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The Serra Leader Spring 2006

Help us keep your Serra USA council intact

by USA Council President Don DeDecker

As you are probably aware, in January the Serra International Board approved, on a nine to seven vote, to accept the recommendations of the Serra International Long Range Planning Committee to reorganize the existing structure of Serra councils and districts across the world. (For the report)

Council leadership in the USA (and perhaps in any of the other nine councils across the world) was not consulted prior to the vote to adopt the recommendation of the Long Range Planning Committee. Furthermore, the Serra International Board passed the action as policy, which means only a board vote was needed to pass it, rather than a vote from delegates at the convention. A complete restructuring of the entire organization is a pretty drastic action to take with the support of only nine to seven and no discussion with the Serrans who would be the most affected.

How would the reorganization affect our council?

The reorganization would create additional councils, as many as five in North America. This would result in the dissolution of the USA Council as we know it. Based on comments by Serra International President Dennis Leiber at the SuperWeekend meeting in January 2006 to all in attendance, it can be reasonably assumed that the USA Council’s Chicago staff on Wacker Place would be eliminated. As you will see in the report, the aim is to replace paid staff with volunteers across the nation, and to create up to six council boards composed of district governors.

How will the changes be implemented?

The details and immediate ramifications of this large-scale endeavor have not been determined by Serra International’s Long Range Planning Committee. Two task forces are to be formed to create the plans for structure and re-organization. These task forces are to form, map a new structure for Serra worldwide, come up with a transition plan, and implement all of it by June 2007 -- a little over a year from now. We do not understand the urgency of this action.

Maintaining our national presence and identity

At its January meeting, the USA Council Board voted unanimously to ask the Serra International Board to rescind this policy because, among other reasons, it is the belief of the USA Council Board that our council needs to be one national organization to fairly represent the needs of our bishops and national vocation organizations. Further, our board believes that Serrans in the USA are best served by their own dedicated staff.

Over a decade ago, we recognized that the needs and challenges of Serrans in North America were different from those in other parts of the world, and our council was formed to address them. In supporting Serra’s mission, we have worked hard to forge significant relationships with other national vocations organizations while trying our best to cater to the needs of Serrans at the club and individual level. If you read through the report on later in this report , you will see that one of the reasons for the reorganization is to address the perceived “fragmentation” in Serra. You may wonder, as we do, how breaking down (in our case) one large council that works can be an appropriate response to “fragmentation.”

What you can do to keep the USA Council intact

By now, district governors and club presidents should have received a letter from me containing a proposed amendment to the Serra International bylaws that would prevent further action by the Serra International Board or Long Range Planning Committee to dissolve or modify a duly formed council or council’s structure without following the existing bylaw provisions.

We are asking you leaders at all levels of Serra in the USA to inform your clubs about this situation and to support our amendment. You can do this by voting to accept the amendment change at the Spokane Serra International Convention this summer. Hopefully by now clubs and districts have chosen to support us by becoming cosponsors for the amendment and have submitted the amendment to the Serra International office at 70 E. Lake Street in Chicago.

If you will be supporting us by voting for the amendment change at the convention, you must submit your delegate credential form to the Lake Street office, postmarked no later than May 30, 2006. You may also deliver your credentials personally at the Spokane convention before noon on June 28, 2006. Please see the delegate credential form included in this newsletter for specific details.

Closing thoughts

Our council Episcopal adviser, Bishop Blase Cupich, and the Episcopal adviser of Serra International as a whole, Cardinal Justin Rigali, identified a gap in communication in this situation which needs desperately to be bridged. As of this writing, I and several other USA Council officers are attempting to arrange a personal meeting with Serra International Dennis President Leiber and members of his board to discuss our concerns and objections surrounding this matter.

The USA Council’s vitality, size, structure and achievements do not detract anything from the mission that unites us all, worldwide, as Serrans. I hope you will all support us in maintaining our identity as a national council dedicated to our work for vocations.

