VisionSVdP

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11-14-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
11-14-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1200 1200 SVDP USA

Thankful for You!

As Thanksgiving approaches, our Vincentian family has so much to be thankful for. This time of thankfulness is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to do an inventory of the blessings in our lives. Recognizing all of our blessings assures us of God’s love for ourselves and the important work we do in serving those in need.

As your new CEO, I have been blessed with the opportunity to witness our Vincentian family in action around the country. I have seen our members putting their faith and love into action in an extraordinary way.

This week, Vincentians from around the nation gathered in St. Louis for our Invitation for Renewal leadership retreat. When the retreat kicked off, I visited with attendees and saw the Vincentian spirit of friendship with a rich desire to grow and spread the charism of the Society throughout our great country.

In last week’s e-Gazette, John Berry reminded all of us of the importance of everyone taking part in Vision SVdP. Again, this year his invitation to us has been to participate in a “A conversation guided by, blessed by, and driven by God through the Holy Spirit.”

Next year, we will celebrate the 180th anniversary of our Society in the United States. The ongoing national conversation will fuel our adaptation to the ever-changing world we live in.

In 20 years, at our 200th anniversary celebration, it is our hope that our Society’s leaders will look back at 2025 as the year we ignited our organizational rocket engines and propelled our Vincentian efforts to a whole new level, built on all the wisdom you have shared with our National Council through Vision SVdP.

As Thanksgiving draws near, Vincentians around the country are responding to need in many ways that prevent homelessness and unnecessary suffering. We are bringing food boxes filled with Thanksgiving meals to those who suffer from food insecurity, serving hot meals to those in need, making Home Visits to those who may be facing eviction, and providing countless other services. Last year, our Society responded to need by providing over $1.7 billion in services to those who desperately needed to feel God’s love through us.

We continue to see the need growing throughout the country, and we expect the higher demand to continue in 2025.

Those we serve need the bright light of hope and compassion, and that is what we are giving every time we have the blessing of an encounter where we provide food, clothing, rent, prescription assistance, or other critical help. We are showing that everyone we serve is important to us, and we care about them.

Every time you help someone in need, you are following your heart, and we are so thankful for every Vincentian and supporter of our Society.

During these tough economic times, we appreciate your support more than ever. Please accept our heartfelt thanks for all you do. May God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving and may the blessings you share with others come back to you a thousand times over.

At this special time of year, we should remember we are One Society, and together pray for the continued success of your Conference, your local Council, and our National Council!

Best wishes in Christ,
Michael J. Acaldo
National CEO

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11-07-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders
11-07-24 A Letter From Our Servant Leaders 1200 1200 SVDP USA

The other day, I was speaking to one of our Vincentians and she asked me, “Hey, what ever happened to VisionSVdP?” I must say I was a little taken aback by the question, and I asked her why she was asking. I told her that VisionSVdP was going full speed ahead and that we were in the final two months of Phase I, with many local Conferences and Councils holding listening sessions (as a matter of fact, my own Conference just held our listening session at the end of October). She said, “OK, but you haven’t been saying much about it lately. Maybe it’s time for an update?” Great idea! So, here we are.

Over the last year, you have heard and read about VisionSVdP, our “family conversation” that we are using to answer the call in our Rule to ‘Adapt to a Changing World.’ I first spoke about this after my Installation as National President in St. Louis in October 2023, and I have written about it often in the e-Gazette Servant Leader column and other places. We officially kicked off VisionSVdP at the 2024 Midyear Meeting, and since that time, we have held literally hundreds of listening sessions at Regional meetings, Council meetings, Conference meetings, and the National Assembly in Phoenix.

In case you are new to the Society, or you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last year (only kidding), you might be asking, “What is this VisionSVdP he is talking about?” Let me start by telling you what it is NOT: It’s not a program, it’s not a strategic planning process, it’s not a reorganization, it’s not a fundraising campaign, it’s not a make-work effort for already burdened Vincentians trying to serve people in need.

Well then, WHAT IS IT? you ask. Well, it’s a conversation. A Synodal (from the Greek for “journeying together”) conversation about the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. What’s good about it? What’s not so good about it? What are we doing right? What might we be doing better? What are we doing that we don’t need to be doing? What aren’t we doing that we should be doing? What’s enriching your spiritual life as a Vincentian? What’s stressing your spiritual life as a Vincentian? Why are we getting older and greyer, even though we are trying to bring young people into our membership? Why can’t we move the needle on increasing diversity despite years of trying? Why are we still using pen and paper to complete casework forms when our grandkids are using tablets to do their homework in first grade?

Get it? A conversation guided by, blessed by, and driven by God through the Holy Spirit.

The next question on your mind is probably, “Why are we doing this?”

