Dear Roundtable members,

The Roundtable seeks to provide you with relevant formation and professional development opportunities to enhance your work in the midst of a changing world. To this end, we’ve developed a series of education and formation opportunities that respond to the greatest needs and interests that you’ve expressed over the past year.

We hope you’ll join us again on Thursday, May 31 at 1-2pm ET (10-11am PT) for a webinar on Developing Leaders in your Diocese.

This interactive webinar will examine the disciplines of doing justice ministry in a relational and engaging way. It will feature the topics of: deepening relationship with leaders, especially young people; the importance of focus and vision for teams; and making justice ministry integral to the practical realities of parish life.

Featuring Lonnie Ellis OFS, age 30, who has six years of faith-based organizing and parish experience, much of it in St. Paul, MN. He now works for Franciscan Action Network.

To receive call-in information for the webinar, please RSVP to coordinator@catholicroundtable.org. Our conversation will be limited to 25 participants. Thank you!

“To bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, this is the mission statement for the Church that Jesus offers,” presenter Jeff Korgen began the March 30 webinar on Building God’s Kingdom on a Tight Budget: The Importance of Pastoral Planning.

“The question, then,” he continued, “is how do we do this mission in this place, and this time?” He cited Dr. William Pickett’s definition of pastoral planning as “praying and thinking about the actions of the Body of Christ in a given place and time.” To begin pastoral planning for their offices, social action directors should think about their own office’s contribution to this mission.

Jeff invited participants to imagine their office winning the Oak of Justice Prize, then jot down a response to the question, “What makes your office worthy of this prize?” The answer, he contends, is a vision statement. It is the naming of an “ideal future,” for your office. In addition to visioning, Jeff challenged participants to think about goals for their office that could “change everything” if they were achieved. Game-changing goals, Jeff said, alter the way an office approaches their planning.

Jeff lifted up the example of the Diocese of Tucson, where the social action director realized that justice on the border would be a “game-changer,” since so many other life and justice issues emanate from that one. This type of focus “gives single-issue politics a good name,” Jeff said.

Objectives are the next step of the planning process and should be concrete and measureable; they are the “rungs on the ladder to get us to our goals,” goals which should address challenges related to the Church’s social mission.

Engaging new leaders in social action work is often the biggest challenge that diocesan directors face. Jeff raised the example from his book My Lord and My God: Engaging Catholics in Social Ministry of Bertha, a woman at the fringe of her parish who took on all the social justice work and used “operational” tactics like bulletin announcements to try to recruit new volunteers.

To overcome this challenge, leadership development should be a goal for every social action office. Using the principles of community organizing, new leaders are developed through relationship building via 1:1 meetings. A pastoral plan’s concrete objectives should include numbers on how many 1:1 meetings with pastors, deacons, religious and lay persons will be completed each week. Jeff critiqued the “operational style” of recruitment via e-blasts and bulletin announcements, reminding participants that Jesus invited people to follow him by calling them by name.

After budget cuts and loss of social action staff in the Diocese of Davenport, the diocesan director had to discover new ways to build capacity in the office. The leaders that the director had developed over the years were willing to help, and he was able to engage ten volunteers, alongside the two paid staff, who worked weekly in the office, each with their own space and each working on a specific program. In exchange for their labor, the diocesan director’s responsibility was to ensure that these volunteers were growing as leaders.

Recognizing that this type of leadership development is time-intensive, Jeff recommended that priority be put on meeting with pastors who weren’t already engaged in justice work but were pastoral leaders who could be engaged and invited to participate. He also recommended that when seeking to collaborate with other diocesan offices, to actively listen to their needs and self-interests. He offered the example of a diocesan Catholic education office that did not feel they had the capacity to take on new justice education initiatives that the social action office wanted them to undertake. However, they were delighted when the social action office took the time to learn that they were in need of speakers at the teachers’ continuing education seminars, and offered to provide speakers on educating about Catholic social teaching. Through relationship building, creative solutions emerge which help to achieve those “game-changing” goals.