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Did the USA Council know about Serra International’s plans to restructure the organization?

by Jim DeNike, USA Council Past President

Comments made by Serra International President Dennis Leiber at our January Super weekend and in his address to the leadership in training may lead some to believe that members of our USA Council board were well-informed about the organization changes approved by the Serra International board in San Diego.

I have been on the Serra International board since June 2004, and I don’t remember it that way. I decided to carefully check the minutes of SI board meetings since I joined to see if I had missed something.

On June 28, 2004, in Pittsburgh, mention was made of the Long Range Planning Committee reviewing the Serra International’s objectives with Cardinal Rigali. Serra International Executive Director John Woodward stated what changes were being considered. There was general agreement that these changes seemed appropriate.

At the January 2005 board meeting in Chicago (I was not present for this meeting), the recommended new objectives were approved for presentation to the delegates in Bangkok in June.

On June 21, 2005 in Bangkok at the outgoing board meeting, these changes were again reviewed prior to the delegates meeting later that week. At the delegates meeting, the bylaw changes were approved with minimal discussion.

At the incoming board meeting on June 27, John Woodward distributed a collection of papers describing discussions at Long Range Planning Committee meetings about organization which he expected would be discussed by the board at the January 2006 board meeting. I studied these papers over the next month with the following observations:

These were not minutes of meetings, but more a rambling collection of notes of comments by various people.

There was no specific recommendation of organization changes.

My analysis of these notes led me to the conclusion that the most likely recommendation to come forth was a return to the pre-1998 structure where district governors would report to Serra International Area Trustees, who would be members of the Serra International board. The councils would be only advisory.

I wrote a draft of a paper critical of this structure and reviewed it with USA Council past presidents Lloyd Crockett and Tony Plaia in Breckenridge in August 2005. The final draft was sent to John Woodward so it would be available at the Serra International Executive Committee meeting scheduled for Mexico in October.

At the meeting in Tehuacan, Mexico, organization was discussed but only briefly. There was no comment that our criticisms were off the mark or that another structure was coming forward. Either the latest structure had not yet been determined, or we were purposely not told about it. Dennis Leiber closed the discussion with a statement that councils would remain as they are (this is paraphrased; I do not have a transcript). Leiber made a similar statement in his speech at the USA Council Annual Meeting in Breckenridge.

After returning from Mexico I reported to USA Council President Don DeDecker and Executive Director Ed Verbeke that there would be no change to USAC.

The first time I received any information about this restructuring of our organization was when the Long Range Planning Committee submitted its PowerPoint report to the Serra International Board on the morning of January 14, 2006, in San Diego. We voted on it that same morning.

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Serra International President Dennis Leiber addresses
district governors and regional directors

This message was delivered on DVD to attendees of the USA Council Leadership Training and Planning Conference last February. President Leiber addresses the reorganization initiative passed by the Serra International board in January.

I’m Dennis Leiber, president of Serra International. Last August in Breckenridge, Colo., at the USA Council Super Weekend, I approached Tom Walsh and indicated my desire to be with you this weekend in Kansas City, as you in particular, the district governors-elect, are trained to the important role that you are going to perform in the coming year. Well, unfortunately, we cannot predict the future, and I would not have expected that I would have received an invitation as I have from his holiness Pope Benedict XVI to represent you and Serrans throughout the world at an audience on Ash Wednesday. So we’re using this new technology, and also depended on Nate McKenzie, who drove it from Grand Rapids, so I have a few opportunities to share with you thoughts that have been on my mind over the past couple days.

I’ve often said – and my reason for wanting to be with you – the most important role in Serra, the most important office in Serra, is not any council office, nor this distinct honor that I have as your president for this year, but it is you, this district governor. The health, the vitality, and the maintenance of the Serra movement resides in the Serra club. And it is the district governor whose special responsibility is to maintain the integrity and the vitality and the growth of that club that ensures Serra’s presence throughout the world.

