C h u r c h - b a s e d O r g a n i z i n g
A guide for diocesan social action offices
Prepared by
THE ROUNDTABLE
National association of diocesan social action directors
INTRODUCTION
Where did this discussion come from?For several years, Social Action Directors have engaged in a recurring conversation about church-based organizing. At the Roundtable's l992 Annual Symposium two workshops focused on this topic. The first considered basic information about organizing networks, processes, and outcomes. The second, attended by directors of dioceses where national networks are engaged in church-based organizing, indicated that while most believed that church-based organizing is good for the Church, good for parishes and clergy, good for the people involved, and especially good for the poor, some continue to ask serious questions about it.
Questions directors asked include: Are parishes getting stronger and more vital as a result of organizing? Are leaders being trained for parish leadership as well as organizational leadership? Are parishes sometimes "used" to build the networks' reputations? Are the issues selected even before the organizing process begins (and determined by successful efforts by the network in other areas of the country)? Are these networks delivering on the promises made to the community?
Questions were also raised about the social action director's role in church-based organizing. Should the director assist in bringing networks into the diocese? What is the role of diocesan staff after an organization is up and running? Should the diocesan staff hold the organization accountable to the needs and goals of the parish? Should a social action director serve on the board of a local organization or one of the national networks?
Finally, they asked about turf wars. What happens when two networks vie for the same parishes within a diocese? Should the social action staff stay out of it, referee, or assist the parishes in deciding to link up with one? Should CHD funds be used to mitigate these "wars"?
Preparing a Guide
First, we sent letters to the directors of all national networks doing church-based organizing, informing them that questions were being raised that we would seek to address.We said we would want to discuss these issues with them at a later time. Second, we asked Roundtable Board Members to fill out a questionnaire on church-based organizing as it applies in their dioceses. Questionnaire results generally showed strong support for church-based organizing. Members felt that, while the quality varies, most of the efforts have been helpful. They stated that a key element is clergy involvement. The survey conveyed that, while significant victories are being won by these organizations and leaders are being well trained for the organizing, development of leaders for internal parish efforts received mixed reviews. And some dioceses were experiencing significant difficulties; most pressing was the conflict between two or more national organizing networks vying for the right to organize a specific city or area.Survey results also made clear that social action staffs are often uncertain about their appropriate role, feel that networks sometimes avoid dealing with them, and needed written guidance to assist them in dealing with these issues. They asked that a paper include a description of church-based organizing, criteria by which the quality of the organizing can be evaluated, suggestions on the appropriate role of the social action director, and information about the various networks doing church based organizing. This paper, prepared by G. Richard Fowler, is a response to their questions.
THE LARGER CONTEXT FOR THIS DISCUSSION
While the discussion about church-based organizing is the focus of this paper, it should be made clear that this conversation lies in a larger context. For years, Roundtable members have been aware of the need to develop strong constituencies for justice within our parish communities, especially in low-income communities. The fact that dioceses and social action offices around the country are trying to determine what to do in struggling parishes is a clear indication of the crisis facing the Church in older, often very poor communities. Often this crisis is related to the difficulty of developing and supporting strong lay leaders. Many Roundtable members believe that the Church needs new, bold strategies to deal with this crisis and that one of the strategies with much potential in this regard is church-based organizing.This paper is an introduction (a primer) for those who are not familiar with church-based organizing and want to explore its potential. It will also attempt to address those who have been involved more extensively, have seen some of the potential and perhaps some of the problems, and are looking for ways to maximize the potential and minimize the problems.
Social Action Directors need to explore church-based organizing as a tool for effective urban ministry. The Roundtable believes that we must take a more active role in helping to initiate, strengthen, deepen, and improve this process, especially in terms of its effect on internal parish life. We hope that this paper will assist us in carrying out this task.
WHAT IS CHURCH-BASED ORGANIZING?
