SUCCESSION PLANNING SHAPING THE FUTURE

1. SUCCESSION PLANNINGSHAPING THE FUTURE Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations Australian Catholic University Conference April 2009

2. Why we are here.... If you are asking the question “How do we shape our future so that our endeavour is valid, sustainable and authentic?” then you are asking about Succession. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

3. Potential Audience • Your Question is How do we create succession plans and processes that will see the development of new models of governance of ministries that are to be both Catholic and faithful to their founding traditions. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

4. Potential Audience • Your questions are around how: we create processes that enable new empowerments, new engagements, revitalisation of our mission within the present governance structures of our ministries and Catholic endeavours, providing new roles within our present structures for collaboration and partnership, developing greater roles for lay members of our Church and for Associates of our Religious Institutes. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

5. Potential Audience • Your questions: How do we find the next set of leaders for our ministry or church group? How do we give new expression to what we are called to be and do in the Church, attentive to the signs of the times in which we hear the call of the Gospel? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

6. Process • Share key elements of the change and succession planning. • Explicate some of the insights and learnings from that process. • Pose questions rather than give answers – provide you with the questions that you need to tackle if you are going to do succession well. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

7. What’s driving your Succession Planning? Impetus for change ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

8. What’s driving your Succession Planning? Diminishment Growth New Vision from Chapters & Leadership Emerging groups of Associates fired by the vision Realising Vatican II call to fuller laity engagement Movement of the Spirit • Present members incapable of effective leadership in a complex organisation • Fewer willing people available • The Congregation’s ‘end is nigh’ ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

9. What’s driving your Succession Planning? In response to the question: “How can new movements work together with the hierarchy of the Church?” Benedict XVI said: "Do not extinguish charisms." He went on to say: "If the Lord gives us new gifts we must give thanks.... And it is something beautiful that, without an initiative of the hierarchy ... new forms of life are born in the Church, as they were born in all the centuries." ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

10. Sharing The Vision Purpose By & With Whom? For What? Future Governance Of What? Structures & CDMS Belonging & Commitment How? With What? Resources ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

11. Belonging & Commitment Charism & Spirituality of the Founding Group Articulating Identity Who it is! What is its Mission? What are its values? What is its new Culture? Continuing the Charism in Church Mission Purpose For What? Ensuring the authenticity of this Identity into the future Future Governance Leadership & Membership ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

12. Three Dimensions of Identity 1. Intention of the ‘Founders’ in responding to the urgings of God’s Spirit • Articulates our Theology, our vision of Church and our Story that has brought us to this point • Future interpretation of the Vision and Purpose must take account of this ‘founding intent’ • Shapes the Vision and the Values of the entity ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

13. Three Dimensions of Identity 2. Vision and Purpose • Articulates the Gospel response through the lens of the Charism – ‘proper purpose’ • Reading the “Signs of the Times” brings responses in the context of this Vision • These response give rise to expression in Mission which is authentic ministry ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

14. Three Dimensions of Identity 3. Future Authenticity • The times change and our response must change – this is not preservation • We need to know the touchstones which inform the authenticity of dynamic growth and development of the entity and its Mission “If we don’t know where we are going how will we know when we get there” ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

15. Insight or Learning Creation of Edmund Rice Education Australia was driven by the reality of the diminishing capacity to provide leadership but the answer was not merely about replacing a structure and providing new leaders. The imperative was to create a new identity in mission for the schools fired by the Charism of Edmund at the same time as the brothers sought expression of that Charism in new ministry. We did not begin by looking at structures but rather by creating a new expression of identity upon which we would later allow a structure to build. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

16. is the context within which we do everything else in Identity Governance and Leadership That’s where Succession Planning should always begin! ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

17. Articulating IdentityKey Questions • How does the Identity and Culture get translated into specific expressions in particular ministries? • How does the expression of Identity get re-articulated authentically? • What are the mechanisms of accountability to Church Authority? • How are authentic expressions of the Identity accredited and celebrated? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

18. Identity - Cornerstone of Formation key to the endeavour’s success Authorities, Structures, Responsibilities & Resource Use must always be the servants of Identity. • Formationof those who • carry the Authorities, • work within the Structures • account for their Responsibilities • exercise Stewardship of Resources ensures that Identity stays the driver. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