As I’ve often said, Serra is a global, grassroots, lay apostolate. In Bangkok, I encouraged those in attendance to remember that Serrans should always think globally, but act locally.

Let me show you a picture that’s important to all of us and explains why I’m going to Rome. (Shows a photo of John Paul II blessing several monstrance.)

The date is Nov. 24, 2004. Our late beloved John Paul II is blessing the first of the monstrance dedicated for the Eucharistic year of adoration for priestly vocations. Now let me tell you the story behind the picture. It’s only because of Serra International that the Vatican asked us to be a participant in this worthy work. You see, five years ago, when Serra International first started coming to Rome to recreate that relationship that was started in 1951 when Pope Pius XII aggregated us, joined us, to the Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations, that we have improved upon a dialogue so that the Church now more fully knows who we are, and what we do. When the monstrance program was begun not by Serra, it was Father Francis Bonnici, the director of the Pontifical work for Priestly Vocations, who knew us, who knew the work that you and I do, that said “We can’t have this program without Serra’s active involvement.” Now, three more monstrance will be blessed on Ash Wednesday for distribution throughout the world.

Recently you may have learned that the Serra International board, on Jan. 15, adopted the Long Range Planning Committee report which has to do with the restructuring of Serra as an organization. Maybe you even received a letter, as I did, from Don DeDecker, Jan. 30 of this year. I had hoped that we were going to be able to issue a joint communiqué, but it didn’t happen, and that’s all right, because I have pledged with Don that we’re going to meet at the end of March and work out these issues.

A couple of things that I want to say, though, especially that you hear it from me, is the importance of this work has absolutely no effect whatsoever on the objects and purposes of Serra, on the structure and maintenance of the individual clubs, and importantly, has absolutely no effect on your important role as district governor. There have been a number of myths or misconceptions that have been circulating (I’ve read some of them on the internet). I want to address some of them now.

One is that this was a hasty or ill-conceived report. I beg to differ. The Long Range Planning Committee started in 2002 and met regularly over the past three years to discuss the issue of how Serra should be configured for its future in order to be effective and efficient and to be productive and to share that message of vocational support throughout the world. This then became my responsibility as president when I chose then to circulate all the working papers to all members of my board, including 10 from the United States, three of whom are past Serra USAC council presidents.

In response to that circulation to the board, members Crockett, DeNike and Plaia (past presidents of USAC) gave thoughtful and prayerful consideration to the status of proceedings as they were and wrote a report that was taken very seriously by the Long Range Planning Committee. I know, because I was there. On the 13th of January, the final report was produced and presented to the board on that following day.

I want to explain also that this was not the result of any kind of punishment that some people, I think, unfortunately perceive because of how it’s been communicated to them by others. There is absolutely nothing about the report, its source or its purpose that is in any way critical of the fine work that Serra has been doing throughout the world in all of its councils, and in particular, in the United States. So please, don’t think that this was some sort of – or believe anybody who suggests that it was some sort of – retributive measure. It is not.

In addition, all of these papers, not only shared with the board, were also shared with our Episcopal adviser, Justin Cardinal Rigali. He is the Episcopal adviser of Serra, in the United States, and throughout the world. His Eminence knew exactly what was being done, what was being discussed, and the progress that was made, and in fact was present when the final report was compiled by the Long Range Planning Committee.

So, what’s the result of my giving three years of the Long Range Planning Committee reports to my board, the Serra International board, in June of 2005? It’s namely the recognition that the real work of Serra is done at the Serra club and district level. However, Serra must act as a global lay apostolate, at the service of the universal church. Therefore, it’s essential to strengthen Serra’s foundations, the Serra clubs and the Serra districts.