The Goal
In one sense the goal of church-based organizing is no different from that of any other kind of organizing. People organize to have power over the many decisions that affect their lives. Organizers have always sought to enable workers or neighbors to get what they need to live their lives in relative peace and happiness. Labor organizes to achieve just wages, health care, pensions, vacation time, and reasonable hours. Parents organize to improve the schools their children attend, the parks in which their children play, and the health care facilities in the community. Neighbors organize to reduce crime, get rid of the cockroaches and rodents, improve garbage collection, fight higher taxes, and too often, to keep a halfway house for addicts out of their neighborhood.
Similarly, church-based organizing is about empowering people to achieve the goals they have for themselves, their families, and their communities, and also for their parishes. The principal difference is that the Church approaches organizing with a particular set of religious values, social teachings, and beliefs. Its basic building block for organizing is the congregation or parish.
It is interesting that, while business and political leaders have long tended to see power there, congregations and parishes usually do not think of themselves as having much power. In fact, they have significant power. The primary components of power are numbers of people,
The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) was the first network to take seriously the task of developing a powerful community organization within a network of participating parishes and congregations. Other networks have followed. There are nearly two hundred church-based organizations in the country today.Last year the Campaign for Human Development allotted nearly $2.2 million to sixty of them. The goal of church-based organizing is to develop the people's ability to act effectively on issues and values. It builds on both the institutional interest of the parish and the individual interests of clergy and members. One of the tasks of the organizer is to clarify such interests. The organizer encourages leaders to think about how participation in the organization will benefit the church, improving its members' quality of life and building the parish's capacity to act publicly on its own values and teachings.
Biblical and Theological Foundations
for Church-based Organizing
The Catholic Church's support for church-based organizing is grounded in its very definition and mission. The Church is a religious institution with a mission in history. In the words of the Second Vatican Council, it is to be "the sign and the safeguard of human dignity." The Church must promote social, economic, and political conditions that enhance human dignity and contribute to the common good.
The first stories in the Bible teach that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, and that the goods of the earth are gifts meant for the benefit of all, not for the advantage of the few. With these God-given gifts goes the responsibility of stewardship. We are to be co-creators with God, working in history to create a society of justice and equity, which enables all to live with the sacred dignity given to them by the Creator.
We also learn about the Church's social mission through the life and teaching of Jesus, who used the words of the prophet Isaiah to summarize his own work on earth: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and to recover sight to the blind, to set a liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Christ's commandment to love our neighbor requires that we both respond to the effects of injustice on individuals work to redress the structural causes of injustice lodged in the social, economic, and political institutions perpetuating human suffering. To this end parishes must become effective agents for change. They need to cultivate the skills and the organizational capacity to publicly act on their religious values.
Along with the biblical imperative to work for social change, Catholics are also guided by the teachings of the Church's social encyclicals of the past hundred years. They remind us of the significance of human life and human dignity as primary values in the good society. The encyclicals emphatically promote the
John Paul II has repeatedly urged Christians to practice the virtue of solidarity. He writes, "solidarity is not a vague feeling of compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people...on the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit our whole selves to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are really responsible for all."
Guided by the moral vision of the Scriptures and the Church's social teaching, Catholics have a responsibility to engage in struggles for social and economic justice. When we see poverty, hunger, homelessness and unemployment in our communities, we understand these social ills to be violations of human dignity. Offensive to the will of God, they challenge us to respond. Church-based organizing is one viable way of responding, a way parishes can practice the virtue of solidarity, participate in the struggle for justice, and work for the protection of human dignity and basic human rights.
For such reasons the U.S. Catholic Bishops created the Campaign for Human Development (CHD). A national collection taken each year in parishes across the nation makes concrete the Church's theological teaching. The funds enable low-income families and individuals to determine their own issues, needs, goals, strategies and organizational vehicles. CHD funding of church-based organizations provides opportunities for low income parishioners to join with those in other religious traditions. Together they work on their issues of concern and put into practice Church teachings, their own faith, values and beliefs.