19. Sharing The Vision Purpose By & With Whom? For What? Future Governance Of What? Structures & CDMS Belonging & Commitment How? With What? Resources ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

20. Sponsored by? Nurtured by? Leadership & Membership Selection Induction Formation Succession Accountable to? Sharing The Vision By & With Whom? Identity & Purpose Structures & Processes Future Governance ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

21. Leadership & MembershipKey Questions Selection • Who are the people that we will call into such leadership? • What are the skill sets they will need individually and as a group? • What are the predispositions and values that are needed for such a role? • What are the different formation needs of the individual and of the group? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

22. Leadership & MembershipKey Questions • Are the members the leaders or are the leaders drawn from a broader membership – relates to the type and nature of the canonical mechanism? • What are the Selection, Induction, Formation and Succession processes for Leaders and Members of the Governing Body? • What does it mean to be a Leader/Member of the Governing body? • To whom is the Governing body accountable and what is the form of that accountability? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

23. Leadership & MembershipKey Questions • Is there an ongoing formal relationship with the Religious Institute or Original entity? • How are the leaders and Members sustained in their ministry • Spiritually? • Financially? • Emotionally? • Intellectually? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

24. Leadership & MembershipKey Questions Formation - Initial and Ongoing • What is the framework for formation which describes what formation is and how its achieves its ends? • What are the immersion experiences that ensure that the creation and nurturing of a culture stays the focus? • Who accompanies the personal journey of the individuals and the leadership group? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

25. Leadership & MembershipKey Questions Formation – Knowledge and Skills • What is the information and the learnings the leaders need to have? • What are the resources [the human story, the documentation etc] that will provide that information and these learnings? • What are the processes that will best deliver that information and these learnings? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

26. Insight or Learning Restructuring is not about preservation. Our greatest hope was that Edmund Rice Education would have a life of its own unconstrained by the reality of the present expression. Achieving that required getting into the minds of the future leaders that they were truly leading not looking back to what the brothers did or would have done. To empower that leadership it is essential to articulate Identity –because it gives the freedom to lead based on a vision not a tradition or expectation. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

27. F O R M A T I O N EXPLORING, ANIMATING & NURTURING IDENTITY ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

28. Formation – the Key • Formation of those who • carry the Authorities, • work within the Structures • account for their Responsibilities • exercise Stewardship of Resources ensures that Identity stays the driver. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

29. Formation for Leaders “Formation is an ever clearer discovery of one’s vocation and the ever greater willingness to live so as to fulfil one’s mission.” ChristifidelesLaici, John Paul II, 2001 ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

30. Formation for Leaders • Creating a Culture • not merely giving information; leadership and stewardship is not an intellectual exercise • Embracing and being Immersed in • Theology and Foundations • Vision and Mission – characteristics of the authentic expression in ministry • Values of the entity • Interpreting the signs of the times in the gospel context • Personal Spiritual Journey In what ways is engagement with this work shaping my spirituality? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

31. An example from EDMUND RICE EDUCATION AUSTRALIA “The culture being created is one that is Spirit driven, adaptive to the times, centred on Christ, delivered within Church, hall-marked by the vision of the Founder, educationally sound and respectful of unique traditions within local Church and school community” EREA Foundations for Schools Ministry as Church Mission 2005 Formation of men and women should primarily aim at assisting them to realize their unity of life in Christ through the Spirit by means of an harmonious balance of the spiritual and practical elements which are part of their daily lives. Conversation of Hearts Formation Vision Document 2002 ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

32. Formation for Leaders Key Questions • How do we get the leaders we have identified to appreciate the centrality of formation in culture and their personal spiritual journey such that they commit to initial and ongoing formation as fundamental to their role? • What are the peak intense formation experiences individually and for the group and what are the experiences best built in and ongoing through the life of the group and its work - both are needed! • What are the resources - human and physical - that we have or need to develop to enable this initial and ongoing formation? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

33. Knowing and Understanding Formation for Leaders • Governance and Trusteeship vs Executive Management • Canonical Accountabilities • Civil Responsibilities • Stewardship of Resources and prudential diligence ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

34. Sharing The Vision Purpose By & With Whom? For What? Future Governance Of What? Structures & CDMS Belonging & Commitment How? With What? Resources ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