The ample time for discussion during the webinar surfaced a number of specific questions about how to do this work in various pastoral situations. Roundtable members who missed the webinar and would like to view the recording can login to the Virtual Roundtable to see it and download the presentation slides.

For those interested in learning even more about using principles of community organizing to build relationships and enhance the capacity of your office, please join us for our upcoming webinar on May 31, which will build on these ideas. Details to follow!

“These numbers are not statistics, but people suffering and wounded in their human dignity.”

If you missed this letter on the economic situation by Cardinal Dolan last fall, take a look in anticipation of this summer’s SASI in Louisville, July 29-Aug. 1 “Called to Transformative Community: Addressing Poverty Today.”

Track II will provide an in-depth look at how to better educate and advocate in our communities in the context of a broken economy, where many continue to suffer. Join us for sessions from USCCB-JPHD, Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities USA & go home inspired & equipped!

See the original posting.

September 15, 2011

Dear Brother Bishops,
The Administrative Committee urged me to write you on an important matter for our Church and nation. During our recent meeting, it was reported that 46 million people (15%) now live in poverty in the United States. This report follows dismal unemployment figures in recent months.  For us as bishops, these numbers are not statistics, but people suffering and wounded in their human dignity.  They are parents who cannot feed their children, families that have lost their homes and jobless workers who have lost not only income, but also a sense of their place in society.  For us, each of these persons is a child of God with innate human dignity and rights that deserve respect.  These numbers bring home to us the human costs and moral consequences of a broken economy that cannot fully utilize the talents, energy and work of all our  people.  We know the terrible toll the current economic turmoil is taking on families and communities. In our own Catholic dioceses we are struggling to match scarce resources with growing needs and have had to make very difficult financial, personnel and organizational choices.

We discussed how best to respond to this urgent pastoral challenge.  The Administrative Committee wanted something more than a public statement. Instead, they asked me to write to all the bishops and ask you to continue do all you can to lift up the human, moral and spiritual dimensions of the ongoing economic crisis.  Widespread unemployment, underemployment and pervasive poverty are diminishing human lives, undermining human dignity, and hurting children and families.  I hope we can use our opportunities as pastors, teachers, and leaders to focus public attention and priority on the scandal of so much poverty and so many without work in our society. In order to assist you in these ongoing efforts, the Administrative Committee has asked the bishops’ conference to provide you, diocesan staffs and other leaders with resources and materials for preaching, educating the faithful and advocating on behalf of the poor and jobless.  You can already find some materials that can be helpful in these tasks on the “Unemployment and Poverty” page of the USCCB website.  This page will be updated periodically and additional resources will be available shortly.  Please share with the bishops’ conference your own statements, resources or actions that you have taken to address these issues (please email or fax to 202-541-3339).

The best way out of poverty is to work at a living wage.  In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, ‘Being out of work or dependent on public or private assistance for a prolonged period undermines the freedom and creativity of the person and his family and social relationships, causing great psychological and spiritual suffering’ (Caritas in Veritate, no. 25).  The common good will not advance; economic security will not be achieved; and individual initiative will be weakened when so many live without the dignity of work and bear the crushing burden of poverty.  These economic failures have fundamental institutional and systemic elements that have either been ignored or made worse by political and economic behaviors, which have undermined trust and confidence.  However, this is not time to make excuses or place blame.  It is a time for everyone to accept their own personal and institutional responsibility to help create jobs and to overcome poverty, each in accord with their own abilities and opportunities. Individuals and families, faith-based and community groups, businesses and labor, government at every level, all must work together and find effective ways to promote the common good in national and economic life.

Sixteen million of our children (almost one out of four) are growing up poor.  It is especially disheartening that African-Americans and Hispanics live with unemployment and poverty at far higher rates than others. Immigrant workers are especially vulnerable to exploitation and unfair treatment.  These realities contradict our national pledge of “liberty and justice for all.”  They also contradict the consistent teaching of our Church.  Our Catholic tradition begins with respect for the life and dignity of all, requires a priority concern for poor and vulnerable people, reflects the ties and bonds of solidarity, respects the mutual relationships of subsidiarity, and promotes the dignity of work and protection for workers.