The Process: Four stages
While there may be some differences between networks and specific organizing groups, both seem to use a common process in building church-based organizations. There are usually four distinct stages, each built around the developing of relationships. The "one-to-one visit" is essential to every stage of the organizing process. In one-to-one visits the organizer gets to know each person. Such contacts help in assessing individuals' concerns, interests, and readiness to participate in the joint effort; they also build a relationship between the organizer and the individual.1. Exploration. This period can last two or three years. It involves assessing both the need for and the will within the community to develop a broad-based (city wide/area wide), ethnically diverse, interfaith, multi-issue organization. It requires hundreds of one-to-one visits with local clergypersons, parish and community leaders, diocesan personnel, judicatory heads, and bishops and ordinaries. These sessions include discussions of local problems, the current efforts to address them, and the potential of a larger, more focused organization.
When a national network considers state-wide strategies, some organizations may want to use the occasion to stake out new turf for their group. To circumvent that possibility, the network itself--rather than local clergy--may opt to initiate the process.
During the exploration stage, the leader draws representatives of local religious bodies together to discuss the organizing project, hear from leaders of church-based organizations in other communities, and plan strategies for expanding participation. The final step is a decision by the sponsoring committee to move ahead or to end the process. If the group decides to proceed, they usually sign a contract with the network to move to a second stage of development.
2. Recruitment. Once a contract has been signed, three things begin to happen. First, at training events for representatives from all the local institutions considering involvement, organizers from national networks share their philosophy, method, and hopes for the community. Afterward, church representatives meet with their parish councils and administrative boards to decide whether they will become a part of the effort. The decision to participate entails paying membership dues. The initial cost for a local church ranges from $500 to $5000, the exact amount decided by leaders helping to organize the effort.
The recruiting stage may last a year or so, requiring another hundred one-to-one visits from which will emerge local issues of concern. The organizer tries to understand the dynamics of the particular community and helps the organization's leaders think about what might be needed.
Second, the group raises funds from denominational sources (local and national CHD funding, for example) for a three- or four-year organizing drive. One group set a $350,000 goal for the initial four-year organizing phase. Third, the organizing committee holds another large gathering, perhaps a prayer meeting, bringing together representatives from all the institutions considering joining. Here people meet each other and begin to glimpse the powerful possibilities of working together for a common purpose. The organizers invite bishops, other judicatory leaders, and prominent representatives of nonaligned local congregations whose presence legitimizes and empowers local efforts.
Train parish leaders to make one-to-one visits with others in the congregation. The pastor can "send" or "commission" them to go into the community to listen for concerns and to identify others who will join the effort.
Invite those who have been visited to discuss together the issues that have been raised. This group will later decide which issues take priority as they begin their work together. These tend to be both internal parish issues (program for elderly, better liturgies, youth outreach) and external community issues (schools, traffic, housing, and crime.
Using research, find out whether an issue is winnable, what strategies can be used, what funds are available, and who is responsible. Such questions must be answered before moving ahead. Also, develop relationships between leaders within the local organization and decision makers in the city, county, or state. Find allies, identify responsible political leaders, and note possible sources of funding.
Invite large numbers of people to the parish hall for what might be called a "parish assembly meeting", setting the agenda for the next year or two. Those who attend are usually encouraged by the process to become personally involved in one of the selected issues; they may even see such meetings as turning points for their own involvement in parish life. During these "assemblies" the parish may vote to work as well on broader issues of concern to the larger organization.
Internal development depends very much on the local pastor's support. When clergy are not supportive, it is almost impossible to proceed. When they are passively supportive, organizing is possible, but the results will be mixed. When the local clergy see organizing as a helpful strategy to "build the church", these internal steps can be extremely positive. Internal development must not end, however, with the big meeting. Without continued work and follow-through, such efforts could lead to even worse cynicism and frustration. The organizer's ongoing support at this stage is, therefore, crucial.
