Dear Roundtable members,

Summer is here! We hope that you’re enjoying the warmer weather and been able to do some relaxing with friends and family, spending some time outdoors enjoying God’s glorious creation.

Much is happening around the Roundtable, and we’re happy to report about it in this issue. In early June, the Roundtable board came together for a three-day meeting to plan for the future, including next year’s activities. Check out the board report, which announces the 2011 Fagan and Servant of Justice Award Winners, as well as the theme of our 2011 Symposium, “Fear Not:  Addressing a culture of fear with prayerful conversation.” The 2011 Symposium will take place on February 11-12, just before the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering on February 12-16 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC.

This issue of the Roundtable Report offers several articles that lift up the work that our members are doing. Earlier this year, Christine Smith of the Diocese of Boise asked for help through the Virtual Roundtable regarding a Catholic Dialogue on Immigration. In May 2010, her team facilitated a Catholic Dialogue on Immigration, and she reports back to us about it, as well as shares with us her process document. It is an inspirational article and a very useful resource to help you host similar events in your own diocese!

This issue also features an interview with former Roundtable member Dan Ebener, on servant leadership and his recently-release book on the topic. He offers great insight on how servant leadership is crucial to the ministry of diocesan social action directors.

So many of you wear multiple hats in your work: coordinating parish social ministry, CRS, CCHD, respect life, and social justice education at the diocesan level. Our July 2010 Roundtable Report features articles from two of our members who offer unique perspectives because of the other ministry hats that they wear. Shirl Giacomi of the Diocese of Orange shares about social action work from the perspective of a chancellor, and Jim Merle, also in the Diocese of Orange, shares about doing social action work from the perspective of a deacon. Both articles offer great personal insight about how social action work is interwoven into so many ministries of our Church. Speaking of your many hat’s and ongoing activities, don’t miss the Roundtable Roundup with news from around the country.

If you haven’t heard from them already, you’ll be hearing from one of our board members soon; each board member is charged annually with calling the members in their region to check-in with you and see how your work is going and how the Roundtable can better serve you. It’s a great way to share your needs with the Roundtable, so thank you for sharing your time with us!

And from the reports I’m hearing back from those check-in calls by board members, the Virtual Roundtable continues to be offering that the majority of our members find most useful. Don’t forget – if you have a question you’d like to pose to your colleagues, please email it to me at coordinator@catholicroundtable.org. Your colleagues can respond to me, and I’ll compile the responses and send them out to our listserv as well as post them on the Virtual Roundtable online. And in case you missed it, the Roundtable is now offering a mentorship program for new Diocesan Directors, so please contact us if you’re interested in participating!

I look forward to seeing many of you at the Social Action Summer Institute on “Peacemaking for the 21^st Century,” on August 1-4, 2010 at Santa Clara. It should be a very rejuvenating experience!

Blessings,

Jenn Svetlik
Roundtable Coordinator

By Christine Smith, Catholic Charities of Idaho, Parish and Community Partnership Coordinator

When I first moved to Idaho two years ago from Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore, I did not realize that I would have to apply the Peacebuilding ideas and skills that I had learned. As I went throughout the state (which is the entire diocese), I discovered enormous division not only between cultural groups, but in particular, around immigration. While this is not uncommon in the U.S., I quickly realized that getting people through the faith development levels to legislative advocacy is hard enough, but to have this obstacle of parish polarization on any social position in a parish called for something much more basic; people needed a safe place to talk about things. If we Catholics do not know each other or trust each other, achieving one voice as Catholics on any issues would not be possible.

The idea that peacebuilding was needed was confirmed by the negative emails, phone calls, letters we would receive from Catholics to the Idaho Catholic Register and Catholic Charities legislative advocacy, when Catholic Charities moved on immigration at the state or Congressional level. In addition, as Bishop Mike Driscoll went throughout the diocese, he was hearing that the number one issue that drained parish clergy and staff of energy was when there is a contentious legislative issue that polarized the parish, such as healthcare or immigration. As a result, it was clear that parishes were really asking for was a way to resolve community conflicts.

As a result, the Diocesan Justice for Immigrants team recognized the need to ensure the matches that would light a fire needed to be blown out or never ignited in the first place. In examining possible tactics in peacebuilding, dialogue seemed to be a good place to start before the national Comprehensive Immigration Reform rolled out.

The goals of the dialogue were simple: Catholics would know the USCCB Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislative framework, Catholics facilitators would be trained with potential replication of dialogue in other deanery parishes, and Catholics would have a process (dialogue) to talk/listen to each other on any contentious topic, in this case immigration.

The dialogue was a great success due to identifying facilitators, training them and asking them to invite other people and to the high level of structure that was put into place by Chris West and Joe Hastings from Catholic Relief Services. Over one hundred people, from three deaneries, representing ten parishes came to the dialogue. Within the three-hour dialogue, five questions were asked for the table dialogues.

