May 11, 2001
St. Louis
Cosponsored by the Incarnate Word Foundation and the Daughters of Charity Healthcare Foundation of St. Louis
Marketing, advocacy, collaboration--these are just a few of the many challenges leaders of religious ministries face in a world far different from the one in which their communities were founded. To provide these leaders with information, skills, and support they can use as they start or continue ministries in today's complex environment, the Incarnate Word Foundation and the Daughters of Charity Healthcare Foundation of St. Louis sponsored this conference, which attracted more than 100 participants.
Keynoter Barbara Morrison-Rodriguez described the societal conditions in which faith-based ministries function. Spiritual poverty afflicts many in our society and leads to violence, crime, delinquency, teen pregnancy, and hopelessness. According to Morrison-Rodriguez, human services programs must address spiritual poverty, which is fostered by many pervasive evils, including material poverty, unemployment, poor education and health, and the breakdown of two-parent families and other structures through which young people develop a moral foundation. To be effective, social service programs must be comprehensive, addressing individuals and the communities in which they live.
To influence the many constituencies that help them build their ministries, leaders of religious ministries need specific skills to draw out others' energy and enthusiasm. Presenter Dan Coughlin urged leaders to demonstrate sincere concern for others and communicate with respect. Leaders must listen to others' ideas and clarify values and expectations. Declaring a noble purpose for the organization is essential to keep staff, funders, clients, volunteers, and others enthusiastic about the organization's work.
Conference attendees shared their experiences and questions in facilitated dialogue sessions on a wide range of topics. Participants pinpointed the many skills they are being called to develop. Paramount among these is finding ways to consistently finance their ministries so that they can construct long-range plans.
Among the essential skills related to funding is advocacy with legislators, clients, and funders, to increase their understanding of a ministry. Working with other religious communities, a variety of lay and religious organizations, and lay staff and volunteers is also often a new endeavor for faith-based ministries, which have historically operated alone. The dialogues suggested ways to deal with turf issues and prepare laypersons to carry on religious ministries.
Throughout the conference sessions, participants raised a consistent question: How can we more effectively work with others in a society that emphasizes self-sufficiency and independence?. Mary-beth Beres, OP, concluded the conference with this thought about our society: "One of the challenges of the wealth we have is that it allows us to function with the illusion of self-sufficiency. What we need is to be in relationship."
Spiritual Poverty
Barbara Morrison-Rodriguez, DSW
Material poverty is usually blamed for our social problems, but spiritual poverty is perhaps a far greater cause for such ills as teen pregnancy, violence, juvenile delinquency, and abuse. Barbara Morrison-Rodriguez used the experience of her mother's family to illustrate this point.
Her mother, one of eight children, grew up in extreme economic poverty, yet she and all her siblings graduated from college, never had trouble with the law, and raised children, none of whom were born outside of marriage. This family's accomplishments, and those of many other poor families, shows that material poverty is not a fundamental explanation for our social problems, Morrison- Rodriguez said. Something in her mother's family, she said, "supported resilience in the children and gave them the message that material circumstances do not define who you are." We need to recreate those values and apply them broadly, she said. How can we promote spiritual empowerment? Morrison-Rodriguez suggested the following approaches:
Child Poverty in the United States By denying full participation in the social, economic, and political life of society, material poverty leads to marginalization and spiritual deprivation.
Statistics from Child Poverty Fact Sheet, National Center for Children in Poverty, July 2000. |
Effective Grass Roots Leadership for the Long Term
Dan Coughlin
Effective leaders influence others to think and act in ways that promote the organization's highest priorities. They do this by generating positive energy, said Dan Coughlin. "It takes an enormous amount of energy to start an organization and then to sustain it for the long term," he said, and leaders can boost their associates' energy by:
Connecting with enthusiasm means sincerely caring about the other person's success, and Coughlin believes this sincerity is the most important attribute of effective leaders. He advised leaders to get to know their colleagues. "Let the person know you're excited to be with them--use the person's name, look the person in the eye and give them your full attention, and shake the person's hand."
Having a noble purpose allows an organization to carry on when the original leader is no longer there, Coughlin said. He warned leaders that when work becomes just a job for employees, they are likely to move on. But when a leader communicates the organization's noble purpose in a meaningful way, they remain excited about their work.
