Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Dear Vincentian Friends,

Last week I was able to experience the reality of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam’s vision of a network of charity embracing the world. For six days I attended the International General Assembly of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Rome with about 100 other presidents of national councils. Our business meetings were translated into five languages, but at the meals and in the hallways, we were on our own to share our common Vincentian interests and concerns. Like all meetings of the Society, our network of charity was also a network of friendship and shared spirituality.

We were in Rome to attend to the business of the Society at the international level. The first and most important duty we had was to elect the next President General of the Council General. Three very qualified candidates had been nominated. After the Assembly affirmed the Election Board’s procedures, each national president came forward to submit their ballot. Juan Manuel Buergo Gómez was elected as the 17th President General, succeeding Renato Lima de Oliveira. Juan Manuel’s installation will take place in Paris this September – on the feast of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam.

Juan Manuel is the current national president of Spain and will be an excellent servant leader. I have known him for seven years and count him as a good Vincentian friend. We shared similar elected terms as national council presidents and have served on several international committees together. We both have a strong interest in the historical roots of our Society and the promotion of the canonization of Blessed Frédéric.

The Assembly business also included making seven revisions to Part Two of Rule, which governs the Society’s international structure. Most of us don’t need to pay much attention to these statutes, but they are very important to the international organization, and in many cases they need to take French law into consideration. Good governance is very important, and our documents related to governance – as with every other aspect of our Society – need periodic review.

As Interim Chair of the Statutes Commission, I presided during the Assembly over an afternoon Commission session that included several hours of debate and discussion – with simultaneous translation into five languages.  The most significant changes coming out of that session were raising the upper age limit for the President General at time of election from 65 to 75 and changing the meeting of the General Assembly from once every six years to once every three years. There were several other recommendations that lacked consensus and were deferred for future investigation.

Like our National Assembly, the International General Assembly featured workshops on familiar topics – but with a global slant. We had sessions on spirituality, training, governance, safeguarding, youth involvement, twinning, and disaster funding. It was interesting to see that our network of charity has similar concerns in every part of the globe. Our daily agenda also included keynote addresses and celebrations of the Eucharist, including one in St. Peter’s. Of course, there were the meals with lots of pasta, wine and good conversation.

If you have taken part in our annual National Assembly or in a regional meeting, this international meeting probably sounds fairly familiar. Workshops, business meetings, prayer, food and friendship strengthen our Society and our ability to serve our neighbors in need. I attended many regional meetings during the past few months, and at every one of them I sensed the joy of Vincentians gathering again after several years of isolation. These gatherings renew our enthusiasm for our vocation and give us new ideas for better performing the work we do.

You don’t need to go to Rome to experience our network of charity. You can join us in St. Louis this September and attend great workshops, see a new national president installed and make Vincentian friends from all across the United States. Check out the invitation in this e-Gazette. Maybe the most noticeable difference will be that pasta will not be served at every meal.

Serviens in spe,
Ralph Middlecamp
SVdP National President

At some point we lamented the loss of our local Sears, Montgomery Ward, at least one major family-owned downtown department store, Blockbuster, Circuit City, Tandy Leather, Burger Chef, Lums, Howard Johnson’s, K Mart, Toys R Us, and currently Bed Bath & Beyond and Party City. Add to these national players the restaurant we loved and some small neighborhood retailers.

We hold these as beloved establishments. However, when asked about them we often say something like “I loved the Sears store. My mom used to take us there as children” or some such memory that shows that we didn’t go there much, or at least not recently. We remember with our hearts, but we keep them alive (or not) with our feet.

The list includes many establishments that once thrived and were regarded as leaders in their category and in sales. They had devoted followers and popular offerings. So, what happened and what can we as Vincentians learn from this?

In most cases, they did not keep up with customer needs and demands. Maybe their fashion offerings went stale. Perhaps they didn’t provide enough value for their prices. It could have been a culture of bad hours, rude employees, dirty shops, or complicated checkout lines.  We fall in love slowly, but out of love quickly, with consumer brands. Two or three bad experiences and we change our spending habits.  Even established champions like Sears, which once dominated both catalogue and store retailing, succumbed to new competition and better ways for customers to shop.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a national retailer with our more than 400 stores, but the lessons to be considered here go beyond retailing. How often do we review what we offer – all of our service “products” – to see if they meet the needs of those we serve?  Do we keep up with what people in need really require, or do we do things the way we have always done them because it is easy? Some examples:

• Do we operate food pantries on weekday mornings while many of those we serve are working and can’t get to us at that time?
• Do we have Conference meetings at times/days that are inconvenient to those younger adults who we claim we want to join us?
• Are our service applications complicated, and required to be filled out each and every time someone comes back to us for help? (Remember how we hate being asked for our phone and email every time at some stores?)
• Do we still provide services that are offered nearby by government or other nonprofits (and sometimes better), but don’t offer other unavailable but urgently needed services, because “we don’t do that”?

A full Conference and Council review of what we do and how we do it, once annually, keeps us fresh and relevant in the eyes of our members and those we serve. Just because we are old doesn’t mean we are set in our ways. This applies to many of us individually, but also collectively as the Society!

Please do not take this suggestion for review as an invitation to no longer do Home Visits! Yes, even “signature offerings” should be held to a process review. Yes, it may be more efficient, or more convenient, for Vincentians and the person in need to replace the Home Visit with a service counter setting, or by phone or online such as was required during the pandemic. We never conduct Home Visits for these reasons. We do them in respect of those being served, and this never gets outdated. In fact, in these days of so many impersonal connections, they should be treasured!

Just as we adapted and changed when it was suddenly necessary in the pandemic, we likewise should continue to adapt to new transportation, financial, communications, and other technologies, new systemic change solution offerings, and in whatever other ways, new or existing, that improve our mission to “build a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need.” Likewise, if we can improve Society working conditions for employees, Vincentian and other volunteers, within the law and our means, we should be watchful for these opportunities.

While we have served in the United States since before the Civil War, we continue to seek holiness and relevance through change and innovation to improve relationships among our friends in need, and to serve in ways that give them assurance that the Society cares, listens, and does its very best to help them.  Christ’s love is never outdated. Our Gospel values are eternal.  May we never have a going out of business sale, and may we never be just a fond memory of the past. Instead, let’s keep looking ahead to a bright tomorrow in our communities!

Yours in Christ,
Dave Barringer