After the dialogue, when asked verbally in the room to raise their hands if people thought the dialogue was helpful or valuable, 98% of the room raised their hands, and when asked if they would like the dialogue repeated, about the same number raised their hands in agreement. When asked what they learned, the evaluation showed 48% of people said faith dialogue even with differing opinion works, and they learned something about dialogue processes, such as that conflict results from different values and resource scarcity. Thirty-one percent of people said they learned US Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishop’s position on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Seventeen percent said they wanted to repeat the dialogue and wanted to get trained and use facilitation and dialogue skills in other parishes and places. When asked what other lingering questions they may have, 43% of the people said, “What do we do now?” and “How do we do legislative advocacy on Comprehensive Immigration Reform?”

Collaborating with Deanery and the Diocesan Justice For Immigrants team, we pulled together the feedback and action steps and sent those out to all people at the dialogue. The next steps are to identify and train more facilitators in each parish and then organize the dialogues in each of the eight parishes throughout the fall and winter. Other Deaneries have asked for the JFI Team to come into their regions and replicate this process. Last, a Diocesan Conference workshop for models of dialogue and skill training for facilitators has been organized for on-going education for facilitators and for parish people interested in becoming a peacebuilder.

Catholic Charities of Idaho now has one hundred more people to add to our legislative network and communication list and a foundation of Catholic leaders for peacebuilding processes when needed in the diocese and a good base of support for any future immigration actions.

Roundtable member’s can download Christine’s Catholic Dialogue on Immigration Entire Process Document at the Virtual Roundtable.

Former Cleveland Catholic Social Action Director Recognized for Contributions

The Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors has announced Tom Allio, former Diocesan Social Action Director in the Diocese of Cleveland, as the 2011 recipient of the Roundtable Servant of Justice Award for his exemplary contributions to the achievement of the Catholic vision of social justice. The Servant of Justice Award is given by the Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors to a member or former member whose work, through the tradition of Catholic social teaching, has led to significant progress towards greater social justice and dignity for all members of society at a local level.

Allio was assigned as senior director for the Cleveland Diocesan Social Action in 1989 and served in that capacity until his retirement in March 2010. He was responsible for establishing the diocesan social action system of Catholic Commissions. Throughout the past 32 years, Allio assisted in the formation of 27 non-profit or community organizations in Summit County and chaired or advised more than 50 local and state coalitions that advocated for a variety of issues that promoted life and human dignity. During Allio’s leadership, the office launched its legislative hotline, which promotes the priorities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ohio Bishops, Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services.

Since 1987, Allio has served on the drafting committee for the Catholic Bishops of Ohio on several pastoral statements issued by the Bishops including:  fair and adequate tax reform, a call to stand in solidarity with Ohio’s immigrants, opposition to casino gambling, opposition to concealed carry legislation, reassessing the death penalty, abortion and political life, the consistent ethic of life, and reassessing the death penalty. Under Allio’s founding leadership of the nearly 250-organization Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending, Ohio House Bill 545 was passed after a four-year battle. This bill began the serious reform of the payday lending industry in Ohio. It was seen as a national model of payday legislation and was recognized as so at a Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington DC.

On the national level, Allio has served as the chair of the Roundtable.  He also served for 15 years on the board of Call to Renewal and Sojourners, working closely with Rev. Jim Wallis in advocating for the poor and uninsured.

Allio will receive the Roundtable Servant of Justice Award during the Roundtable’s Award banquet on February 12, 2011 at the beginning of the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington D.C.

Download the 2011 Roundtable Servant of Justice Award Press Release.

Fr. Jim Hug,  Jane Deren, and Sr. Katherine Feely honored for their contributions

The Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors recently announced three staff members at the Center of Concern as the 2011 Harry A. Fagan Roundtable Award recipients.  Fr. Jim Hug, Jane Deren, and Sr. Katherine Feely will be receiving the award for their exemplary contributions to the achievement of the Catholic social justice vision through the Education for Justice Web Project. The Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors presents the award each year to a person or persons whose work, in the tradition of Catholic social teaching, has led to significant progress towards greater social justice and dignity for all members of society at the national or international level.

The Education for Justice Web Project was created to help social action directors, catechists, lay ecclesial ministers, campus ministers, parish members and others in leadership roles to meet the challenge of sharing Catholic social teaching and to bring greater awareness to social justice issues. The site contains a multitude of timely and engaging resources designed to promote greater knowledge of Catholic social teaching and highlight the connection between current world events and the Catholic faith. It was launched in 2001 by Fr. Jim Hug, President of the Center of Concern, and Jane Deren, who now serves as Senior Advisor to the project. It was launched with a desire to quickly respond to the public events of the time with resources such as prayer services, analytic pieces, and background papers steeped in Catholic social teaching. Sr. Katherine Feely currently directs the Education for Justice Project.