Serra is a volunteer organization. Dues must be allocated as much as possible to vocations work rather than administration. There is no “national Catholic church” here in the United States or anywhere else in the world. The church exists either as the universal church, or as the local church, that is to say, the diocesan church. Serra clubs always have been, and always will, operate with the approval and under the direction of their local ordinary, who is the shepherd and the teacher of their flock.

Distilled to its essence, the Long Range Planning Committee report, which was adopted by the Serra International Board, believes that in terms of growth, outreach, and overall cost effectiveness, the Long Range Planning Committee recommended that a model Serra council should encompass 10-12 districts and be governed by a board consisting of district governors.

I’ve heard a lot of concerns and criticisms over the last six weeks, that the restructuring adopted by the Serra International Board will have some disastrous effect on the hard work and successful programs that have been accomplished here in the United States through the various committees. I’ve read the Long Range Planning Committee report thoroughly, and I take these criticisms seriously, because I served on the Vocations Committee. And let me tell you in that context: there’s no reason why the present work of the Vocations Committee of the United States council cannot continue; in fact it must continue. I can see easily that representatives of each future council would meet together with the same frequency that they do now in Chicago over Super Weekends, and address the same issues and the same programs and vocations on a national level.

You know, by now you may be asking yourself, “What is this restructuring going to look like?” And I have to tell you: I don’t know. But I can tell you, people who will know the answer. You see, as president, I have to appoint two task forces: The first to identify the number of Serra Councils and the districts in each of them and the second to include past Serra council presidents to study and recommend actions to be taken to ensure a smooth transition.

I have to tell you, both personally and by my schooling and profession, I hate change. Lawyers and judges depend on the predictable, the known, the old and the reliable. But in the world of Serra, everything changes. We’re not the same world we were 70 years ago, not even 10 years ago. Just today, His Holiness appointed new cardinals, and now the number of cardinals in the United States equal the number in Asia. We have to be responsive to the needs of the Church, to the vocational needs, whether it’s to address a surplus or to stimulate growth. It’s through our restructuring that we can be responsive.
And I also say this. This restructuring doesn’t just affect us in the United States. It affects every Serra council throughout the world. In some cases, like the United States, the representation on the board will increase to reflect the strength and vitality of Serra here in my country. In other countries, councils will totally lose their national identity, and be subsumed into a different group.

So, all I can say is, join me in prayer: Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us.

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Help Serra clubs affected by Katrina

Hurricane Katrina devastated many of our coastal and New Orleans clubs. Our council has decided to waive their dues for six months.

I recently talked with Dick Ebert, Serra Club of Biloxi president. He said that many members of his club have lost their homes and possessions. The same goes for several other clubs in the area. Dick said that as a club they contribute $600 to their seminarians who evacuated to Indiana with just the clothes on their backs.

As a council, we are asking clubs and Serrans who would like to donate funds to help cover their losses to send them to the USA Council Katrina Relief Fund. You can send these to our office on Wacker Place.

-- Don DeDecker,
USA Council President

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Serra International Long Range Planning Committee Report

The following is the Serra International Long Range Planning Report as given in a PowerPoint format to the Serra International Board of Trustees on Jan. 14, 2006.

The Long Range Planning Committee came together in June 2002, and started its work with a thorough review of the report of the Organizational Structure Review Committee of June 1996 and the Reid Report of April 1999.

While both documents were considered of real value, the committee felt that neither one went far enough in defining the working relationships between the SI Board of Trustees and the boards of the various Serra Councils around the world; neither did they lay down a timetable and a process for carefully assessing what were the real outcomes of the significant changes in the governance of Serra that were approved in 1997 and implemented thereafter.

Article VI, Section 1 of SI Bylaws provides:

Section 1. Formation. The board of trustees shall divide the member clubs of SI into districts, and shall determine the geographical boundaries of each district. The Board of Trustees may alter these boundaries at its discretion. (Emphasis supplied.)

I. At its 13 January meeting, LRPC held wide-ranging discussions on all of the papers presented and made the following observations:

1. The objectives and purposes of Serra are:

To foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood in the Catholic Church as a particular vocation to service, and to support priests in their sacred ministry.