4. Extension to the broader community. The campaign around a common issue may actually take place while a number of participating institutions are still at step three. It will almost always take place before every parish has completed its internal organizing process. Why? Because an ongoing tension exists between a parish's internal organizing efforts and its external push to establish a new housing program or an improvement of the public school system.
At some point the group must be a focus on the larger issues facing the community. The steps leading to broad-based community actions are no different from those listed earlier:
A final step involves careful evaluation of all events and actions. Leaders gather after each event to determine what went right and what went wrong. Individual leaders are encouraged to look carefully at their own performances and to use the evaluation to help them improve in the future. The evaluation may lead to discussions of next steps and further work assignments, new one-on-one visits, and further research.
DETERMINING THE QUALITY OF ORGANIZING EFFORTS
Social action directors question how to determine whether the church-based organizing being done in the parishes is quality work. Such an assessment might involve the following measures:1. Is the organization developing both primary and secondary leadership at the parish level?
One of the criticisms sometimes raised about church-based organizing is that an organizer comes into a parish, works for a while to identify enough good leaders to produce numbers for the big actions, and then moves on to another parish or congregation. The few primary leaders may also become part of the decision-making process for the organization. In a good church-based effort, however, primary leaders are trained and developed on an ongoing basis, through multi-day sessions provided by the national network or in sessions under the auspices of the local organization or a specific parish. Primary leaders will also understand that part of their responsibility is to be recruiting and developing new leaders (sometimes called "secondary leaders") for the parish.Church-based organizing is criticized when the organizer controls the agenda. The organizer is, of course, a professional, hired to train and advise the leadership of the organization in the best methods for accomplishing its goals.
But the organizer may trespass across an invisible boundary, and become the one who determines the organization's direction, leaving the "leaders" to rubber stamp their approval. In a good church-based organization, the leaders (both lay and clergy) make the decisions about which issues to tackle and what strategies to follow. The organizer trains the leaders to accomplish their agenda effectively.
2. Does the organization insure that the leaders move easily between parish and organization leadership roles?
Network representatives often create the expectation that new leaders will be developed for the parish. Our survey showed, in fact, that this is happening. In some cases, though, leaders tend to gravitate toward the organization and away from the parish. Obviously continued deep involvement on both levels can lead to disaster at home, so there may be some periods when the focus is on the organization and other periods when it is on the parish. However, if the trend is away from parish and never the other way around, the parish involvement in the larger organization must be a means of parish development. Working hard to bring people into the larger issues and struggles of a community will clearly enhance the life of the participating parish community.3. Is the organization working for a good mix of internal parish development and external issue work?
Some tension will always exist between the internal development of the parish and the common work taken on by the organization as a whole. Recognizing that, one local organization decided to spend every third year focusing on the redevelopment of the local church units. Good organizations understand this tension and work with it. Otherwise, they stand to lose their base of operations; if churches opt out and stop paying dues, the entire effort will fail. Also, it is at the parish level where people begin to learn how to approach issues, become leaders, conduct research, and carry out successful actions. There must be an amenable process of moving from parish, community, or regional issues to joining the leadership team on the larger city-wide efforts.4. Is the organization inclusive?
Usually the organizational networks are better at this than are parishes. They push parishes to include every religious tradition, every ethnic and racial minority, and to cover the entire city, county, or region. The organizing networks have taught the faith community that it takes all of us to get the results we all want.5. Is the organization making a real difference on issues in the community?
This is the other side of the "tension" to work within the local congregation. If the organization always focuses on the internal church development and never focuses on the major issues being raised, people will ultimately feel that they have failed to accomplish what the organization was formed to achieve. The organization must become a "player" within the city, county, and state. It must develop the clout to accomplish goals not achievable by the individual parishes. It must be able to point to new school programs, newly built homes, lower crime rates, and safer communities as results of its group efforts.6. Does the organization have its own policy-making board or strategy committee?
