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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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. CONCLUSIONSFrom 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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The ROUNDTABLE
18 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212.431.7825
Fax: 212.274.9786
roundtable@nplc.org
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