To encourage and affirm vocations to consecrated religious life in the Catholic Church, and

To assist its members to recognize and respond in their own lives to God’s call to holiness in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

2. Serra must meet the needs of a world with a changing landscape and emerging technology.

3. Serra must take serious steps to achieve its goal to have a Serra club in every diocese.

II. In determining its future, Serra must embrace the principles of:

Consolidation

Collaboration

Consistency

Communion with:

The Universal Church

The local Church

III. LRPC reached consensus that Serra must:

Address the “fragmenting” of the organization

Mirror the organization of the Universal Church by having Serra district boundaries coincide with diocesan boundaries

Acknowledge that a “one size fits all” approach is not appropriate with regard to Serra councils

Create councils of more equal size (this may require approving the formation of five additional Serra councils in North America, two additional Serra councils in South America and one additional Serra council in Europe)

Speak with one voice

Serra’s organizational structure must emphasize:

Responsiveness

Clear communication

Accountability

Efficiency

Effectiveness

Cohesiveness

Why are Serra councils being retained?

Serra councils are expressions of the natural tendency for people with common interests to come together to address challenges and issues.

IV. Any restructuring must achieve the following:

The allocation of more resources for vocations

A more unified system of governance

A broader representation on the SI board

V. The model Serra council must have the following characteristics:

Made up of 10-15 Serra districts

A board consisting of district governors

Each governor is elected by Serra clubs within his or her own district

Low overhead costs by emphasizing volunteerism

Recognition and accommodation of differences in history, economics, culture and language

The officers of the Serra council must include a president and president-elect who will serve for two-year terms

Serra council presidents-elect (or their alternates) will be designees of their council to the SI board for a two-year term

VI. Structure – comparison of present organizational chart with proposed organizational chart
(Organizational structure is represented identically in present and proposed organizational structures but notes are added to reflect changes mentioned above.)

VII. Implementation

SI Board of Trustees adopts the LRPC Report as policy at its meeting of 14-15 January 2006

SI President appoints a task force to identify the number of Serra councils and the districts in each of them

SI President appoints a second task force to include past Serra council presidents to study and recommend actions to be taken to ensure a smooth transition

All present Serra council presidents-elect serve their terms until 30 June 2007

Implementation of the LRPC report to be completed by 30 June 2007

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It’s a ‘what’ without a ‘how’

Why we oppose Serra International’s plan to reorganize our council

by Ernest Doclar, President-elect-elect

In 1992, somehow my name got tossed into the pot of those who might make likely members of a USACC (Canada was with us then) committee. I joined the communications gang and eventually became the chair, then VP for programs of the council. And having been Navy, not Army, I never heard that warning from basic training, “Don’t never volunteer for nothin.’” So when they asked if I’d run (ha!) for USA Council 2007-08 president, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “You’ve got to do this!” And I said yes.

OK, now to the point: Over the past 14 years of working closely with the USA Council (or USACC), I’ve always admired my fellow Serrans who yearly devoted thousands of hours and spent thousands of dollars for vocations, and sweat mightily over working for vocations. And I admire even more the indefatigable paid staff in Chicago who support local clubs and are absolutely indispensable for us who work at all levels to be as effective as we have been. (I hope you read the piece I did in serraUSA’s February 2005 issue that told exactly what they do and why we need to keep our Chicago coordinating staff.)

So, when Serra International recently announced that its Long-Range Planning Committee had proposed, then its board voted on, and passed a plan that would eliminate the USA Council as we know it AND dissolve the Chicago office and fire the staff, I was alarmed and incredulous. In fact, everyone I know on the national top leadership, on national committees, plus district governors and regional directors was flabbergasted. You can read the proposed changes for yourself (next page), in addition to SI President Dennis Leiber’s talk on DVD to those attending the district governors and regional directors training in Kansas City in late February (p. 6). You can draw your own conclusions about how this will be implemented, how long it would take, its effects, its cost, and more. You won’t find any of that in what’s come out of SI so far. Nor will you find any strong, concrete reasons for the changes.

