Servant Leader

The establishment of the U.S. Census by our nation’s founders was a genius move. While originally designed to help apportion members of the National Congress, later Census tallies helped us all to know more about our growing country’s population, its shifts from one region to another, its ethnicities, and its economics over time. A lot can happen in the ten years between the full Census counts!

We are now at a time when such a Census of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s membership is vital to understanding our capacity to serve. We have all heard about decaying Church membership – our “member prospect universe” – and the anxieties over whether or not some of the U.S. Catholic membership can rebound or is lost forever. A national pandemic that shut down Mass attendance along with so many other faith-based activities certainly did not help.

Within the Society, we are proud that during the pandemic, we kept going. It was for us a simple matter: people were still poor, so we kept serving them. We adjusted with virtual Home Visits and Conference meetings where we could, though we missed seeing the Face of Christ in person. What, though, has been the lasting impact on our membership numbers? Recruiting was more difficult when we could not meet with anyone interested in joining us, and many of the informal service opportunities that attract future Vincentians were suspended for weeks or months at a time.

Conversations among some of the Society’s English-speaking National Councils uncovered a disturbing recognition that up to 70 percent of their membership has not returned to serve. Some died, some moved away and others changed their contact information, and this happens all the time. The disturbing big change was that the habit of Vincentian service was so severely disrupted that some members “dropped out” either to express their faith in different ways, to retire from active Society services, or to fade away from the Society and perhaps from the Church itself.

For years now we have maintained a membership of approximately 100,000 Society members in the United States, serving in nearly 4,500 Conferences and other locations. For the first time, I’m not very confident that these numbers are accurate. You likewise should not assume that your local numbers, names, and contact data are the same as they were just three years ago.

We aren’t structured to perform a national Society Census; we are a grassroots organization at our core. I ask you to please be intentional in seeking out everyone you believe are your members, see if they are still willing to serve, and if you have all the membership data you need to operate your Councils and Conferences. We can’t assume this data any longer; we need to verify it to see where we truly are and then plan, likely much more vigorously, for member and Conference growth. While we pray that we have not lost 70 percent of our members, we should not be surprised that some loss has occurred at least temporarily.

A Society member census can be performed not just to count, but to re-engage our members. Consider the counting as a series of wellness checks on where our members are, and also what they need to come back into Vincentian service and regular meetings. Let’s work together to re-count, re-engage, and re-inspire our members toward their own spirituality through Society membership and service to others. And by the way, if you encounter potential new members along the way, invite them in!

We will only know where we are nationally with our membership numbers after we start to know more locally. In your counting process, please take the time to send the information up the line toward your local Council and the National Council with updated database input, improved Annual Report completion, and subscriptions to this e-Gazette. All this has benefit for your members to stay informed and to stay connected with all levels of the Society nationally.

With today’s inflationary pressures, which always affect the poorest the most harshly, we are needed in our neighborhoods more than ever. We don’t intend to be “small but mighty” to do our works. We prefer the “many hands make light work” approach! No matter our membership size, can’t we always welcome, or welcome back, someone else who desires to be closer to God?

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

As Vincentians we follow Christ’s example whenever possible in matters of our faith and love of the poor, each other and God. Why then do we resist another example He provides, of presence?

Would our Catholic faith be different if there was improved technology in Christ’s time? Without mass publishing, phones, and emails, Christ and later the Apostles used their feet. Christ was in person to recruit each Apostle, not relying on a temple poster. He spoke to the masses on the Mount rather than sending out a newsletter or Instagram post. And (Bible spoiler alert!) He came back from the dead and appeared in person to his Apostles. He didn’t send a text or a YouTube video. Even within those earlier times, He didn’t send an angel or messenger on His behalf. Some things you just gotta do in person.

I’d like to think that all this didn’t happen as described only because modern technology didn’t exist. Remember, God once provided simultaneous translation so that everyone heard the Word in their own language – without wires and earpieces! If He so desired, I’m sure he could have had us invent technology earlier and provide cellphones or whatever. No, I think He has always appreciated the singular value of being there in person.

It’s been nearly two years now since it seemed that everything shut down. Business, restaurant, and school closures. No in-person meetings.  Weeks of absolute quarantine. Not even what we assumed would always be with us, the Sunday Mass. In our Vincentian work, no Home Visits and no Conference meetings, the core strategies of our mission together.  It’s as if COVID was a virus that not only killed people, but also our institutions.

We slowly return now to normal, but with new tools, new systems, and perhaps, for good or bad, new strategies and habits. We have gotten used to doing our work and living our lives increasingly through the phone and the Internet. But just because we can doesn’t always mean we should.