The ability to communicate with respect enhances productivity because it builds trust and morale. Coughlin suggested ways leaders can communicate so that people feel valued and reach their full potential:
Challenges Facing New Ministries
Facilitators: Sr. Peggy Bonnot, CCVI; Sr. Marianne Kramer, CCVI; Sr. Margaret Snyder, CCVI
Those who start faith-based ministries face one dominating challenge: finding monies to both begin their ministry and sustain it over the long term. Leaders with experience in starting new ministries were joined by others seeking to tap their knowledge in a session that also included representatives of foundations which provide grant funding.
Corporations can be a valuable source of aid. Group members had this advice for those seeking to attract for-profit businesses' support:
Another major challenge is attracting and paying the salaries of qualified staff. Sr. Anne Birmingham, CCVI, said Sisters Care of San Antonio, which provides in-home services for the frail elderly, struggles with finding and retaining trained certified nurses' aides (CNAs), especially those with the interpersonal and communication skills they need in working with older adults. Her organization has begun a caregiver development program to prepare people to become CNAs.
Even when service organizations can find people to hire, participants noted,funders are often reluctant to give grants to pay for salaries. Although grant applicants sometimes avoid asking directly for salary funding, Sr. Anne Francioni, SSND, of Whole Kids Outreach, Ellington, MO, said she prefers to ask openly, making it clear why the organization needs to pay competitive salaries.
Facilitator: Mary-beth Beres, OP
Will our ministries survive over the long term as the committed people who started them leave? Is there a need to expand our services, and how can we best expand? How do we keep our faith perspective as we compete for funding? These are the questions ministry leaders said they are wrestling with today.
As Sr. Elise Silvestri, SSND, of the Immigrant and Refugee Women's Program, St. Louis, put it, they want to get off "the treadmill of surviving one year at a time," and build enough financial stability to make a three- to five-year strategic plan.
To resolve these complex issues, leaders can no longer concentrate solely on identifying and providing needed services. In today's environment of growing societal needs and limited resources, participants said, they must acquire a broad range of new skills, including:
Group members suggested a few steps they have found helpful:
Beres said ministry leaders must look at a deeper systemic issue--how to create a society in which all members recognize their responsibilities to support each other. "Our objective of self-sufficiency may be a problem. We need to be interdependent, not self-sufficient."
Facilitators: Sr. Anne Francioni, SSND; Sr. Rose McLarney, CSJ
Some organizations pursue advocacy as their main goal, but for many religious ministries it’s just part of what they have to do to serve people in need, said participants at two sessions on advocating for systemic change. Sr. Mary Louise Stubbs, DC, of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of St. Louis noted that advocacy is about empowering people by helping them to find "find their own voice" and by "uncovering truths" of which others are not aware.
In this context, advocacy takes place on a number of different levels, from individual to international. At its most basic, advocacy involves providing clients support as they seek to change their own lives. Sr. Rose McLarney, CSJ, said the Center for Women in Transition, St. Louis, distinguishes this “advocating with” from “advocating on behalf of” its service recipients, women who have been incarcerated and their children. “The link between advocacy and systemic change is knowing what makes a difference in the long term,” she said.
Many agencies work toward systemic change, which Kathy Zundel of the Sisters of Mercy, St. Louis, described as “a web—not just helping an individual person but also taking actions to help others in the same circumstances.” Often this requires getting at the root cause of an issue, as when an outreach program directed to mothers and children expands to address fathers’ needs.
Advocacy for clients is essential for systemic change and only by working one-on-one with them can those in a ministry understand the needs of the clients it is trying to help. Advocacy requires working with people where they are and not where we would like them to be, participants said. Rather than making judgments, ministry staff must be willing to examine the causes of problems, according to Sr. Francioni, who related an experience with Whole Kids Outreach. When many clients were not utilizing a free transportation service, she analyzed the problem with community residents and learned that people couldn't afford telephones--a problem Sr. Francioni said she would not have identified on her own.
Another level of advocacy involves trying to influence public opinion. At El Puente, which serves Jefferson City’s growing Hispanic population, the staff work to generate articles for the newspaper, talk with the media about using sensitive language, and provide speakers for any group that asks them, said Sr. Margaret Snyder, CCVI. They also look for opportunities to bring their Hispanic clients together with the dominant population “to increase understanding,” she said.