The Roundtable Award is named for the late Harry A. Fagan, who served as the director of Catholic Community Action in the diocese of Cleveland and later worked for the National Pastoral Life Center as staff for the Roundtable Association. Fagan also chaired the Social Concerns Department of the Ohio Catholic Conference and served on the board of the Catholic Committee on Urban Ministry. The award has been given annually since 1987.

Fr. Jim Hug, Jane Deren, and Sr. Katherine Feely will receive the Harry A. Fagan Award during the Roundtable’s Annual Symposium on February 12, 2011 at the beginning of the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington D.C.

Download the 2011 Roundtable Fagan Award Press Release.

Learn more about the 2011 Fagan Award winners:

Sr. Katherine Feely, SND, Director, Education For Justice Project
Sr. Katherine Feely, SND is a Sister of Notre Dame from Cleveland, Ohio. She joined the Center of Concern staff in the fall of 2006 as a Senior Program Associate. She is directing the Education for Justice Project as well as working with the Engendering Economic and Social Justice Project at the Center. In the early 1990’s she served as an intern with the Global Women’s Project at the Center of Concern, helping to prepare and take a group of grassroots women from across the U.S. to the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. She recently completed a Masters Degree in Theology combining joint studies of Catholic Social Teaching and Economics from Boston College. Her background includes work in the field of social justice, advocacy, community organizing, programming, and teaching theology. She is currently consulting for the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on a global solidarity project.

James E. Hug, SJ, President of the Center of Concern
Jim Hug came to the Center from the Woodstock Theological Center in 1985 and became Director/President in 1989. He focuses on research and education on issues of faith and economic justice and has lectured and directed workshops throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. He is the editor of the Center’s best-selling Catholic Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret, principal author of Social Revelation: Profound Challenge for Christian Spirituality, published by the Center of Concern, and the editor of Tracing the Spirit: Communities, Social Action, and Theological Reflection, published by Paulist Press. In addition, Jim has written chapters for Globalization and Catholic Social Thought: Present Crisis, Future Hope and The Pastoral Circle Revisited: A Critical Quest for Truth and Transformation.  He has served as member of the boards of the Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico, the United States Catholic Mission Association, the Center for Mission Research and Study at Maryknoll, Maryknoll Lay Missioners, the International Jesuit Network for Development, and on the Mission and Ethics Advisory Committee of Christus Health System.  Currently he serves on the board of CIDSE and the National Council of Pax Christi-USA.  He has an M.A. in Philosophy from Springhill College, an M.A. in Christian Spirituality from St. Louis University and a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from the University of Chicago.

Jane Deren, Senior Advisor, Education for Justice
Jane Deren is currently part-time with the Center, part-time teaching social justice “in the field” at Georgetown Visitation High School. Jane is the author of best-selling Center of Concern workbooks Catholic Social Teaching and Human Rights and Celebrate Jubilee and Justice!, both of which have been cited as important catechetical resources by educators. Jane taught in Catholic schools in Philadelphia before she received her doctorate in 1977 from Temple University, where she also served as a faculty member. While working in Washington DC-based national non-profit organizations, she developed a variety of national popular educational programs for adults during the 1980’s. Before joining Center of Concern, Jane was with the University of Maryland, where she taught and directed a state-wide graduate-level program for educators.

For three days in early June, the Roundtable Board met in Washington DC to plan for the next year’s events and beyond.

The Roundtable Board selected Center of Concern staffmembers Fr. Jim Hug, Jane Deren, and Sr. Katherine Feely, for their work on the Education for Justice Web Project, as the 2011 Harry A. Fagan Awardees. They will be recognized for the website which contains a multitude of timely and engaging resources designed to promote greater knowledge of Catholic social teaching. Additionally, the board selected Tom Allio, former diocesan social action director in Cleveland, as the Roundtable’s second-ever Servant of Justice award winner. Tom, who retired in March of this year, was nominated because of the role he has played as mentor and inspiration to many Roundtable members, and for his work on many issues including payday lending, earned income tax credit, legislative advocacy, and more.

Looking towards February, the Board also selected a theme for the 2011 Symposium: “Fear Not:  Addressing a culture of fear with prayerful conversation.” This symposium will recognize our baptismal call to bring hope and light to the fears of the world that affect the church. Participants will explore these realities of the U.S. Church throughout history, and will also be trained in a dialogical process they can take back to their home communities.

This Symposium theme was selected by the Roundtable membership, after a first-ever online survey showed that more than 60% of the participating membership was interested in this topic of dialogue and facilitating conversations. The Symposium sessions will be led by keynote speakers Dr. Chester Gillis of Georgetown University and Sr. Deborah Lorentz, SSS, trained in mediation.

