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Serra Clubs are encouraged to draft and implement a comprehensive membership strategy for their clubs. Membership strategies will be implemented at all levels of Serra in the USA. Our success relies on you. Download the SerraUSA Membership Strategy for 2008 here.
COLLEGE CONNECTION: Summary of 2007 Test Program
By College Connection Chairman Dick Stolly, Serra Club of Lima, Ohio
By now you’ve probably heard about the College Connection Program, which seeks to keep high school graduates in touch with their Catholic faith when they leave for college. In 2007, 25 Serra clubs were invited to participate in the test program, and 10 of them agreed. These were the Serra clubs of Minneapolis-North, Spokane, Wichita, Tulsa, Indianapolis, Fremont, Lima, Mansfield, Tiffin and Toledo. Another 21 clubs expressed interest and hope to take part in the 2008 program.
All together, over 3,000 names were submitted, and from that group, over 2,500 packets were printed and delivered to the students. All packets were compiled by the LIFE TEEN group in Lima (except in Wichita, where the club did their own). The completed packets were then sent to the Serra clubs who furnished the names. They in turn gave them to the high schools or parishes for delivery to the students. Our office then notified the campus minister with all names we had that were coming to their school.
We received a number of letters from campus ministers around the country thanking us for this service. One who received 210 names wrote, “This is like finding gold in our pockets!” The Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA) had a full-page article about the program in their recent quarterly magazine Crossroads. An article also appeared in the National Catholic Register, written by Barbara Ernster, editor of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors’ quarterly magazine. Needless to say, the June 14 broadcast on EWTN brought the program to millions of viewers who had never heard of Serra before.
Of special mention in this year’s test program are George Maley of the Serra Club of Indianapolis, who arranged for the submission of names from five high schools and one parish; Michael Bragg of the Serra Club of Toledo, for working with four schools; Pat Egan of the Serra Club of Wichita for working with three schools; Jack Charron of the Serra Club of Tulsa for his work with two schools; and Diane Verhoff, youth minister of the Toledo Diocese, who helped obtain 200 names from parish youth ministers.
USA Council President Ernie Doclar will appoint a new ad-hoc committee of both Serrans and other collaborators from the CCMA and the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry who are interested in the continued development of the program. At the USA Council fall regional meetings, more Serra Clubs were invited to participate in the program for 2008.
If your club is interested and would like more information, contact your district governor or the Chicago office at 888.777.6681.
Club programs suited to our liturgical seasons
Now that we have entered into the Liturgical Time of our Catholic faith, it is a good time to look at the suggested program titles for the different seasons of the year.
Most likely your club program vice president has done a good job and your clubs programs are already set for these times; however, I encourage all club programs vice presidents and committee members, plus club officers, to look at the USA Council Program Manual, Part 2, for some very helpful ideas. There are program suggestions for the seasons of Advent through Easter, plus others.
The Programs Manual Part 2 can be a club’s best friend if it has to find a replacement program idea in case of a speaker’s cancellation, and is especially handy if any of your invited speakers ask what you would like them to speak about. Additionally, many of the program formats found in the manual can supplement a speaker’s message with prayer and reflection.
Regardless of your individual situation, I would ask you to review this manual at this time. Even if you find a good program idea for next year or a program to be used during Ordinary Time, it will be well worth your time.
Program Tips
Let us all strive to have our meetings accomplish the third purpose of our Serra Mission.
Doug McRoy, Programs VP
USA Council Of Serra International
Order your NCCV kits now to promote World Vocation Events for parishes in your area
For the rest of 2008, the Catholic Church calendar gives us the following opportunities to celebrate vocations:
· World Day for Consecrated Life, Feb. 3, 2008
· World Day of Prayer for Vocations, April 13, 2008
For the third year in a row, the USA Council of Serra International has partnered with the National Coalition for Church Vocations (NCCV) to provide parish planning kits for 2008 church vocations events to Serra Clubs and the parishes they serve for a nominal fee.
Club presidents and vocations vice presidents: you are encouraged to use these planning kits for distribution through your Parish Contact Program to parishes and Catholic schools in your service area. Each club is encouraged to order one kit for each parish in their service area.
Clubs may request copies of these kits either in downloadable Adobe format or in printed format.* The only stipulation is that the request must come from the individual club to the USA Council Chicago office (888.777.6681) and be paid for at that time. Planning kits will be provided on request, while supplies last. The NCCV Catalogue cost per kit is $14 each. Through the USA Council’s special arrangement with NCCV, the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life and World Day of Prayer for Vocations kits are $3.50 each.
These planning kits contain user-friendly materials for parish staff and parish vocations committees and are developed to coincide with the liturgical calendar and cycles. Promoting these programs by our local Serra clubs are tailor-made activities for our Parish Contact Committees and will help us with our mission as Serrans.
Some dioceses and parishes purchase these planning kits directly from NCCV. If a parish already has a copy of these planning kits, our local Serran function would be to encourage and support their use.
We encourage you to make an annual program out of distributing these planning kits and use them as a tool to help accomplish the USA Council Vocation Committee’s goal to have vocation activities in every parish in the United States.
*Purchase of any of the Annual Celebration Kits includes duplication rights for a single parish or school only. The Kits may not be duplicated for quantity distribution by a diocese, religious congregation, or other organizations without the purchase of a bulk distribution permit from NCCV. Contact NCCV at 773.955.5453 for a permit number. All Annual Celebration Kits are copyrighted by NCCV.