As bishops, we lead communities that include many of those who lack sufficient work or resources to live a decent life.  Every day, we serve ‘the least of these’ in our midst. In our Catholic parishes, schools, charities, hospitals and other ministries, the poor, the underemployed and the unemployed are not issues, but people with names and faces.  It is an essential part of our work as Catholics to build a more just society and economy.  We feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, educate the young, welcome refugees and care for the sick and vulnerable.  Our Church serves and stands in solidarity with those who are poor and jobless, helping them break the cycle of poverty and act on behalf of their own families and communities.  Our Conference will continue to urge our leaders to assist and protect the poor and jobless as they seek to promote economic growth and fiscal responsibility.  The Catholic community will strengthen our work with others to address the economic, family, social and other factors which contribute to widespread poverty.

In these tough economic times, we turn to the God who loves us.  We pray for those who need work.  We lift up the poor and suffering.  We ask God’s guidance for our nation.  This is not a time to give into discouragement.  It is a time for faith, hope and love.  Faith offers us moral principles to guide us in the days ahead.  Christian hope gives us strength.  Christ’s love calls us to care for those left behind in this broken economy.

Thank you my brothers for your pastoral leadership in preaching the Gospel and standing strong for the Church’s moral and social teaching in these difficult days.

Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Roundtable seeks to provide you with relevant formation and professional development opportunities to enhance your work in the midst of a changing world. To this end, we’ve developed a series of education and formation opportunities that respond to the greatest needs and interests that you’ve expressed over the past year.

We hope you’ll join us again this month on Friday, March 30 at 10-11am PT / 1-2pm ET, for a webinar on The Importance of Pastoral Planning, led by former Director of the Roundtable Jeff Korgen.

Building God’s Kingdom on a Tight Budget: The Importance of Pastoral Planning

Do you feel like you are building God’s Kingdom on a tight budget? This webinar will offer the tools of pastoral planning in the social justice context to help you make the most of the human and financial resources you do have. In these challenging economic times, we are often asked to accomplish our mission with smaller budgets. During the webinar, we will look at how to set “game changing” goals and objectives to develop new leadership and enhance the capacity of our offices to bring about the Kingdom of God—even in austere times.

To receive call-in information for the webinar, please RSVP to coordinator@catholicroundtable.org.
Our conversation will be limited to 25 participants. Thank you!

Jeffry Odell Korgen is the Executive Director of the Department of Diocesan Planning for the Diocese of Metuchen. From 1998-2008, he worked at The National Pastoral Life Center as Director of Social Ministries. Jeff has also worked in community organizing (Brockton Interfaith Community), interfaith relations (Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston) and youth ministry (Immaculate Conception Church in Springfield, MO).

A native of Slidell, Louisiana, Jeff holds degrees in philosophy, pastoral ministry, and social work from Boston College. He is working on a Graduate Certificate in Canon Law at St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN.

He is the author of Solidarity Will Transform the World: Stories of Hope from Catholic Relief Services published by Orbis Books (2007), My Lord and My God!: Engaging Catholics in Social Ministry, published by Paulist Press (2007), and co-editor of Living God’s Justice: Reflections and Prayers published by St. Anthony Messenger Press (2006). His articles on community organizing, Catholic social teaching, pastoral planning, and youth ministry have appeared in publications such as America, CHURCH, and Liturgy and Ministry. His new book, The True Cost of Low Prices: The Violence of Globalization (Second Edition) will be published by Orbis in Spring, 2013.

Jeff was baptized in another Christian tradition, but came into the Roman Catholic Church through his encounter with Catholic social teaching at Boston College and his friendships with the monks of St. Joseph Abbey in St. Benedict, Louisiana.

Jeff lives in the Township of Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife, sociologist Kathleen Odell Korgen and daughters Julie and Jessica. He attends St. Peter Claver Church in Montclair.
jkorgen@diometuchen.org

Save the date for next year’s Symposium, February 9-10, 2013 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park! The Catholic Social Ministry Gathering will follow, February 10-13.