What struck most of the USA Council leadership so forcefully is that these changes are being imposed on us by SI without consultation with us beforehand. Further, there was no mention of any recourse from the terms of these changes. How could these measures be prescribed in a Catholic organization operating in an era in which we stress collegiality, the idea of talking things out, adult to adult, to arrive at a mutually-acceptable conclusion?

Your USA Council board didn’t take these proposed changes lying down. It reacted immediately by letting Serra club presidents know about the terms of the Serra International’s proposals and by officially registering their unanimous disapproval to SI’s board. We hope club presidents briefed their members but, if not, then the contents of this newsletter should tell you what we know. It should also tell that we’re going to resist this attempt to dissolve our USA Council of Serra. We feel in the long-run, the changes will hurt our work for vocations at a time when we need every effort possible to recruit new vocations to priesthood and vowed religious life, and preserve our existing committed clergy and religious. We need coordination on a national level to maintain good relationships with our bishops and with all the other national vocations-oriented groups.

How could we ever operate a national vocations strategy or any national plan without meshing and timing efforts? We must strengthen our USA Council to extend Serra’s effect in our nation and to keep Serra vital and focused.

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Dear Peter...

Sound advice from USAC Membership Coordinator
Peter Cunningham

Dear Peter,

I have a top-notch club. We sponsor all kinds of excellent activities and membership is on the rise! Does the USA Council recognize outstanding clubs?
Proud Serran

Dear Proud Serran,
The USA Council awards as described online and in an award booklet available from the Chicago office include:

Annual Outstanding USA Council Serran Award

This award recognizes an outstanding Serran in the United States. The USA Council will present this award when the outstanding Serran is identified at the annual USA Council meeting held this year at the Serra International convention in Spokane. Letters of nomination are accepted throughout the fiscal year. They may be addressed to the USA Council of Serra International Relationships Committee Chairman at our office on Wacker in Chicago.

Outstanding Newsletter Award

This award is presented to Serra clubs who show excellence in communications via outstanding club newsletters (see back cover!).

"Spirit of Serra" Award

This award is presented to members of the secular media who produce books, magazine and newspaper articles, or television programs that support the goals and mission of Serra by portraying vocations in a positive, thought-provoking manner. Submissions may be mailed to the USAC office by May 16.

Distinguished District Governor Award
Distinguished Serra Club President
Honor Club

Nominations for the above three awards must be submitted at the USA Council of Serra International Office on or before May 1. Additional information may be found online here:
http;//www.serraus.org/serra_usa/serra_awards.htm

USA Council Awards Program Forms

Distinguished Club President Award
Distinguished District Governor Award
Honor Club Award

Club Membership Campaign Awards:

1 Fall Campaign - Serra clubs that meet or exceed a net gain of five new members in the first six months of the fiscal year will receive a Membership Award.
2. Spring Campaign - Serra clubs that meet or exceed a net gain of five new members in the first six months of the fiscal year will receive a Membership Award.
3. Full Year Campaign - Serra clubs that meet or exceed a net gain of 10 new members during the full fiscal year will receive a Membership Award.

Serra Club Anniversary Banners:

The USA Council recognizes and presents 25th, 50th, 60th, and 70th anniversary banners to those Serra clubs celebrating these anniversaries of their charter. The regional director or district governor will present the banners at the district/regional convention.

Serran Years of Service Lapel Pins:

The USA Council recognizes Serrans celebrating 50 years or more of service with a special lapel pin. The regional director or district governor will present this pin at the district/regional convention.

