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From the Executive Director

Dear Friends,

In the past 12 months, VOTF has grown from a listening session in a church basement into an organization and a movement with over 25,000 members, 160 affiliates growing at a rate of 100% a year, a Representative Council, and a national office. We are a community of mainstream Catholics who seek the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to build a stronger and healthier Catholic Church, and who support one another - and the Church itself - in this ambitious and courageous undertaking.

Many VOTF members and other Catholics are asking questions appropriate to this formative moment in our young history:

  • "What does VOTF offer?"
  • "What has VOTF accomplished?"
  • "Where is VOTF going from here?"
  • "Who can we become?"

As a strategic planning process is being completed in the coming weeks, you will be hearing more about the answers to these questions. For now, allow me to offer some thoughts about these questions:

First, VOTF offers hope - hope for a Church that will heal the survivors of clergy sexual abuse, priests, and the laity, by "walking the walk" as well as "talking the talk." VOTF is hope in action galvanized by a commitment to do something - out of love for our Church, our God, and one another. Our hope is reinforced by the reality of our truth.

Second, VOTF offers opportunity and empowerment. As Catholics, we have learned the significance of one universal Church and the importance of community. VOTF offers us the opportunity for our voices to be heard as a community of Catholics who can offer solutions to the problems confronting our Church. In community with one another and the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to act according to our conscience, and to dream of the Church we hope for.

Third, VOTF offers consolation. According to members fortunate enough to be part of an affiliate, and from individual members seeking community in VOTF, the hope, opportunity, and empowerment VOTF offers continually reveals the presence of the Spirit. This revelation provides survivors, priests, and the entire VOTF community with the consolation that comes only from God's presence in our lives.

Hope. Opportunity. Empowerment. Consolation. Can you imagine what your life and relationship to the Church would be like if the VOTF community did not exist? During this Lenten season, many of us will reflect on the effect the past year has had on our lives and on our Church. As we discern where we go from here and who we can become, it may be helpful to reflect on what we have already given to one another and to the Church. We invite you to share your reflections by emailing them to anniversary@votf.org.

Warm regards for a fruitful Lenten season,

Steve Krueger
Executive Director

 

 

 

 

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In the Vineyard
VOTF One-Year Anniversary

Page One

Reflections of
Dr. Jim Muller

Jim Post Looks Back with Gratitude

Convocation Reflections

VOTF- Hope in Action

National VOTF Office Staff

Book Review
The Prophetic Imagination

Say What?

VOTF Q & A

VOTF Best Practices, February 2003

Announcements and Events of Note

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In the Vineyard Archives

Current VOTF members, please re-register as part of our database update. New members, please register.


Voice of the Faithful is recognized as one of the most promising lay organizations to evolve in the Catholic Church. Your support is absolutely necessary for us to continue. The online donation form and the mail in donation form are both quick and easy ways for you to participate, and we are most grateful.

VOTF™
Mission Statement

To provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the Faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church.

Purple Cross

Our Goals

1. To support those who have been abused

2. To support priests of integrity

3. To shape structural change within Church
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Pray Each Day
at Noon

Jesus, Lord and Brother, help us with our faithfulness. Please hear our voice, and let our voice be heard. Amen. More

 

         

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