These boards will differ from organization to organization, but at some point there must be a "strategy team", a board of directors, or some kind of decision making body. It must decide issues, strategies, actions, and campaigns. The board must also hire and hold accountable the organizing network and the local organizer the network hires. And in an interesting twist the organizer and network, in turn, must hold that group accountable to do the work it plans to do.7. Does the organization have and/or maintain essential attachments to a national network?
The experience around the country is that unconnected church-based organizations often do not survive long. Somehow the experience of professionals, their distance and objectivity, the accountability they foster, their connections to experiences in other communities, the national training process, and their finding and developing good organizers are very difficult to live without at a local level. Starting a church-based organization that is not a part of one of the national networks (no matter what the experience of the leaders or organizer) is extremely risky. It should only be attempted when no network is available to assist, and even then local groups should affiliate in some way, so they can take advantage of national training sessions and periodic on-site consultation and training.WHAT IS THE ROLE OF DIOCESAN SOCIAL ACTION DIRECTOR IN CHURCH-BASED ORGANIZING?
1. There is no church-based organization in your diocese, but your office strategy includes helping to create one.
The emphasis here is on "your office strategy". Most social action offices are searching for ways to build constituencies for justice within local parishes. Some have turned to legislative networks. Others think it makes more sense to join or form an interfaith effort with others in the community, creating a church-based community organization. Whatever the decision, it should be part of an overall office strategy. Before proceeding too far, you will want to get at least the preliminary approval of the Ordinary. If he strongly opposes the idea, it is better to save your time and energy. Once the decision has been made to proceed, there are several recommended steps:Step 2. Determine which, if any, national networks are already working in your city, state, or area. (Major networks are listed as an insert with this paper, with addresses and phone numbers.) If there is more than one network, your sponsoring committee must become familiar with and assess the work of each. Talk with network organizers, clergy, and other leaders from affiliated organizations in the area. Find out what they have done in other communities, what each would expect of you, what the costs would be, and determine whether they have an interest and willingness to come into your community. Currently, there are more communities that want church-based organizing than there are trained organizers to go around. Efforts to create more organizations could unwittingly weaken those now extant if demands for expansion depend on organizers without seasoned professional skills.
Expect the familiarizing process to be a two-way street because the network will test your seriousness and commitment to building a new organization. They will want to know how much support you have from the various denominational heads, whether your group is representative of the whole community, whether you have the funds to contract for their services, and whether you have leaders ready to carry out local work.
Step 3. Negotiate with the network that best suits the needs of your area. The initial contract will usually be limited in scope. For example, in Washington, D.C., a local sponsoring committee contracted with the Industrial Areas Foundation to have an organizer spend a certain number days per month for nearly two years "exploring" the development of a new organization. Your initial contract need not be exactly like any other agreement in the country; it should meet the needs of your own particular area. It would certainly be a good idea, though, to talk with others who have been through such a process to understand costs, services, and appropriate expectations.
Step 4. Decide to move ahead, raise funds, sign a long term contract with the network, and look at the organizer or organizers the network presents for your consideration. Usually the network will provide their top candidate for you to interview. Ask a number of persons to spend time with the prospective organizer. Remember, you are the ones who have raised the money, it is your community, and this decision is yours to make. Sometimes the organizer is presented as if you have absolutely no choice in the matter. There should be.
Once you have made this decision, the organizing process moves into a new phase of development and the sponsoring committee is replaced by a core team made up of clergy and lay persons emerging from the actual organizing process.
2. Role of Social Action Director if there is already a church-based organizing effort working in the diocese.
There will no doubt be situations in which a diocesan social action director or staff person is hired to work in a community where there is already an existing church-based organization. This situation can sometimes become awkward--even competitive and destructive--unless certain precautions are taken. There are some steps you can take which will be helpful in dealing with such a situation.You should become well acquainted with the effort. The first instinct should be one of openness and listening. Sit down with the Catholic clergy involved in the organization. Find out what is going on and how the organization is affecting their parishes, their leaders, and the broader community in which they live. What issues have they worked on? What are there successes and disappointments? Talk also to leaders from the parishes. Be supportive of their efforts and begin to determine whether there are ways you can or should be involved in the organizing efforts. Attend meetings of the core team to learn more about what is being worked on and assess the overall effectiveness of the organization. Find out what local congregations or parishes are doing, and, if possible, join the process of internal organizing in one of the parishes. Explore with the organizer and consider attending one of their national training sessions. Determine the level of CHD funding coming from the diocese and talk to national CHD staff about the organization in your community. Quietly assess the relationship between the organizing efforts and the local diocese, bishop, and other agencies and offices.
