on the bishop of Auckland concerning the abuse of Samoan boys by a notorious priest. We strategized for an hour or so, and it's clear that the patterns of abuse we have seen in the U.S. are repeated in any community where power is abused.

Helen was very interested in the John Jay study and we talked about ways to pressure the bishops in Australia to prepare a comparable study. (It's a long shot, of course, but this may be one of the global strategies around which Catholics everywhere can rally.)

Sydney

Terry D'Souza and I talked while we were in Sydney. Terry is retired and devotes several days a week to VOTF and church-related issues. He also thinks the world of Mary Ann Keyes!

I also did an interview and had two conversations with Kate Mannix, editor of Catholic World, an online magazine for Australian Catholics. It's quite new, but is very professional in its look and content. Kate was impressive - asked good questions, searched for similarities between US and Australia, and was keen to know more about VOTF's directions and plans for change. She affirmed the view that VOTF may be the right vehicle for laity reform, although she wonders how much demand there is among Australian Catholics who suffer the kind of apathy we see in other places.

Conclusions

VOTF does have an identity among Catholic activists and at least some bishops and clergy in Australia and New Zealand. There is capable leadership whose commitment to the Church is strong. While the issues of abuse are real, with new disclosures continuing, there is a lot of apathy to overcome. This suggests to me that we continue our work toward a Church that appeals to people, is more open and inclusive, and has structures and systems that will allow more sunlight.

Voice of the Faithful sent a representative to the Cardinal Bernardin lecture at Catholic University, Washington, DC held on June 25. National Catholic Reporter Rome correspondent and CNN Vatican analyst John Allen, Jr. gave the address "Common Ground in a Global Key." Harvard Law professor and recent papal appointee to the presidency of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Mary Ann Glendon gave the response. This is a recap of the evening.

Dolores Leckey was presented with the 2004 Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Award. Leckey served for twenty years as Executive Director of the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth at the USCCB. She is a prolific author on spirituality and Catholic leadership and was an official advisor to the American Catholic bishops at two Roman Synods. Dolores Leckey is only the third recipient of the Award, after the National Council of Catholic Women in 2001 and the Most Rev. Harry J. Flynn and the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis in 2003.

From Peggie L. Thorp:

To a packed room of 300 attendees, John Allen proposed a five-component "spirituality of dialogue " that might address what he identified as a need to create "spaces for dialogue." What struck this attendee throughout Allen's address was the good news - VOTF was already there. Supporting this need should be, according to Allen, the business of the Catholic press, Catholic universities, and a grassroots commitment. He did not mention the place of Church leadership in creating these spaces, other than to say when asked later, that Catholics must be patient. Allen also noted the pre-occupation of the Vatican with an international crisis in April 2002, which American Catholics might have overlooked in our expectation that the Vatican address the "American sexual abuse crisis" at that time. This and reference to the "American situation" were somewhat disconcerting to at least one person in the audience who reminded Allen during the Q&A that the crisis cannot justifiably be termed American given its global reality.

The full text of Allen's illuminating, thoughtful and entertaining talk can be found in the Special Documents of www.NCRonline.org. under "Common Ground Lecture" posted July 2, 2004. Briefly, the five components of a "spirituality of dialogue" are as follows:

• Epistemological humility, meaning awareness of what we don't know;
• Learning in the Christian tradition;
• Patience;
• Perspective, meaning the ability to see issues through the eyes of the other;
• Maintaining a clear Christian identity.

Allen's unique perspective has earned him an international reputation as a voice of reason among Catholics across a broad spectrum of thinking on issues both familiar and esoteric. Certainly, few lay people, and fewer journalists, can bring to our collective dialogue on things Catholic the substance of Allen's work deep in the web of what is Vatican City. While one might quibble with some of Allen's thinking, it was both refreshing and affirming that Voice of the Faithful is, in the context of his call for dialogue, in full agreement. It is also invigorating to have the benefit of such candid thinking from someone whose access to the upper reaches of the hierarchy, not only in Rome but elsewhere in the Roman Catholic world, is well noted. My overall impression of John Allen is that he is listening wherever he goes and what he hears is worth our notice.

In her response to his remarks, Mary Ann Glendon agreed with everything Allen said and added that we live in a "post-Christian culture." Unfortunately, the program did not allow Glendon to elaborate on several of her points (such as her observation that there is no word for "individual" in the Asian and African cultures) but if one were to take a single impression from her comments, it would have to be Glendon's clear commitment to social justice. Quoting Lonergan - "The poor can't wait" - Glendon's message resonated easily with the evening's focus on international lessons and perspective.

