National News and Notes

VOTF vice-president Ann Carroll reports on the
The VOTF National Policy Forum

Which potential VOTF programs would be of most interest to Catholics in Seattle, WA, Nashville, TN, Brooklyn, NY, and Peoria, IL? What should be VOTF's role at the US Catholic Conference of Bishops meeting in St. Louis? Should voting in VOTF officer elections be expanded to all registered members? What are the hot topics in your diocese? These are a sampling of the questions discussed in the National Policy Forum conference calls. These monthly calls were instituted based on feedback from affiliate representatives (from outside Boston) following adoption of the "3 VPs" motion at the January 2003 Representative Council meeting. The intent of the motion was to ensure greater representation in VOTF policy-making for Regional Coordinators and affiliate representatives from outside Boston.

The initial participants were selected to ensure representation from all four VOTF regions (West, Central, East and South), focusing on areas with large concentrations of VOTF affiliates/members. Over time, additional participants have been added, often to provide local commentary on an issue with national ramifications. Recent participants include: Shannon Whalen (Louisville, KY), Elizabeth Warren and Jim Zralek (Nashville, TN), Eileen Knoff and Catherine Smith (Seattle, WA), Ed and Peg Gleason and Hugh O'Regan (San Francisco, CA), Peter Davey (Oakland, CA), Sandy Simonson and Suellen Riley (Phoenix, AZ), Nan Fischer (Cincinnati, OH), Kris Ward (Dayton, OH), Maria Cleary (Northern NJ), Maria Coffey and David Pais (NY City), Melissa Gradel (Brooklyn, NY), Terry O'Connor (Chicago, IL), John Ryan (Peoria, IL), and Jim Post, Ann Carroll, Cathy Fallon, Steve Krueger, Mary Ann Keyes and Suzy Nauman (Boston/national office).

Each call centers on one or two pre-determined issues of common concern. The calls provide a systematic mechanism for voices of representatives from across the country to be heard. Too, this communication effort will go a long way toward communication efforts not only between our 198 affiliates and the national office but among those affiliates as well.

National Chair of Parish Voices Mary Ann Keyes submits
PROCEDURES FOR AFFILIATION/Forming a Parish Voice Affiliate

Through our "Parish Voice" working group we are promoting and supporting the development of VOTF affiliate organizations in dioceses across the US. We currently have membership in over 40 US States and 21 countries with the highest concentration of affiliates in the New England and Northeast Corridor states. See our Website for a listing of Parish Voice affiliates and other information at http://www.votf.org/Parish_Voice/pvwelcome.html.

Parish Voice is the means by which lay Catholics across the country and the world experience the mission and goals of Voice of the Faithful in their own unique community setting. Each Parish Voice affiliate is an independent group of lay Catholics, generally associated with a specific parish and living the mission statement and goals of VOTF in a manner they develop. In this way each PV feels connected to a greater cause while maintaining its own autonomy and independence.

The relationship between Voice of the Faithful, Inc. and the Parish Voice groups in local parishes is that of an independent affiliate. VOTF, Inc., has adopted a policy for the formation of PV affiliates as well as their right to use the VOTF and trademarks. A group of Catholics can form a PV affiliate if a two-thirds majority votes to form a PV affiliate. There is no restriction as to the type of organization, i.e., informal association, corporation, etc., that an affiliate can be. Subsequently, the group must contact VOTF and notify them they have taken such action. To date VOTF has accepted all affiliates requesting this status. VOTF grants its affiliates the right to use its name and trademarks as long as the affiliate agrees to abide by the mission statement, goals and policies of VOTF.

VOTF, Inc. supports the formation of affiliates in several ways. Through our Regional Coordinators we facilitate the organization of interested persons within specific geographic areas. As part of this process we convey the model by which the organization was originally formed, which serves to provide a process for creating organizational identity and cultural integrity throughout VOTF.

Every PV affiliate is entitled to provide a representative to VOTF's Representative Council. This council has been established by the Board of Trustees to provide VOTF with the means for a collective vision of the future of the Catholic Church. The Representative Council meets on a monthly basis.

Late News - Fran O'Leary has agreed to serve as interim moderator of the National Lay Representative Council as Maura O'Brien ends her nearly two years in the position. See more on Maura's outstanding service to VOTF in the December issue.

National Chair of Prayerful Voice Susan Troy, M.Div., Report on the Prayerful Voice National Steering Committee

There is a proposal for a conference on lay spirituality to be included as one of VOTF's national events in 2004-2005. The proposed conference, for VOTF members, by VOTF members, would be held in Spring 2004.

We need your input! Prayerful Voice is made up of the Prayerful Voice representatives from affiliates across the country. We have been working to establish communication with all of you. If you have not informed us of your existence and/or interest in being part of the Prayerful Voice national working group, please contact us! (PrayerfulVoice@voiceofthefaithful.org)

We need to keep the VOTF mission statement before us… "To provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit…." How have we as individuals and as a community recognized the Spirit's work in our midst? How have we encouraged it?

We want to begin to articulate what so many of us have experienced, that being a member of VOTF has been an incredible, Spirit-filled journey. What was our "spirituality"? How did we live out our faith in the world and how did our faith sustain us in that world? How has our faith and spirituality been changed, perhaps even transformed, by our reaction to this crisis in the Church, and our association with this movement called Voice of the Faithful? Those are some of the questions with which we will begin our thinking.

Prayerful Voice hopes to facilitate a means to ponder these questions at the affiliate level, to foster discussion and feedback that would culminate in a Lay Spirituality Conference where we could meet, pray and discuss the spiritual fruits we are receiving.

National Prayerful Voice Steering Committee - Susan Troy, M.Div., Chair, National Prayerful Voice, Sr. Betsy Conway CSJ, Barbara Jordan, Kaye Pfeiffer, Dr. Ana-Maria Rizzuto, Robert Szpila, M.Div., Mary Jo Tecce

National Representative Council elections for officers - Nominations are due from registered members by November 21. Submit your nominations here: Members, be sure to check your email for Executive Director Steve Krueger's email of 10/30. The subject line reads, "VOTF Nominations for Elected Officers." Any additional questions, please call the office at 617-558-5252.

VOTF again bears witness at the semiannual bishops' conference in Washington, DC. Nov. 10-13. VOTF-National and VOTF-Northern Virginia will hold a press conference on Monday evening in Washington, D.C. to present a VOTF Report on the State of the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis in Light of the Bishops' Conference. VOTF will focus on issues of bishops' accountability, transparency and disclosure from lay review boards, and signs of hope. Visit the VOTF Web site at http://www.votf.org/bishopsconference/DC/index.html and this space in December for an update.

In keeping with their mission, the Structural Change Working Group is conducting a survey on Parish Pastoral Councils - their existence and efficacy. Click here for my details: http://www.votf.org/Structural_Change/surveybackground.html

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Prayerful Voice are trademarks of Voice of the Faithful, Inc.

Voice of the Faithful is a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt organization.