Board members also met with the staff of the Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to discuss areas of common interest, including how to support the work of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the work of the domestic and international policy offices.

The Roundtable also made some leadership changes. After three tireless years of service, Barbara Budde completed her time as Chair of the board and Vice-Chair Scott Cooper was elected Chair. Rob Shelledy was elected Vice-Chair and Cori Thibodeau was elected Secretary/Treasurer. This new position was created to reflect the additional responsibilities of the board as the Roundtable becomes an independent organization. Jennifer Svetlik was also hired as Coordinator beyond her initial interim coordinator contract.

The board also discussed the creation of a new mentorship program by Roundtable members for new diocesan directors. More information is available on the Roundtable website. If you are, or know of a diocesan social action director that was hired in the last year who might be interested in receiving a mentor, please contact us.

By Deacon Jim Merle

Clarity of purpose in understanding the need for social justice was not always a paramount idea in my life. It wasn’t until I was 14 in Quigley’s Minor Preparatory Seminary in Chicago that I was face-to-face with a black person who shared many of the same ideas I had that I began to understand equality or lack thereof in any form. A few short years later I was a reporter/writer for the Chicago Tribune and my mantra was “Don’t Trust Anyone,” if you want the ‘real truth.’ After 11½  years, such cynicism in the newspaper business provided me with insights that brought me 180 degrees toward an ideology that took a foothold to help me clarify why I believe in social justice: God wants us to take care of those in need because He created us to love one another as He loves us.

Ordained as a deacon on April 30, 2005, it wasn’t until I entered into formation in 2000 that I began understand the difference between charity and social justice. What I had been doing since my awakening some 35 years before then was to reach out to others in charitable ways that might help them for a short period of time but would never give them a solution to overcome the problem for the remainder of their lives. I wore a mask of delusion not to obfuscate their plight, but to spread a bit of hollow joy to a situation I didn’t understand so I could cope with and have my conscience soothed for the disaster at hand.

Formation taught me a valuable lesson: Nothing will change for me unless I become a proactive minister in addressing social injustice for those who are unable to do so on their own for whatever reason. Ordination to proclaiming the Gospel and serving at the altar is hollow without working in the trenches with those who suffer the indignities of man’s indifference towards life. The Diaconate must be a living, breathing organism that practices the servant attitude that Christ taught us while He ministered to us on earth.

For me that was spending five years in detention ministry with the incarcerated and working in hospitals and nursing homes with the sick and dying and with the homeless, hungry and poor at Catholic Worker. It is making sure that all of my homilies touch on the plight of those who are disenfranchised from society as we know it and to meet with parish groups to make sure they consider social justice as part of their ministry.

More than six years ago I was invited by the diaconate director to join the local board of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development which has as its primary purpose to empower those in poverty. Three years ago I was named the chairperson and until recently I have fought an uphill battle with the members to help them understand the difference between charity and justice. All of the board members have been replaced since I became the chair. With national and local criticisms of CCHD’s process and of those in charge, it has been a difficult, uphill struggle to work towards institutional changes.

Fifty one years ago, as a young seminarian studying for the priesthood, I came face-to-face with God’s purpose for me as I met a young man of color from the south side ghettos of Chicago who taught me about the love God has for all His creation. Today, God has given me the opportunity to serve Him in my Diocese of Orange California as the Diocesan Director of CCHD and as deacon living my ordination as His servant. I have been exceedingly blessed and hope that I will continue to have the courage, strength, wisdom, understanding, peace, joy and grace to be obedient to His will as I strive to be one with the Lord in thought, word and deed in my love of Him and of all His creation.

By Shirl Giacomi, Chancellor, Diocese of Orange

My interest in social justice was stirred by a professor I had at Loyola University Chicago—a fine Jesuit school. I was working on my MDiv and part of the curriculum was a class on social justice. I was aware of the social justice encyclicals before I took my first social justice class in grad school but I got what I refer to as social justice fever from Sr. Mary Elsbernd who was passionate on the subject. Once my attention was drawn to the subject, it seemed natural when reading the gospel to recognize the mandate that we have to take care of the poor and the oppressed of the human family. As we know, “When God contemplates the world, it is without borders”

Shirl, left, and Elizabeth White of the Diocese of Sacramento, right, along with children in Cambodia. Photo courtesy of the author.

After I was hired as chancellor, I was visited by Jim DeHarpporte, the new Regional Director for CRS West. Jim was the first regional director appointed—a test case that led to regional directors across the country. I am a bit reluctant to admit that I did not know much about CRS—other than they were the recipient of one of the 10 national special collections that I found myself overseeing as Chancellor. Jim understood the importance of building relationships with his constituents in the dioceses and his consistent invitation to learn more about the work of CRS, the U.S. Church’s international outreach, was something that I could not ignore.