"Public opinion has to change to build a readiness for change in legislation,” asserted Sr. Marge O’Gorman, FSM, of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, St. Louis. But religious ministries also lobby legislators directly, on both state and national levels. Such advocacy is almost always done in concert with other groups. Collaboration not only strengthens the impact of an individual ministry’s contribution, but it also helps ministries remain informed about the issues and aware of activities in which they may want to participate. For example, the Missouri Catholic Conference website provides information about bills and activities across the state.
In addition to the Catholic Conference and its subcommittees, session participants said they have worked with the Missouri Association for Social Welfare, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (especially regarding justice within the church), local dioceses, university groups, other organizations with similar causes (such as criminal justice ministries), and other religious communities or provinces.
The tactics they use are tried-and-true, including:
According to several ministry leaders, having the service recipients tell their own stories is an especially effective way of reaching the media, while also bolstering the clients’ confidence in their ability to help themselves. For example, women who had been incarcerated spoke at a Mother’s Day rally sponsored by the Center for Women in Transition.
While grassroots activity is important, having a sympathetic person “on the inside” is often the key to influencing the legislature. Sr. O’Gorman said that when her organization finds a legislator who is sympathetic to its cause, the staff offer to help by writing op-ed pieces and letters to the editor so the legislator “doesn’t have to take the heat alone.”
But even in dealings with legislators on the opposing side, a fundamental principle for advocacy is respect. “Sometimes I get so angry at what the legislators are doing,” Sr. McLarney said. “But I have to respect the other person and his or her viewpoint. I try to listen and get clues as to where that viewpoint came from and how we might go about changing it.” She advised writing letters that are respectful, not blistering, and starting out by giving credit to the person before taking up the contentious issue.
Facilitators: Sr. Helen Negri, DC; Sr. Rita Schonhoff
Even as the economy takes a downturn, leaders of Catholic ministries know that many people have the money, the time, and the desire to help. The challenge is figuring out how to tap into these resources.
The dwindling numbers and capabilities of aging congregations are a strong impetus to forming stronger ties with the community, according to several participants. Sr. Betty Brucker, FSM, of Catholic Community Services, St. Louis, stressed that it’s important to involve the laity because “they’re the future of the church.” Most of the CCS outreach centers are run by laypeople, several of whom are not Catholic. But attracting qualified, dedicated laypeople isn’t easy, since they could make more money in the private sector. “They have to have a social conscience,” she insisted.
A major obstacle for Catholic ministries, run by women religious who are used to “hiding their talents under a bushel,” is that the public is often unaware of their existence. “They’d be willing to volunteer if they knew where we were,” said Sr. Mary Ann Nestel, CSJ, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis. Participants cited several successful tactics for building participation:
The potential stakes are high. “We estimate there are more than 100 Catholic baby boomer millionaires in the Cleveland area,” said Sr. Catherine Lee, CSJ, of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland. “In addition to money, they also have talents they’d be willing to contribute if we could connect them with services that are meaningful.” The foundation is currently looking to fund new ministries that would be planned and run by laypeople.
In addition to reaching out to individuals, ministry leaders place a premium on working with neighborhood businesses and organizations. When St. Agatha Center, St. Louis, first opened, the local businesses and service providers “were all hanging on different limbs of the same tree, but without helping each other,” according to Sr. Joan Klaas, CPPS. Now, holding regular parties with food (because “eating tends to makes you talk more”) has helped break down the barriers and provided insight into others’ services.
At Woman’s Place, a center for victims of domestic violence in Maplewood, MO, the staff started out visiting all the neighborhood businesses and asking how they could be of help. Through this “community evangelization,” the center pulled in local businesses as partners to make contributions and help keep an eye on the storefront. In return, Woman’s Place holds seminars at area businesses and helps employees who are referred there.
Another avenue for expanding a ministry’s network is collaboration among religious communities. CSJ Care, St. Louis, for example, involves sisters from a number of religious orders in providing home care to the elderly. This participation has paid off in terms of access to various foundations and donors.