35. Leadership & Membership Canonical Connection with the Mission of the Church Future Governance How? Structures & CDMS CDMS Communication and Decision Making System Making Decisions & Communicating Nature of the ongoing Relationship with Religious Institute Civil Fulfilment of Civil & Statutory Obligations Accountable to? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

36. Insight or Learning How the Congregation sees itself & its ‘life experience’ in the Church & society impacts on the conceptualisation of radical change - in our case creating a new body to carry on its engagement with the Mission of the Church. Natural & inevitable but this could have become a limiting factor in the range of possibilities we considered. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

37. Canon and Civil Issues Who’s to do what the Religious Institute currently does? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

38. Civil & Canonical Governance • To be Catholic the new governance entity needs to have a formal relationship with a Public Juridical Person • To deliver services in Australian Education/Health/Welfare the new governance entity needs to fulfil the requirements of the civil code. • These are not new obligations – currently they are the ultimate responsibilities of many Religious Institutes. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

39. Canonical Responsibilities of the Public Juridical Person • The principal responsibility is to conduct the Purpose recognised by the Church Authority as a genuine and useful Purpose according to the approved Statutes and within the provision of Canon law upon such matters that the Statutes do not direct and to be accountable to the Church Authority for such conduct. • In doing so the Public Juridical Person will participate in the Church’s mission of evangelisation and ensure the continued Catholic identity of the Purpose. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

40. Canonical The Public Juridical Person will: • advocate and promote Gospel Values within the Purpose and the execution of its Purpose. • interpret authentically and articulate the Founding Charism, the Historical Sound Tradition and the Contemporary Spirit associated with its Purpose. • scrutinize the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel in so far as they relate to its Purpose. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

41. Canonical The Public Juridical Person will: • modify its Statutes from time to time as necessary, with the endorsement of the approving Authority • exercise the reserve powers entrusted to it under the Statues. • ensure the effective stewardship of its resources. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

42. Civil The Governance Entity must meet all required statutory obligations: • As an owner of property • As an employer of people • As a receiver of Commonwealth & State income • As a deliverer of Education/Health/Welfare • As a partner in Education/Health/Welfare Systems • As a financial reporting body • As a worker with Children ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

43. Responsibilities in common with none Responsibilities in common with all Catholic Schools Special Character & Identity and Charism On Being a CatholicSchoolwithin a Diocese On Being a Civil Legal Entity On Being an Educational Institution Responsibilities In common with all EducationInstitutions Responsibilities in common with all State & Commonwealth Civil Entities Four Domains of Responsibilityusing schools as a specific example but noting equivalence to Health and Welfare ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

44. Insight or Learning Choosing to explore the creation of a new Public Juridical Person in the Church to govern the ministry of the Congregation is not a decision about structure it is fundamentally a decision about identity. It is right for the church and state to be properly concerned with the creation of new entities and their capacity to translate what often can look good conceptually into reality. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

45. Structures and Decision MakingKey Questions • Will the new entity have a formal relationship with the Religious Institute?[if not a new Canonical approved entity is required] • What is the relationship between the Civil entity and the Canonical entity – what are their respective roles? • What are the lines of accountability and how is that accountability expressed? • Who makes the decisions and how are they made – how are consultation, collaboration and decision making delineated? • What will others know and how will they know it? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

46. Sharing The Vision Purpose By & With Whom? For What? Future Governance Of What? Structures & CDMS How? Belonging & Commitment With What? Resources ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

47. Future Governance Articulating Identity Of What? Belonging & Commitment Induction & Formation Sustaining & Nurturing Partnerships Mutual support Interconnectedness ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

48. What does it mean to Belong? • Identity and purpose aligned • Being a unique or diverse expression of the common vision • Being and staying authentic – what does it take? • Obligations, responsibilities, gains and benefits of being part of the entity. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

49. Induction & Formation for what ‘belongs’ in the entity • What does this look like? • Who delivers? • Who authenticates and validates? • Who accredits? • Who resources? ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009

50. Insight or Learning In explaining and dialoguing with the community members and the stakeholders it is absolutely critical to be clear about what we are changing and what we are not. Our project was about changing the governance of our schools– we weren’t judging our schools as inadequate or irrelevant; we were not abandoning our schools. ACU Conference - Mission and Identity in Church-Based Organisations 16th April 2009