On February 11, the Roundtable awarded Jan Benton, SFO the 2012 Harry A. Fagan Award. Check out Roundtable member Jerry Freewalt’s tribute to Jan, and two clips from Jan’s address to the Roundtable. In the first, she encourages participants to “see the people behind the disability” instead of putting them aside with sentimentality. In the second, she discusses the current challenges faced by advocates for people with disabilities, as they relate to protecting life in accordance with Catholic social teaching.

We’ll have more reflections & photos about the 2012 Symposium in the coming weeks, but we wanted to share a few snippets of the feedback from participants about what they gained from this year’s Symposium Feb. 11-12 in Washington DC. Over 75 participants from 41 dioceses gathered together this year.

Have a reflection about the Symposium you’d like to share? Ways you’re using what you learned in your ministry? Share with the Roundtable!

Dr. Love takes off her "rose colored glasses."

On the speakers’ sessions: “Dr. Love’s presentation was excellent. I make presentations on racism and I am looking forward to receiving her slides to enhance my presentation.”

“Wonderful presentation that flowed nicely from our October webinar. Good connections!”

“Fr. Hehir’s presentation was excellent & filled with rich material. His presentation alone was worth the price of being here.”

“Dr. Finn’s explanations are clear and insightful. All presenters helped me understand the ‘signs of the times’ better.”

On the prayer services: “The prayers and songs were very meaningful. I will use the booklet in other efforts at home.”

On the membership meeting: “Useful – feeling of solidarity & good networking.”
“Great to see the diversity at this meeting and so many new members.”
“The timeframe was too short for the conversations that we wanted to have.”

The highlights: “Jan’s [Fagan Award] acceptance speech. The many-faceted response from the [Sunday] panel members. Dr. Finn’s references to love.”

“The best Symposium in a long time. Excellent, timely topic. The speakers were the best.”

“Fr. Marv’s history [that he offered during the luncheon]. We could have a history gathering each year.”

“The relevance of this year’s topic was amazing. Please ensure that future events are just as relevant.”

Learnings to take back to participants’ ministries: “I will put together a Faithful Citizenship plan and meet with our Catholic newspaper to coordinate communications.”

“I will be more attentive to the rights/responsibilities parts of Catholic Social Teaching when framing discussions of Faithful Citizenship, especially those rights outlined in CST.”

“My takeaways: Showing how CST has much to add to our understanding of government. We need to have respect for our differences. We need to re-imagine different solutions for transmitting the Good News of our faith!”

“I will think carefully about my use of language when talking about public policy. I’ll put a human face on public policy issues. I have lots to think about.”

Recommendations for future Roundtable events: “Evangelization & CST. Why it is so important to bring Catholics up to speed with our Church’s teaching and its transformative power of love.”

“The practical ways of doing our jobs in difficult times.”

“Food justice. Creating local food systems.”

“The Church on the edges – becoming voices of peace for the U.S.-Mexico border.”

The Roundtable seeks to provide you with relevant formation and professional development opportunities to enhance your work in the midst of a changing world. To this end, we’ve developed a series of education and formation opportunities that respond to the greatest needs and interests that you’ve expressed over the past year.

We hope you’ll join us again this month on Wednesday January 25 at 11-12 noon PT / 2-3pm ET, for a webinar on Building a Life & Dignity Movement, led by your colleague Rob Shelledy, Director of the Social Justice Ministry Office of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and Lydia LoCoco Director of the Nazareth Project for Marriage and Family Formation at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Barbara Sella, the Associate Director for Respect Life and Social Concerns will join Rob and Lydia.

Please note: This is a date change from what was originally listed on the webinar calendar.

As John Paul II wrote in his 1995 encyclical, Evangelium vitae, “The Gospel of God’s love for man, the Gospel of the dignity of the person and the Gospel of life are a single and indivisible Gospel.” Yet, we often do not act this way as we bring our faith into public life and our public life certainly does not reflect this reality. The webinar will give several practical steps, including use of language and specific programs, to help build a Life and Dignity Movement.