Founding director of Cafe Justo, Eri Fuentes, along with his son and stacks of coffee beans. Photo courtesy of author.

I became very familiar with Catholic social teaching often referred to as the best kept secret in the Catholic Church. A friend says, “What you see with your eyes, touches your heart” and I found that to be very true on my first immersion experience in Cambodia. Similarly, in Chiapas, Mexico, I saw firsthand the transforming effect that Café Justo, Fair Trade Coffee had on an entire village. After my return home, I prepared a presentation which was used in a number of venues—trying to explain the concept of solidarity by sharing with others what I had experienced in meeting the people in the remote villages that we traveled to.

My biggest learning was that CRS dos not just provide emergency relief work (although they are very good at assisting in natural

Founder Eri Fuentes and his daughter in front of Cafe Justo's Building. Photo courtesy of the author.

and human-made crises). But CRS also works in areas of maternal and child healthcare, HIV/AIDS, education for girls and minorities, food security which includes access as well as production, microfinance, peacebuilding and gender-based violence.

As chancellor, besides overseeing the areas prescribed by canon law, I also supervise the offices of Hispanic Ministry, the Media Center, Safe Environment, Respect Life, Justice and Peace, the Missions Office and Restorative Justice/Detention Ministry. The issue of justice is at the top of the agenda for most of these departments.

All of these directors meet together monthly with other diocesan ministry department directors. We do our best to infuse a social justice dimension into our work wherever we can. Attending the amazing Social Ministry Gathering in DC in February 2010 introduced me to current issues and advocacy opportunities. It seems that every group working in social justice is represented at the annual conference.

For me, the biggest challenge is that we have so much work to do both locally and internationally. Besides the oppressed in the U.S., more than 100 countries are in need of our assistance. And since we are such a global society with instant communication worldwide, we cannot say we do not see the needs. Shouldn’t we all have access to clean water, sufficient nutritional food, health services and education? I was horrified to learn that the largest number of lame in Cambodia was due to polio not landmines. They did not have access to immunizations until the year 2000. Now doesn’t that just seem criminal? We’ve been vaccinating since the 1950’s!

With all that we see on the nightly news and now the internet, there could be a temptation to throw our hands up in the air and give up. CRS and social action leaders are there leading the way, ensuring that we move forward with hope.  In the words of Fr. Bryan Hehir, “Solidarity is the conviction that we are born into a fabric of relationships, that our humanity ties us to others, that the gospel consecrates those ties and that the prophets tell us that those ties are the test by which our very holiness will be judged.”
I believe this is the challenge to all believers.

Check out your local news from members around the country:

Social Action for Youth
Several years ago, after attending the Social Action Summer Institute at the University of Dayton, one of the participants, Rebecca Spencer of the Diocese of Little Rock, posed the question “why can’t we do something like this for the youth in our diocese?”

The response was “I don’t see why not,” Liz Tinquist, the Youth Ministry Director, was excited about the idea.
And so the planning began. Visits to homeless camps, serving in a soup kitchen, visiting incarcerated youth, helping in senior citizens home, participating in a city council meeting, and trips to work in a homeless shelter were coordinated. The schedule of this retreat calls for social justice classes in the morning and visits to the work sites in the afternoon. The students, over 50 this year, stay on campus and have speakers, prayer service, or a fun activity in the evening. Tom Navin, Director of Social Action at the Diocese of Little Rock, says “It’s the best week of the year.”

Many Happenings In the Diocese of Venice:

Immigration Reform: Despite Bishop Frank J. Dewane having sponsored a Forum on Immigration Reform for all the clergy in the diocese, efforts to have parishioners participate in the JFI-USCCB postcard campaign on comprehensive immigration reform remain a challenge. Although several thousand cards were completed and delivered to lawmakers, opposition to ‘aliens’ seems to be at an all-time high.  The Peace and Justice Office’s 17th annual diocesan-wide Catholic Social Teaching event (LEAVEN Conference) on March 19, 2011 will focus on “Promoting Solidarity on Immigration Issues.”  We wonder what other dioceses are doing to reduce the divisiveness which exists among our own people on this subject.

Environmental Justice: On Earth Day, students of the diocesan parochial schools submitted posters (elementary grade students), essays (middle grade students) and media teaching projects (high school students) related to a Food and Justice Contest co-sponsored by the Department of Catholic Education and the Commission on Environmental Justice, an organization of the Diocesan Peace and Justice Office. Most Reverend Frank J. Dewane hosted an award ceremony at the Catholic Center in which he presented the winners with cash prizes and appreciation certificates to the runners-up. The Commission, during the summer, is researching environmental concerns as they relate to St. Francis of Assisi, with the intent of mounting broad parish-based endeavors on his Feast Day of October 4. We would appreciate our counterpart Social Justice Offices in other (Arch)dioceses which have undertaken similar projects to share their experiences with us.