Such access is a major concern among the ministries represented, most of which are small and have no trained development staff. Sr. Negri advised participants to use the Foundation Directory Online (www.fconline.fdncenter.org), an Internet service that provides up-to-date funding information, obviating the need for time-intensive searches. Participants also agreed that finding ways to collaborate on fund-raising could save them time and money and increase their odds of success. “We need to put something together about what we do and who we are so the laity knows how we work together,” Sr. Negri said.
Strong leadership and a clear mission are crucial to success when bringing constituencies together, said participants in a second dialogue on building relationships. They affirmed that everyone has something to offer and taking the risk of asking people to give of their time and talents can bring great rewards. They cited several examples:
Making larger programs work while at the same time effectively working with grass roots organizations is a challenge for many coalition members. Participants recommended making all coalition members aware of the problem and tapping the different viewpoints of the entities involved.
Sr. Jackie Toben, SSND
St. Louis's unique separate city and county governments, as well as its plethora of religious organizations applying for grants, makes the area a good example of why it is both difficult and urgent for ministries to avoid duplication and counterproductive turf disputes. A group that included many representatives of St. Louis-based ministries discussed the difficulties and the benefits of building relationships with other groups.
Because many agencies are competing for limited funds, it is understandable when they become competitive and secretive. But, as one member put it, lack of communication between social services organizations "makes everyone look bad." Sr. Susan Scholl, FSM, of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary added, “Each organization has such a passion for what they are trying to do that sometimes we’re not willing to give up our own area of interest and mission even though it might be better for the public good.” Organizations serving similar clients in the same areas should communicate with each other and with neighborhood residents to differentiate their services. Sr. Mary Ellen Neeves, OSU, of St. Vincent de Paul Learning Club, an after-school program for at-risk youth, said her staff met with mothers in the community, which has other programs for youth, to get their suggestions for how to overcome misperceptions about what the programs offer.
In addition to collaboration, the group said it is important to adopt existing ministries, rather than starting new ones, to ensure that they continue if the original founders are not there.
Participants agreed that focusing on the big picture and "connecting the reality to the vision" are keys to overcoming obstacles. One way to stay on track is to bring together people with shared interests and have them brainstorm the ideal program they would create if they had no money or turf issues, suggested Sr. Mary Louise Stubbs, DC, of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Facilitator: Regina Clifton
How to engage laypeople to serve an organization and then to provide the guidance they need to continue the mission is a challenge. It is difficult to find people who want to broaden their work beyond their parish. However, there are organizations that are engaged in involving laity in community groups, and they offer valuable literature and training on the subject. Members of the group that discussed lay formation suggested the following resources:
To sustain laity in social ministries takes effort. Mentoring, prayer, and ongoing support are necessary to energize and affirm the commitment needed to succeed as well as to bring a mission to a higher level, participants agreed.
Facilitator: Sr. Jeanne Meurer, FSM
Determining the ministry's size and scale is key to keeping the vision and mission at the forefront of its work. Bigger is not always better, participants concurred at a session examining successful ministry models. They said smaller ministries:
As one sister noted, “I transitioned from a large bureaucracy to a small ministry. The bureaucratic approach had taken away from a focus on mission. Today, the ministry feeds my spirit and drives me. At every staff meeting, we return to the mission. I’ve also been able to hone my skills working in a smaller ministry.”
Sr. Joyelle Proot, SSND, indicated that telling the ministry’s story elicits enthusiasm that supports successful ministries. “At Holy Trinity Catholic School, we have 115 students, and we invite people from all walks of life to come and see what we are about. This creates a wonderful sense of living the gospel."
Ministry leaders noted the importance of making referrals to other agencies, rather than attempting to provide all services in their own ministries. One leader noted, “Networking is key. We could not help the Latinos we serve without referrals. They [referring agencies] teach me.”
Collaboration is at the center of best practice. Several of the ministries represented by participants—Pillar Place, The Sarah Community, Marian Middle School, and the English Tutoring Project—are sponsored by a group of religious congregations. The group provides start-up funding and staffing.
Long-term sustainability, however, depends not only on funding, but also on preparing others to carry on the work when the sisters move on. Best practice models should include a strong component of lay formation.