Some people have immunology issues or are simply afraid of contracting the virus, and we need to recognize their situations and adapt as we can. For most of us though, it’s time to return to Christ’s example and get back out there, safely but in person. Technology was a necessary and welcome, saving fix to our challenges. In many ways it is best that we now view that fix as temporary.

From our beginnings, Conference meetings have been in person. Granted, we barely had phones when we started! But while tech has changed since 1833, the benefits of members experiencing our three Essential Elements of Spirituality, Friendship, and Service have outweighed the meeting technology conveniences.

The Home Visit has long set us apart from the many social service agencies and even other good Catholic groups seeking to serve the poor. We, and the person being served, see the Face of Christ only in person.

Our Council, regional, and national meetings are coming back on line as well. I hear from so many that they have missed their friends and the opportunity to share with each other, enhanced when in person relative to emails and phone calls. Breaking bread together is more than a meal; it’s a treasured relationship. I expect next month’s Midyear meeting hallways to be full of good cheer!

Sure, we have tools that can make our tasks faster, less expensive, and more efficient. Serving the poor, though, has never been an efficient undertaking. Increasing our spirituality, our core mission, has never had a shortcut!

As we follow Christ, let’s look to his engagement strategies. He never “mailed it in” to a gathering or a sermon. He sent disciples, often with no more than the clothes on their backs, to strange towns where they knew not a soul to spread the Word in person. At the very core of our faith, He presented Himself to be tortured and crucified. Only through these examples of personal presence could He then return and save all of us.

We have been forced to take cover, physically and often spiritually, for two years. The least we can do now in Christ’s name is to attend our meetings in person, ask friends and family to join and support us with personal invitations, and visit with neighbors in need where they live. Let’s return intentionally to Christ, not only in our prayers but through our lives of renewed presence.

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO

A priest was speaking to an audience of people devoted to helping the poor. “The poor don’t need to have you be their voice,” he said, “They have their own voices.”

This point is certainly debated, and the Society has a group named Voice of the Poor for a reason. While people in poverty indeed have their own voices, what they often lack is the access to places and people where those voices may be heard. The Society, from its Conferences and Councils, can be this access.

Speaking of voices, a truism is that Money Talks. If this is true, perhaps it is time we take stock of the various forms of “money” we may use as the Society to make good things happen.

If your Council has employees, then you are defined as either a small or large employer in your area. While you may not pay property taxes, your staff has economic impact through their wages, payroll taxes, maybe sales taxes, and spending choices. If you have more than 100 employees, you may very well be a major non-government employer in your town. Do others see you this way? Do you act like it when on the public stage?

Even if you have no staff, your Council (and many Conferences) are economic players locally. For example, collectively your Vincentians may be one of the largest customers at the utility companies. Do you use this leverage to get discounts, more favorable terms for the people we serve, or “a seat at the table” as a board member or advisory board voice to the companies and/or the oversight Commissions?

Anytime your Conference makes a purchase decision, some companies benefit and others don’t – that’s the power of the purse. Review how much you spend annually in rent, utilities, food and other supports, and think about how these expenses might give you an enhanced voice for the neighbors in need. This is a voice that others may already provide you, but more often than not, you need to demand it yourself. They think of individual transactions, while you may find strength and benefit in viewing these transactions as a total expense through one payor – the Society.

As friends, we complain about bad customer service to one another, and once in a while we even say something nice about a company or vendor who made our life a little easier. Whether it is done around a restaurant table or through the internet, this is now called “influencer behavior” that can make or break a company. By steering family and friends to, or away from, those who interact with the Society, we help those we serve through economic pressure that can change corporate behavior and responses. We may already do this, but it deserves to be intentional.

A friend of mine who leads a local nonprofit once related that at a weekly Rotary Club meeting, he realized that he was the largest employer present and oversaw one of the largest budgets. Yet many thought of his organization as “that nice little organization that helps people.” He became determined not to throw his weight around, but to remind his friends and the local government of his organization’s size, strength and most importantly, local impact. Changing perspectives improved the way he and his organization were treated.

We Vincentians often exhibit humility, and serve with little or no recognition. Yet collectively our dollars already make a local economic and caring difference. Let’s take this a bit further. Explore how our economic strength can bring the issues and solutions affecting the less fortunate to the table. You may be surprised to look at your Council’s annual report and see just how much money you devote to serving your neighbors. From fundraising dollars to events to store sales, and not even counting the value of volunteer hours, it is often formidable.

If Money Talks, we may have a bigger voice than we realize. How can we use it more effectively to help our neighbors? How can we use our spending power to introduce their voices, alone or collectively, where they need to be heard?

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer
CEO