To receive call-in information for the webinar, please RSVP to coordinator@catholicroundtable.org.

Our conversation will be limited to 25 participants. We look forward to you joining us!

On the first of December, 25 Roundtable members participated in a webinar on building capacity. As diocesan directors seek to develop infrastructures within their dioceses and assist parishes in building their own capacity for social action work, the topic was particularly relevant, given that in many dioceses, offices are facing the challenges of smaller staffs and budgets.

The model that Tony Stieritz and Pam Long in the Catholic Social Action office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati offered was comprehensive and inspiring. They began the webinar by stressing that building capacity meant capacity not only for their office but increasing capacity for all parishioners of the diocese to take part in the church’s social mission. Tony and Pam’s capacity building strategy includes formation to build new leadership, organizing regional infrastructure, and organizing diocesan level ministries.

In the area of formation, Tony and Pam shared that programs like JustFaith and Journey to Justice have been powerful in transforming parishioners into social action leaders, and school in-services have helped teachers empower youth and take Catholic social teaching to heart. Tony noted that the 2012 World Day of Peace message will be Educating Young People for Justice and Peace. The office also provides a five-week course based on the Communities of Salt and Light document course for parishes looking to start a social action committees. They have created a parish assessment tool for broadly integrating Catholic social teaching into parish life and seeing that every parishioner understands the church’s social mission to be their own.

Tony and Pam shared the regional infrastructures which reflect the unique needs, geographic features, and interests of various parts of the diocese. Cincinnati and Dayton both have networks where parish social justice commissions or other advocates come together across the city to discern which social teachings and issues they will work on that year, and develop educational resources and provide or support opportunities for legislative advocacy according to USCCB or OH State Conference priorities.

A unique feature of the Advocates for Justice: Greater Cincinnati Parish Collaborative is the Annual Issue Discernment Congress, at which any parish delegation can submit an issue submit an issue and offer a presentation on how it:  relates to Catholic social teaching and the Bishops’ teachings, has current actionable items, and meets current Archdiocesan priorities. Delegates vote and taskforces are created around the issues that emerge.

In the more rural deaneries of the dioceses, two rural life conferences exist, because the two rural areas of the Archdiocese have their own distinct charisms. These conferences host an annual farm mass, rural life plunges for youth which connect them to their food and to caring for God’s creation. One conference has created a registry for Catholic farming families who have been farming the same land for 100 years.

In order to organize diocesan level ministries, the Catholic Social Action Commission is divided into task forces for CCHD, CRS, and special issues (currently climate change and racism). The CRS Committee assists in hosting the largest annual Fair Trade sale in the U.S. (outside of what SERV does at conferences). A CRS Capacity Building Grant has allowed the office to create a CCHD-CRS parish promoter network. Promoters receive updates just before the CRS and CCHD collections, including guest speakers representing those organizations and opportunities to engage with CCHD-funded groups. Being transparent and inviting about CCHD-funded groups has meant that parishioners have been very enthusiastic about contributing to the collection.

Tony and Pam completed their presentation by offering a number of challenges their office faces, including a lack of time and capacity for needed ongoing deeper formation, the number of meetings to attend given such an elaborate infrastructure, and parish and commission leaders sometimes wanting to go faster than the Archdiocese in their planning.

Participants had a number of specific questions for Tony and Pam, including how they publicize opportunities to be involved in the structures they have set up, how they communicate electronically with their teams, how pastors are involved in their work, and how Operation Rice Bowl funds are allocated in their diocese, for example.

The conversation is just beginning; please join us on the Virtual Roundtable as we continue to explore ways to build diocesan capacity and creatively meet the challenges we face in that process.
Tony and Pam ask: Where have you found long-term ways to empower parish leaders to own CST and move into action? What are your challenges in moving forward?

If you’re a Roundtable member, you can access a recording of webinar and Tony and Pam’s slides on the Virtual Roundtable, along with the parish assessment tool they have created.