In all, attendance at this conference offered many "take aways" for VOTF. For starters, the Common Ground Initiative is Cardinal Bernardin's legacy so well served by the National Pastoral Life Center in New York City. These are the people who are animating, in many respects, what VOTF thinks of in terms of meaningful lay involvement in our Church. As we have learned in our short life, we are the company we keep and this company is providing much-needed and well-established leadership.

Second, the closer VOTF comes to being an all inclusive "space for dialogue" by associating with others whose work we share, the sooner our collective modeling will be read by, and Spirit willing, adopted by Church leadership. However, as Allen said, "Don't wait for permission."

Third, and this is clearly self-serving, I can't help but recognize the plethora of references from dozens of sources, to the word "dialogue." This may have been a commonplace at the Common Ground Initiative as it was throughout Vatican II, but I do believe that Voice of the Faithful is substantially responsible for its mantra-like prevalence today among Catholics in the pews. Consequently,we are part of a rising expectation that bishops will join us and share the leadership of Church in the 21st century.

Fourth, it is hard, if not impossible, to "know" your audience when attending some conferences. What I learned after the presentations was that dozens of attendees who spoke with me were either VOTF members or supporters. Fr. Lauer, the newly named Director of the National Pastoral Life Center, was among these. He not only read the Muller/Kenney book Keep the Faith, Change the Church but had recently accepted an invitation from VOTF NJ to speak at an upcoming meeting.

From all of the people I spoke with, I pass on to you their thanks for the work of VOTF and their profound hope that the difference VOTF is making in all of our lives will make a difference throughout the Church. As Cardinal Bernardin knew well, the Church is our common ground - it's up to all of us to keep it that way.

[To learn more about the Common Ground Initiative and the work of the National Pastoral Life Center, go to www.nplc.org or email commonground@nplc.org.]

"Sin: A Cardinal Deposed" - Report submitted by Marge Bean

The last performance of the play "Sin: A Cardinal Deposed" was June 27. Several members of the Bailiwick Repertory company met with a few survivors and VOTF Survivor Support Group members the evening before the last performance after what they called an exhausting three weeks especially with the intensity, passion, and emotions of the audience.

The play written by Michael Murphy opened in March at the Bailiwick Repertory in Chicago. The response was enormously positive and they were encouraged to take it to Boston. On June 9 the play opened at the Regent Theater in Arlington. Mark Steel, an actor and company manager said the theatre bent over backwards to accommodate them, in particular to help arrange a Survivor Benefit Night, where the proceeds went to various survivor communities; an extra performance was done at a reduced price for survivors.

After almost every performance, the audience was invited to stay for the talk-back session with the actors. This was a huge component of the evening's performance, and the genuine care and concern of the actors toward the audience was evident. Everyone in the company seemed emotionally involved. The Arlington Advocate quoted Steel as saying, "Knowing that these people not just read about this, but lived this for years and years made it more powerful." He told us that that they were not prepared for how positive the response would be, and how they heard over and over, " Thank you for telling the story and bringing this to Boston ."

Although the play "Sin" is a docu-drama based on the clergy sex abuse scandal in Boston, the theme is similar throughout the country. By all accounts, this play is a powerful experience. Michael Murphy, the playwright, said he could not see most folks pouring over 10,000 pages of documents, but the importance of the content was so important he was compelled to write the play. It is hoped that other areas in the country will bring this theatre experience to their own communities. The play was performed once more in Chicago, and at present there are no further engagements. Two possibilities are a return to Boston and a New York run.

The first week there were only 100 to 150 in attendance at the 536 seat theater, but as the production went on and word spread attendance doubled. Altogether, about 3,000 people were able to see "Sin" in the Boston area. The Bailiwick Company came short of just breaking even with their expenses in Boston. As a 501c3 Non-Profit Organization, they welcome any contributions to help meet these significant costs.

A side note emerged - Jim Sherman, who did a magnificent portrayal of Cardinal Law, is a brother to Sister Kathy Sherman with the St. Joseph Order in the Chicago area. Many VOTFers will remember Sister Kathy's beautiful performance of her original song at the 2002 VOTF July Conference. Now we have a contact to purchase her CD's - if you would like this information, please contact margebean@cs.com. To reach the Bailiwick Repertory call 773 883-1090 or visit their web site at www.bailiwick.org

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