The USA Council encourages clubs to recognize their members’ milestone anniversaries of service to Serra by adopting a program of peer recognition. Each year, our office prepares a list of each club’s Serrans who are celebrating their 10th and 25th membership anniversaries. We send these lists to the club presidents annually in August. The club then can choose to honor these members with a 10- or 25-year service pin, available from the USA Council merchandise catalog. You may purchase these items from the USA Council office in Chicago by calling 888-777-6681.

District/Regional Awards:

The USA Council Meetings and Convention Committee also encourages districts and regions to adopt a program of peer recognition for the efforts of Serrans and Serra clubs that actively advance the mission and objectives of Serra at the district and regional level. The appendix of the convention manual includes nomination forms and criteria that may be used to identify and recognize chaplains, Serrans, and Serra clubs. The award nomination form due dates are subject to local scheduling.

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If someone asked you, “What does Serra do?” could you give an answer?

Did you read our article in the last issue of this newsletter about brushing up on your invitation skills? It included a self-evaluation of what Serra means to you. We hope everyone in your club has completed the exercise; it will give you that extra confidence to approach someone about our great organization.

Here’s something similar from Dick Toren, communications vice-president of the Serra Club of Morgantown, W. Va.:

“What does Serra really accomplish in helping provide new priests and religious for the church?

A Serra friend told me some weeks ago that this question was put to him by another member, and he had trouble answering. That evening I sat down and quickly wrote up this list.

Morgantown Serra:

1. Provides moral support for priests and religious.

2. Our very existence in Morgantown tells all ordained and consecrated ministers that we value them and their ministries, that we want more men and women like them.

3. Stands ready to help in many ways that support efforts to increase vocations.

4. Awards to altar servers -- crosses, arm bands, etc.

5. Testifies to the whole faith community that vocations are worth working for; helps establish a culture that welcomes vocations.

6. We pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers into his vineyards as Christ taught us to do.

Results? Can’t tell what part Serra plays, but (there are) 15 seminarians (currently in our diocese), three ordinations this year, and two or three ordinations most years.

The job is big, but clearly progress is being made. I say to myself -- and to all Serrans, take courage!

Draw up a list for your club so you don’t get caught searching for words when someone asks you what Serra really does for vocations!

Introduce your diocese to Serra on the radio Norma Swanson from the Serra Club of North-Minneapolis sent us this script of a spot she did for her club on Relevant Radio. What a great way to get the word out about Serra! Feel free to take the text and adapt it for your own club.

60 Second Serra Imaging Spot

<ANNOUNCER>

"District 7 Serra Clubs support the mission of Relevant Radio and Pope John Paul II's call for a New Evangelization. Here's Norma Swanson District Governor with The SERRA CLUB.

<SERRA CLUB SPEAKER>

What would the world be like without priests and religious orders? We're not taking chances!

Serra International advances Church vocations
through information, affirmation, invitation and prayer
under the guidance of the club's diocese.

Members are lay men & women who grow their Catholic faith through programs which enrich their knowledge of God and Church.

Pope John Paul II called Serra the "Vocation Arm of the Church."

Our patron is Blessed Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary.

From a lunch group of 4 men in 1935, Serra has grown to 19,000 members in 36 countries. 15 clubs are located in Minnesota.

When it comes to vocations - think Serra!

For information on the web:
S - E - R - R -A --- U- S "DOT" org
or call 888-777- sixty-six eighty-one

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Boring but important: Club files: to keep or not to keep?

Spring will be here soon (I hope!), which means it’s time for spring cleaning. Here is the recommended retention schedule for club records:

Retain permanently

Legal correspondence (club charter, bylaws, EIN letter)

Chart of accounts and general ledger (If you use Quicken, Money or any other program, save a backup disk)

CPA audit reports

Minutes of all meetings

Retain for seven years

Accounting ledgers

Cancelled checks

Any contracts

Retain for five years

Bank reconciliations

Convention records

General correspondence

Payment records

Membership records

Retain for two years

Any other records

-- Ed Verbeke, USA Council Executive Director

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