Farmworker Justice: The Diocesan Peace and Justice Office continues to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in its national and international pursuit of just wages and improved working conditions for the farmworkers in the tomato fields of south Florida.  Its successes with Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonalds, and many other corporations are well-known. Similar efforts are being made with the (so far reluctant) Florida-based and enormous company of Publix grocery chain and Kroger’s on a national level. If our counterpart offices and bureaus in the USA are seeking a good justice program for their parishioners, please see the web site of the Coalition (ciw-online.org) or of its technical support group, Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida (interfaithact.org).

Submitted by Neil D. Michaud, KSB, Diocese of Venice

Roundtable Members to Participate in CRS immersion trip

In September, a team of diocesan social action directors will visit Ethiopia and Tanzania. Participants include:
Kent Ferris of Davenport, Bill Scholl of Kansas City, KS, Dianne Hanley of Baton Rouge, Anne Avellone of Santa Fe,
Hilda Ochoa and Jim Barette of Galveston-Houston, Tom Dobbins of New York, Kathryn Buckley Brawner of Springfield, Jen Dyer of Camden, David Siler of Indianapolis and Sr. Gail Young of Los Angeles. Please keep them in your prayers!

Activities in the Diocese of Orange

Housing Crisis: House foreclosures continue to rise and Orange County is the center for over 200 scam organizations preying on homeowners with the promise of refinance or loan modifications for exorbitant fees that almost always end with no relief at all.  Further, in Orange County, Santa Ana has the largest number of foreclosures.  Our parishioners are targeted and probably have been victims of these scams.  On July 24th, our Diocese and Mater Dei High School is hosting Foreclosure Prevention Workshops (in English and Spanish) at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.  These workshops are totally free (see flyer here).  The participants receive assistance from HUD approved agencies.  And, at the workshop, they will immediately meet with their lenders on the premises that day, and will have a HUB advocate assigned to them to help with their lenders, even if their lender is not at the event.

2010 Census: The Diocese of Orange recently partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau to encourage all Catholics to participate in the U.S. Census.  We had participation with almost every parish, distributing flyers, large banners made (see banner here), Census Bureau members setting up tables outside many churches to hand out information and answering questions – some speaking after Mass.  We considered this a justice issue because our county relies on a fair share of federal and state funds to help with hospitals, infrastructure, roads and social services.  The poor especially needs access to hospitals and social services (school lunch programs, head start programs, etc.)  Our bishop made a statement and was very supportive of this effort.

Submitted by Georgeann Lovett, Diocese of Orange

News from JustFaith

JustFaith Ministries (JFM) is working hard to help build a peaceable army across the country that can make God’s dream and beckon for justice real in the lives of more and more people, especially those who are living in poverty and would otherwise know hopelessness and exclusion.

There is much good being done all over the country by JustFaith (JF) graduates!  With this in mind, will you host an introductory JF session at your parish on a Sunday morning, help start a JF group, ask former participants at your parish to facilitate a JF group, and introduce JF to a deacon at your parish?  If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions, or if you have other ideas for engaging your constituency in the JustFaith formational program, please contact the JFM office: 502.429.0865 or info@justfaith.org. JFM staff will assist you in any way we can.

Immigration-related happenings around Tucson

A few links from Joanne Welter in the Diocese of Tucson:

• An article about a disheartening proposal to place land mines at the border
• An article about the remains of 3 border crossers found recently.
• Christian Week: Catholic bishops oppose new Arizona immigration law.
• Human Borders Migrant Deaths map of deaths on Arizona border 1999-2009
• Humane Borders order form for their DVD about border life, death and ministry.
• Join Border Crossings for an immersion weekend this summer: With a focus on SB1070

On June 3-5, the Roundtable board met at Centro Maria in Washington DC for the annual board meeting. The board had an opportunity to plan for the upcoming year, discuss the 2011 Symposium and Award Banquet, and meet with CCHD and JPHD staff from the USCCB. A full report on the board meeting will be available in the July 2010 edition of the Roundtable Report.

During this meeting, a new executive committee was elected. Scott Cooper of the Diocese of Spokane was elected as the new Roundtable chair, after serving as vice chair. Additionally, Rob Shelledy of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee was elected Vice-chair and Cori Thibodeau of the Archdiocese of Hartford was elected Secretary/Treasurer.

We also thank Barbara Budde, Diocese of Austin, for serving as the Roundtable’s faithful chair, even extending her time as chair last year in order to provide the organization with stability during the Roundtable’s transition. Thank you Barbara for all of your talent, creativity, hard work, and dedication!

