In the discussion on leadership in the Church, I thought it would be useful to introduce the question of leadership in Corpus Canada, and in particular the role of the facilitator in our organization, partly because I now hold that position.

  First, a bit of history: A few years ago it was decided that Corpus Canada should operate by consensus, that is, make decisions only when all members of the National Coordinating Team had come to agreement on a particular issue. This it was felt was more democratic, more fair, and more in keeping with the practice of the early Christian communities. No longer would it have a president as it had in its early days, and as Corpus-USA still does.. 

  Along with the decision to operate by consensus came the agreement to work with no designated leader of the Team, but after a year of operating in this manner it was felt that a leader of some sort was needed, that someone should take responsibility for initiating and overseeing the discussions that took place, usually on the Corpus-N email list. 

  That leader was given the title facilitator at the Regina Conference of 1999, where it was also decided that a different member of the Team would be the facilitator for a three-month period of the year. Four people agreed at the Team meeting in Regina to act as facilitator for the upcoming year, beginning in October - Art Menu, Jim Noonan, Emil Kutarna, and Chuck McLellan. 

  During Art Menu’s tenure that year the role of the facilitator was discussed and agreed upon through discussion on the Corpus-N list, and the details of that role were published in the January-February, 2000 issue of The Journal, on pages 9 and 15. 

  At the recent Ottawa meeting of the Team, the term of the facilitator was reviewed, and it was felt that the three-month term was not long enough, and that the person holding this position needed more time to become familiar with it, and to become comfortable working with other Corpus members and with the job description.

  There was uncertainty on how to proceed. Should the term of the facilitator be six months, a year, or longer? The question then arose as to who was ready to assume the position for whatever period of time was decided upon. 

  Unlike in Regina, where four facilitators were easily found, there was difficulty getting Team members to serve the longer term. So in typically Canadian fashion, a compromise of sorts was reached. I agreed to accept the job for a period of six months, i.e., to the end of March, 2001, when someone else would take over. But since no one else at the meeting agreed to succeed me for the following six months, my first assignment was to find a successor, which is partly why I am writing this article. I want to encourage some other member of the Team - perhaps even someone who was not at the Ottawa meeting - to come forward and assume the position in April, 2001. 

  I feel that ideally the position of facilitator should be for one year, and my hope is that someone will volunteer to accept the job for that period of time after I finish my six-month term. 

  Another issue closely related to this one, and agreed upon at the Ottawa meeting, is that the term of Team members should be only two years. After two years, other Corpus members from the same region would be invited to join the Team for the same period of time while the retiring members remained on the team for one more year to help the new members become familiar with the job. Thus, in effect, a person’s term as a Team member is three years. If no one else in the region is available or willing to join the Team, the member whose term is up is encouraged to remain on the Team for another two years.

  It should be noted that there was agreement that the two-year term was retroactive, and thus several present members of the Team will now be looking for replacements in their particular regions. 

  My plea is that more members come forward to join the Team so that there is a healthy rotation of members. In this way more people will be available to become facilitators and assume the important work of helping the Team to discuss and plan for the future of Corpus Canada.

  Another important issue for the facilitator this year is to help people decide if there is a need and desire for a Corpus Conference in 2001, as was felt at the Ottawa meeting, and to work in the planning of it. Team members are encouraged to consult Corpus members in their own regions to see if they are ready to hold a conference next year.
         
  The minutes of the Ottawa meeting state that the locale of any such conference should be decided by Easter 2001. I suggest that the locale should be decided upon much sooner than that so that the detailed planning can begin in time to assure the success of the conference. 

  I see this consultation about a conference as much a responsibility in the remaining five months of my term as searching for a facilitator to replace me. And I ask not only members of the Team, but all members of Corpus Canada to reflect and pray on both these issues, and to decide if they are ready to offer themselves and their talents to carry out and expand the work of Corpus Canada in either of these ways: as a facilitator for a year, and/or as an organizer of a conference in 2001. 

  Both jobs would need, of course, to be approved by the present Team - preferably by consensus, which has worked well to this point, even when there has been disagreement in the course of the discussion among Team members. 

Jim Noonan
Corpus-NCR