The goal of all these "assessments" is to put you into a position where you can be helpful. If the organizing is good and the organization is strong, be supportive and helpful. Learn from it. Facilitate what you can within the diocese, with the Ordinary, with CHD, and with other offices and agencies. The church can and should learn a lot from these efforts.
If, however, you conclude that the organization is not doing well, you may face a more difficult task. It is, of course, irresponsible to fund local efforts not producing the desired results, and usually, the Catholic Church--through CHD and local parish contributions--is a major funder. The national networks sign contracts with coalitions of local churches; those churches--not the diocese--must hold the national networks accountable. Sometimes a diocesan staff person can help parishes assess what is going on locally, which could lead to constructive discussions with national network staff.
If the organization is not doing well, it is recommended that you talk with national CHD personnel or someone in the Roundtable before moving into a "confrontation" with the local organization. You do not want to be seen as opposing the efforts but as a person who very much wants their full potential to be realized. Such distinctions will become very fuzzy if not handled carefully.
Build a strong relationship with the organizer so that he or she knows that you are basically supportive of the work of the organization. It will go a long way toward easing any tensions that might arise around your own agenda. Make it clear that you must attend to other interests of the church beyond what can and will be delivered by the organization.
Find ways to deliver on diocesan priorities without damaging the organization's efforts. For example, the organizer may know of a parish leader who has served her term within the organization and needs another challenge. It may even be that a statewide network could help the organization on issues they want to confront on a larger basis. You should demonstrate your desire to work cooperatively by not scheduling major events at the same time the organization is holding a large meeting or campaign.
Obviously this scenario implies a measure of good will, open communication, and trusting relationships. Such is not always the case. If you find little openness to working together, discuss the situation with national CHD staff, other Roundtable members, or perhaps your own bishop to determine next steps. Remember that the local parish does not "belong" to the network. Nor does it "belong" to the social action office. It exists to serve a variety of needs and to carry out a variety of tasks. And as long as it is part of the Catholic Church, leaders will probably at least want to consider the priorities and goals of the ordinary and his staff persons.
Acknowledge that the organizer may already have a good working relationship with the bishop and, in fact, they may be meeting a regular basis; if he or she is smart, regular meetings will be taking place. Our recommendation is that you ask the bishop to include you in the meetings. In Washington, the Archbishop meets on a regular basis with organizers and involved pastors. These meetings are organized by social action staff persons who are also present.
If the bishop's relationship with the organizer is strong and precedes your own, however, the situation may be difficult to change. Make it clear to the bishop, both personally and in writing, that to do the job that he has hired you to do, you need to be in the loop concerning work of the local organizations and parishes. He will, it is hoped, respect you and the role he has given you enough to include you. If not, ask for advice and live with it. Frankly, if you are in a position to be helpful to your ordinary on issues related to the organizations, he will probably want you to be present.
3. Role of the social action director in a diocese where there are "turf wars" between national networks.
Unfortunately, there are a few cities or locales where there is more than one network vying for the right to organize the territory. Such "turf wars" can become very stressful for bishops, diocesan staff persons, CHD personnel, and clergy. What should a local social action staff person do when one of these competitive situation emerges?1. Stay neutral. It is important to remember that this is not a decision that you should be making. If church-based organizing is made up of local congregations, they should decide which national networks best meet their own needs. If Catholic Church officials attempt to make the decision for the community, they could strike a fatal blow to the interfaith cooperation and decision-making that must be at the heart of these efforts. On the other hand, there is a role for the ordinary and his counterparts in other denominations. They have much at stake with their local congregations and parishes, and they, along with local clergy and lay persons should make the decision together.