Please take a look at the biographies and get to know our new executive committee:

Scott Cooper, Roundtable Chair

Scott Cooper has been Director of Catholic Charities Spokane’s Parish Social Ministry office since 2001, where he is Diocesan Director for CCHD, CRS, Respect Life and an HIV/AIDS Ministry, as well as Catholic Social Teaching and all of Catholic Charities’ emergency financial assistance in the Diocese.  Scott worked for Second Harvest Food Bank and St. Vincent de Paul in Spokane prior to Catholic Charities.  Previously, Scott two years in Nome, Alaska, as Jesuit Volunteer working for public service radio station run by Diocese of Fairbanks.  He holds a B.A. in French from Gonzaga University and M.A. in Linguistics from University of Washington.

Scott aught French at Gonzaga University for six years.  He is married for 12 years to Mary, a public high school Drama and English teacher, is parent of two boys, Aidan (7) and Ben (5), and his family is a  member of St. Augustine Parish in Spokane.

Rob Shelledy, Vice-chair

Robert B. Shelledy, J.D., Ph.D., has been the Coordinator of Social Justice Ministry for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee since September 2004.  Rob’s responsibilities include promoting formation on Catholic Social Teaching, representing the Archdiocese in various local, state, and national organizations, encouraging the Archdiocesan Respect Life efforts, and advocating for social justice in the community.  In addition, Rob is the Diocesan Director for Catholic Relief Services and for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  He taught political science at Marquette University in 2003/2004 before joining the Archdiocese.  He is also currently an adjunct professor at Marquette.

He and his wife, Terese, live in Milwaukee and are members of St. Sebastian Parish.  They have three children, two girls ages 17 and 15, and a boy age 1.

Cori Thibodeau, Secretary/Treasurer

Cori Thibodeau has been the executive director of the Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry of the Archdiocese of Hartford since April 2008. She is also the diocesan director for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and Catholic Relief Services. Prior to this appointment Cori served as the regional director of the Catholic Social Action Office in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati from 2001 to 2008. Cori has a BA in religious education and sociology from The College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, OH and a Master of Divinity from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH.

In June, the Roundtable spoke with Dan Ebener, former Social Action Director (and Roundtable member) in the Diocese of Davenport, about his work and his latest book on Servant Leadership. Read their conversation here:

Roundtable Report:  You’ve had a long history working in ministry and education. You were a diocesan social action director for twenty years, you’ve taught in universities and workshops on leadership, non-profit management, and conflict resolution, among other topics, throughout the years. Now you are director for Stewardship and Planning for the Diocese of Davenport and have recently written a book on servant leadership. How did you find yourself where you are today?

Dan Ebener: One part of my story may be of particular interest to Roundtable members. Very early in my social action ministry, at one of my very first Roundtable meetings in the 1980s, [first Roundtable secretariat] Harry Fagan got up and said, “If you’re not developing leaders, you might as well get out of this business.” That particular statement changed my whole approach to ministry.

At that time I was guilty of trying to do too much myself. I was not delegating and creating structures for others to get involved in my ministry. But from Harry Fagan I learned that we shouldn’t be doing it ourselves, we should develop the people so that the people will do it. Lao Tzu once said, “of the best leader, the people will say when the job is finished, we did it ourselves.”

This experience first changed my ideas about leadership. And now, as you can probably tell, I am very passionate about servant leadership. I feel like it’s my next calling in life.

RR: What is servant leadership? And where in Scripture do you find the foundations for servant leadership?

DE: Servant leadership is teaching and leading the way that Jesus taught and led. It’s about welcoming people and their ideas, encouraging the initiative of all, and building greater trust, commitment and cohesion among people. It about building a greater sense of mission.

I’ve been rereading the Sermon on the Mount during the past few months. Jesus says, “Where your treasure is there also your heart will be.” And I think what I’ve come to realize about the Sermon on the Mount is that it’s all about the heart.

Where the heart is, that’s a question central to servant leadership. Is my heart with the people, the mission of the organization, with God? Or is it with selfish interests and selfish motives? Is it willing to step on anybody until I get what I want? These are the questions of servant leadership that can transform ourselves, our churches, as well as corporations and society at large.

RR: In March 2010, you published a new book entitled Servant Leadership Models for Your Parish. Tell me more about that. What models do you offer for parishes in the book?

DE: My book is about how servant leadership changes how we do church. The thing that’s great about teaching leadership is that it applies to all walks of life. I teach at the graduate level and I see nurses, teachers, social workers, pastors, business leaders, coaches in my classes. All these people create an incredible learning environment to talk about and apply to leadership, because it applies to all those fields. However, we often overlook the way that leadership applies to the way that we do church.

One of the primary ways servant leadership works in a parish is that this model brings out the best in people, it welcomes their physical presence, their ideas, initiative, participation and leadership. To be truly welcoming is to open oneself up to the full personhood of those entering the parish, not just their physical presence. If people feel like they should be “seen, not heard,” that’s not welcoming.

