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
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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. |
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