My View

by Ed Verbeke, USA Council Executive Director

I belong to a neighborhood organization that really frustrates me. You probably have experienced the same thing. The organization was created to do one thing but has ended up doing something entirely different. When questioned about their action, they return with the argument that by doing “z” they are really doing “x.” Their mission statement clearly states that they exist to do “x.”

I had a conversation with a Serra club chaplain recently who said the club that he is associated with has one meeting a month consisting of a Mass followed by breakfast, and a second meeting made up of a holy hour followed by dinner. That was it. The priest was frustrated because he had read the objectives and purposes of Serra before he signed on as chaplain, and it was plain to see that the club wasn’t fulfilling its mission.

Similarly, not long ago I asked a club president what kind of vocation programs his club conducted last year. He mentioned a Christmas dinner party for the club members and their pastors, a golf outing with the priests and a picnic with the religious women of the diocese. These activities may not have much to do with the objectives of Serra International, but Perle Mesta would have been proud.

The French have a wonderful phrase: raison d’etre. Translated, it means, “the purpose that justifies a thing’s existence,” or “the reason for being.”

Our raison d’etre has been clearly defined in our Mission Statement:

“Our mission is to foster and affirm vocations to the ministerial priesthood and vowed religious life in the United States, and through this ministry, enrich and develop our members’ common Catholic faith.”

Another organization I belong to reads their mission and vision statements at the beginning of each meeting in order to stay focused on their raison d’etre. Perhaps it would be a good thing if all Serra clubs would start their meetings the same way and measure their activities by asking two questions:

1. How does this activity help us achieve the purposes of Serra?

2. What activities should we plan to help us achieve the purposes of Serra?

What do you think? My view is that we wouldn’t have many confused -- not to mention frustrated -- members.

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