What my research showed too is that servant leadership increased participation in parish life. When that leadership structure is in place, people are going to take their role as follower of Christ more seriously and sharpen the saw, train themselves, and develop themselves as leaders for social action. Servant leaders guide and nurture parishioners in that process.

The beginning of the book defines servant leadership. The middle is lots of stories of what it looks like in a parish. The last section puts servant leadership into various different models that could work for  parishes.  One of the great strengths of the book is the stories about how and why servant leadership works.

Roundtable Report: Can you share an example of one of the stories in your book?

DE: One story from the smallest parish in the Davenport Diocese involves a guy who showed up for Mass 15 minutes early, and he noticed that the front door wasn’t swinging properly. So he went to his truck, pulled out a toolbox and fixed the door. He went to Mass and that was the end of it. But what’s significant about the story is that first, in a small parish, you can get things done smoothly and easily. Also, if the pastor of the church had seen him doing this, and asked him to stop and go through the building committee, see if it was in the budget, and fill out the paperwork, the guy would lose his initiative. A servant leadership model gives people a sense of ownership of their parish. That guy treated his church like his home. Of course, in a larger parish there are more rules. But the culture of a parish is contingent on the leadership of the pastor. It can either encourage or extinguish initiative. That story was just one simple story, but there are lots more in the book.

Roundtable Report: What are the trends you are seeing in the field of leadership, in our church and in our society?

DE: We’re in a kairos moment right now around servant leadership.  There is interest mounting from lots of directions.

Take, for example, one organization called “Lead Like Jesus,” which was formed out of the evangelical churches. There are lots of evangelical Christians who are CEOs of corporations who are now looking at how they can lead their companies like Jesus would. This group has spurred a lot of interest around servant leadership in the for-profit world. The CEOs of these companies are realizing that they can’t lead like Jesus without changing the workplace. And, of course, changing the workplace in a significant way like this creates an opportunity to make major transformations in our society toward social justice and human dignity, particularly around the dignity of the worker, one of the principles of Catholic social teaching.

One of the first things I say in my book is, “Every leadership situation offers an opportunity to put our faith into practice.” In every leadership situation, a CEO of an organization has an opportunity to say, “Am I going to put my corporate hat on and think only of the financial bottom line? Or am I going to go with my gut and lead like Jesus would?” They are asking themselves how they can be disciples in the workplace.

And it’s had a great impact so far on a growing number of CEOs and top organizational leaders in very large corporations. Some 40% of Fortune 500 companies have adopted servant leadership as their philosophy. Walmart has adopted servant leadership as a corporate philosophy. We have strong Christian leaders in that company, southern evangelicals who want to practice their faith at work.

People want to practice their faith while at work. If we spend the greatest number of our waking hours at work, then we should be practicing our religion there. If corporate leaders want to practice the Sermon on the Mount at work, this could be a major breakthrough for us who believe in Catholic social action.

RR: How do the ideas of servant leadership and stewardship speak to the work of diocesan social action directors? How can promoting models of servant leadership support their work?

DE: In social ministry, we’re not looking for charismatic leaders.  We are looking for transformational leaders who will create structures where people will do things themselves. We’re looking for leaders who will develop the people. As a diocesan staffperson, you can’t do it all yourself. If you try, you won’t be able to get as much done, and eventually you will burn out, but you’re also taking away the opportunity from others to get involved.

Leadership is about giving people an opportunity to practice discipleship. It’s not about work that needs to get done, it’s not about checking tasks off a “To Do” list, it’s a life that needs to be lived. The sooner we can all realize that social action ministry is a part of Christian discipleship, the sooner we will transform society.

As diocesan staffpeople, our role is to empower, enhance, and enable. Sometimes we think, “If I can just have this meeting, conference, dinner, then our social action ministry is going to excel.”  But it’s not about that. It’s about the people. It’s about creating an environment where everyone practices social action ministry because it’s a part of discipleship.

When you go to community organizing school, we talk about the iron rule, which says, “don’t do unto others what they can do unto themselves.” Our role as social action ministers is empowerment. Our role is organizing, it’s not to be the leader ourselves. The best measure of leadership is not how many followers you lead but how many leaders you develop. Social action ministry just flows throughout my latest book. Everything I learned as a diocesan social action director just flows through the book.

RR: Anything else you’d like to share with Roundtable members?

DE: My bishop sent a copy of Servant Leadership Models for Your Parish to every bishop in the country. To get a copy to every pastor in the country will take diocesan work. Every diocesan social action director should know that his or her bishop has a copy of my book.

RR: Thank you, Dan, for your time and for sharing your insights!

Purchase a copy of Dan’s book from Paulist Press.