There are a lot of reasons! As I mentioned above, The Rule, written in 1836, call us to periodically ‘Adapt to a Changing World.’ In Part I, 1.6 The Rule says: “Faithful to the spirit of its founders, the Society constantly strives for renewal, adapting to changing world conditions. It seeks to be aware of the changes that occur in human society and the new types of poverty that may be identified or anticipated. It gives priority to the poorest of the poor and to those who are most rejected by society.”

The last few decades have brought changing conditions in the U.S. and around the world that demand we look at how we must adapt and renew. Those changes were accelerated and exacerbated by the pandemic and the economic challenges faced here and abroad. We must look at the Society in the light of the realities of today and tomorrow, and we must change where change is called for.

So, for the last eight months we have been talking, listening, and through it all, respecting every person’s views. That is Phase I, which will end December 31. If your Conference or Council has NOT held a Listening Session yet — you need to. Because EVERY VOICE MATTERS and we want to hear from you!

If you need help getting started, contact Jill Pioter at the National Council and she’ll get you everything you need.

Phase II begins next year. It’s the hardest and most complicated part. Because that’s when we start going through the thousands of comments we’ve received, then work on planning how we move forward. We are going to talk for a LONG TIME. We are going to talk about that planning for another year at least at every level in the Society — because EVERY VOICE MATTERS.

And then we’re going to assimilate it and put together an Action Plan.

We’re gonna talk together! A lot!

Because EVERY VOICE MATTERS!

Peace and God’s blessings,
John

John Berry
National President

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04-03-24 VisionSVdP Update
04-03-24 VisionSVdP Update 8335 2555 SVDP USA

Dear Fellow Vincentians,

Now that the Midyear Meeting, where we rolled out VisionSVdP, is over, I want to give you a report on how things went at the meeting and let you know about the next steps in this important ongoing national initiative.

You will be hearing much about VisionSVdP over the next two plus years; this is one of the most important and impactful things we have undertaken as a Society in the last 25 years. And it will take the commitment, dedication, and full participation of every Vincentian at every level of the Society to make sure that the work we do will enable us to adapt to a changing world and ensure that our work and our relevance in supporting His people in need and growing in our own holiness and spirituality will continue for generations to come.

The launch of VisionSVdP at the Midyear Meeting was exciting and powerful! Almost 250 people, attendees and staff, participated in five separate listening sessions. Was there some nervousness? Some confusion? Some desire for structure and specific questions to answer? Of course there was! If there was not, I would have been very concerned. This is new ground we are breaking. This is quite easy for some people and exceedingly difficult for others.

These listening sessions require that we not only listen to each other, but that we listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to us and through us. They require that we be candid and open and honest and free thinking. If we gave you a bunch of questions and asked you to answer them, what we would get is — a bunch of answers to questions we asked. What we would NOT get is the things in your heart and in your soul that matter deeply and passionately to you. We would not get the voice crying out in the wilderness with the idea that might make all the difference in the world.

So going forward, if you are looking for a lot of structured conversations in VisionSVdP you might be disappointed, because you are not going to get that — at least not in this phase. But if you come to this process with an open heart and an open mind then I think any disappointment will turn to excitement and joy as you journey together, you and your fellow Vincentians on this path to adapting to a changing world. What this synodal process will provide you is an opportunity for open dialogue; listening sessions that are freeform and unstructured with thinking that is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

So, what is next? 

Now we are going into the Regional Meeting phase. We will hold listening sessions at every Regional Meeting over the next few months. I will be at many Regional Meetings to help facilitate; but since I have not yet figured out how to be cloned, I cannot get to them all. So, Dave Barringer will be at the ones I cannot attend, and the RVPs all participated in the launch at Midyear, so they are familiar with the process. There will be a video from our National Spiritual Advisor, Archbishop Andrew, to kick off each session and help center us on the task ahead.

After the Regional Meetings we are asking all Councils, Conferences, and Special Works to hold VisionSVdP Listening Sessions, preferably before the National Assembly. And I want to make a key point here. When I say we want all Vincentians to participate in VisionSVdP, I mean all Vincentians; Full Members, Associate Members, Staff, and Volunteers. And at some point, we will also determine how we can engage with the people we serve, our neighbors in need, to get their views on the Society and how we need to adapt to a changing world to best serve them.

All the comments from all the sessions will be gathered into a national database where we can all look at it. And when I say we, I mean we — you, me, and every Vincentian — because every voice matters, today and tomorrow. In Phase II, we will all begin to ask ourselves: What does all this mean? Then we will start to determine patterns, similarities, trends, commonalities, and areas where we want to focus. But we will also be looking for that voice in the wilderness.

There will be further updates as we continue the process. Thanks for your continued participation and support.

Peace and God’s blessings,
John

John Berry
National President

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