2. Seek help. Often the Campaign for Human Development is brought into conflicts because vying networks are requesting funds. It is very important that the diocesan CHD director, the social action staff person and the national CHD staff are talking and "in sync" with one another.
In some cases it may be helpful to withhold CHD funds from the vying organizations until the local group has selected the network with whom they will contract. Even if CHD or the local diocese has a strong opinion about which network is best, the decision must remain with an interfaith group, which determines how and with whom to proceed. Possibly, two national networks could organize in the same city; certainly, creative alternatives must be sought. It would be a mistake, however, to fund or support two conflicting organizations in the very same territory.
The role of the social action director, then, is to try to keep the decision-making process where it belongs, in the hands of the appropriate judicatory officials and leaders from congregations, parishes, and synagogues.
4. Role of the Social Action Director with an organization your office helped to establish.
The possibilities range from very active involvement in the key decision-making group and heavy participation in all actions of the organization to no involvement at all. Our recommendation is something in between and would include the following.Stay close and supportive. It is important for the diocesan staff person to learn as much as possible about what the organization is doing. This might mean attending local and national training, walking through the internal process at one or more of the parishes with local leaders, and sitting in on some of the decision making meetings. It does not mean becoming a leader within the organization. Even in a parish where the diocesan staff person is active, her or she ought not assume the roles of both a diocesan staff and organizational leader. The staff person needs distance and objectivity in meeting regularly with the organizer, making plans on bringing in new parishes, sharing ideas and concerns, and talking about ways the organization can better serve the needs of the community and church. Also, the staff person should continue to talk with the local clergy about the project. Are they pleased with the progress? How is it changing their view of ministry? How is the organizing changing the life of the parish? Are we staying within our own value system? Are there problems developing? The staff person can become a helpful trouble-shooter to reduce tensions and difficulties between the organization and the Catholic parishes.
We mentioned earlier that a social action office may find church-based organizing is in the best interest of the office and plan for it. In that case, the social action staff person must evaluate whether the organizing process is producing the hoped-for effects. If not, discussions with the organizer are certainly in order. Yet, even if you have helped to initiate the process, the organizers are accountable to the local parishes and their funding sources, not necessarily to your office.
Develop organizing agenda within the diocesan structure. Your role is to be the liaison between the organization and ordinary and other offices in the chancery. You might be called upon to set up meetings between the organizer and the bishop, or to establish a meeting where the local clergy communicate to the ordinary the work being done by the organization in their communities. The church-based organization may have a meeting where the presence of the bishop is desired, and you would be staffing the ordinary for that event: giving briefings on issues, writing his comments, and attending the meeting with him.
At times, other departments within the diocesan structure are affected by the organizing process. In Washington, the social action staff set up meetings between the organization and the Secretariat for Parish Life and Worship so that they would better understand the internal development process happening in a number of parishes. There also may be a need to coordinate diocesan evangelization efforts with the organizing process of a local parish. A key role for the diocesan staff person is to develop within the chancery support and understanding of the organizing process.
CONCLUSIONS
From the Roundtable's perspective, church-based organizing is clearly one of the most effective tools available to the Church to build constituency of justice and to enable people to achievecommon goals. It is a tool that social action directors should both understand and support. There is a clear role for diocesan social action directors and staffs in the development, support, and maintenance of church-based community organizations in diocesan parishes. Such organizations can become a part of an office strategy to build constituencies, leadership, and parish skill in dealing effectively with issues of concern to low and moderate-income communities. While this paper is an introductory primer (and does not substitute for consultation with other social action directors and CHD staff members), we hope it is informative and helpful in orienting social action directors and staffs to both the potentials and pitfalls of church-based community organizing.Final text, June 1994. For additional copies: The Roundtable, 18 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012.
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