Sr. Diane Roche, RCSJ, of the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, described the formation that is taking place within the network of the Sacred Heart schools. "This network is examining how to carry on the charism of the congregation with both Catholic and non-Catholic laity, as those individuals move into leadership on the boards of the Sacred Heart schools. The mission is much bigger than the congregation. We must learn to let go and trust God’s work.”
Facilitator: Sr. Mary Ann Nestel, CSJ
Increasing awareness of its work and mission helps a ministry build relationships with funding sources. Sr. Mary Ann Nestel, CSJ, encouraged dialogue participants to “carry a business card everywhere you go. Talk to people about your ministry and give them a card so they can become supporters. People talk about how the sisters are no longer in schools or at the parish. We need to tell them where we are now, and what we are doing. They will be interested and supportive.”
Other sisters agreed and said religious congregations need a concerted marketing and public relations campaign to inform the public that the sisters have not disappeared but are working in the community to meet the needs of the poor in innovative ways. This communications effort could create new donors outside the Catholic community, as well as give Catholics a better understanding of the role of women religious in contemporary society. A campaign could also increase vocations as women learn about the ministries in which congregations are engaged today. It should include strategies to address funding, vocations, education, and volunteer opportunities.
Group members outlined other actions for attracting resources:
Barbara Morrison-Rodriguez received her master's degree in social work and her doctorate in social welfare from Columbia University in New York City. She served as director for long term care and associate commissioner for long term care at the New York State Office for Aging. She has been a professor at Hunter College School of Social Work, Yeshiva University Wurzweiler School of Social Work, State University of New York, and the University of South Carolina. She is currently associate dean and research professor, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida.
Dan Coughlin is president of the Coughlin Company, Inc., a firm specializing in enhancing executives' effectiveness. As a consultant, speaker, and executive coach, he has worked with clients such as BJC Health System, McDonald's Corporation, Marriott International, and the Coca-Cola Company. He has provided more than 400 individual coaching sessions for senior executives of Fortune 500 companies. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a master's in arts and teaching from Webster University.
Mary-beth Beres, OP, is president of NEW Ventures Network, Atlanta, a network of women of faith who create economically viable responses to today's human and spiritual needs. She is also cofounder of Leadership Systems, a leadership and organization development consulting group.
Sr. Peggy Bonnot, CCVI; Sr. Marianne Kramer, CCVI; and Sr. Margaret Snyder, CCVI, are codirectors of El Puente, Jefferson City, MO, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word providing English-as-a-second-language classes, pastoral ministry, and general educational opportunities to the Hispanic community.
Regina Clifton is vice president, mission services, and executive director, mission integration, for the Catholic Health Association of the United States, St. Louis, where she earlier headed the Center for Leadership Excellence. She has held management positions with the Bon Secours Health System and Unity Health.
Sr. Anne Francioni, SSND, is administrative coordinator of Whole Kids Outreach, Ellington, MO, which fosters the health and well-being of women and children in underserved rural communities. She has been a pediatric nurse and was an administrator at a residential facility and school for children with special needs.
Sr. Rose McLarney, CSJ, is administrator of the Center for Women in Transition, St. Louis, a mentoring program for women returning to society from incarceration. As a member of the leadership team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, she was vice president of planning and marketing in health care.
Sr. Jeanne Meurer, FSM, is codirector of Woman's Place, a drop-in center of hospitality for adult women.
Sr. Helen Negri, DC, has been administrator of Marygrove, St. Louis, a children's treatment center, for 18 years. A licensed social worker for Missouri and Louisiana, she has a clinical background in family and children's mental health.
Sr. Mary Ann Nestel, CSJ, is the director of development for Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
Sr. Rita Schonhoff is coordinator of Whole Health Outreach, Ellington, MO, a self-help project in rural health care and education.
Sr. Jackie Toben, SSND, is executive director of Let's Start, a program that provides support and resources to reduce the recidivism of women offenders.
God of Fire, empower us as we go forth today; bless those who have stirred up the fire in our hearts, who have affirmed our gifts and encouraged us to be passionate in our ministries.
Response: Bless us, God of Fire.
In peace and with enthusiasm, let us go forth from here aflame with the fire and passion of Pentecost people.
Sr. Cathy Vetter, CCVI
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