| September-October Vol. 4 No. 5 |
| CORPUS CANADA ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING 2001
Bragg Creek, Alberta 16 September 2001 1. The meeting opened at 11:00 a.m. with a prayer. Art Menu acted as chair; Alanna Menu as recording secretary 2. The Agenda to be followed was accepted as presented. (The method of decision-making followed at the AGM is as follows: a. An attempt is made to reach consensus for any decisions. This requires time. b. Votes may be taken on an item when there are time-constraints.) 3. Report of the National Coordinating Team (NCT) presented by Art Menu a. Members of the NCT and the regions they represent: D'Arcy Coulson, Quebec; Jim Doyle, Vancouver Island; Gordon Irving, Vancouver; Emil Kutarna, Saskatchewan; Chuck McLellan, Southern Alberta; Sis McNeil resigned as representative for Nova Scotia; Dianne Peck replacement representative for Nova Scotia; Arthur Menu, Vancouver Island; Jim Noonan, Ottawa; Jack Shea, Ottawa; Leonard Schmidt, Manitoba; Delores Hall, Newfoundland; Eloi Arsenault, Prince Edward Island; Joe Cashen, Mississauga, Ontario. b. Terms of office of members of NCT: Terms are three years. In the second year, the representative looks for a replacement. In the third year, the new and old representatives overlap. If a representative cannot find a replacement, the representative remains. Many of the representatives have been members of the NCT for four years. c. Regions of Canada not yet represented are New Brunswick, Northern Alberta and the North of Canada. Joan Palardy and Brendan Fletcher volunteered to be regional representatives for Southern Alberta. Calgary will communicate its decision to the NCT. Rick and Margory Laplante and Jerry and Jan Moran volunteered to be regional representatives for Northern Alberta. 4. Treasurer's Report presented by Alanna Menu Financial Statements for both Corpus Canada and Xristos Community Society for 2000. Financial Statements for both Corpus Canada and Xristos Community Society for January - August 2001. Alanna Menu provided the following information: Twenty-five dollars from each Corpus Canada membership is donated to Xristos Community Society to support The Journal. There were 31 donors to Xristos Community Society in January-August 2001 who are not members of Corpus Canada. Their average donation was $46. Twice as much financial support for The Journal in January-August 2001 came from donations made directly to Xristos than from Corpus membership donations. In July the bank balance of Xristos was $93 and the last two issues of The Journal in 2001 had yet to be published. Xristos made an appeal for donations through The Journal. Through the generosity of donors enough money was donated to pay for the next two issues of The Journal. Each issue of The Journal costs about $700, postage included. A suggestion was made from the floor that Corpus Canada financial records be audited by people appointed by the National Coordinating Team. 5. Motions recommended for approval by the NCT a. (Jack Shea and Jim Noonan) MOVED, that the roles of Corpus Canada and Xristos Community Society be clarified as follows: Corpus Canada will continue to pursue its historical aims and objectives that emphasise reforms in the Roman Catholic Church, in such areas as optional celibacy, a married clergy, women priests, and small faith communities. Xristos Community Society (XCS) will operate independently of Corpus Canada, and pursue the aims of XCS as stated in the XCS constitution, using whatever means XCS deems appropriate. [Informational notes: -- Xristos Community Society is a society incorporated in the province of British Columbia and is a registered Canadian charity. Legally, it has no connection with Corpus Canada. It was incorporated in 1997 and took over the publication of The Journal from Corpus Canada. At the 1997 AGM of Corpus Canada it was stated by Art Menu, the president of XCS, that publication of The Journal on a sound financial basis was the sole purpose for establishing XCS. Nevertheless, the aims of XCS as stated in its constitution are broad enough to include a wide range of ministries over and above the publication of The Journal. The members and directors of XCS would now like to pursue some of these other ministries, some of which fall outside the aims of the Corpus Canada. The members and directors of XCS, while under no legal obligation to obtain the consent of Corpus Canada to expand the range of XCS ministries, feel a moral obligation to ask Corpus Canada to release XCS from the limitation on its ministries entailed by the 1997 understanding. Passage of the Shea-Noonan motion would give XCS what it is asking for. -- Passage of the Shea-Noonan motion would not change the present arrangement under which XCS publishes The Journal and issues tax receipts for donations to support The Journal. -- The National Coordinating Team has thoroughly discussed the Shea-Noonan motion and recommends its approval by the AGM.] Discussion: Jim Noonan further clarified that the reason for the motion to divide into two organisations (in the original wording of the motion that was posted on the CORPUS-N internet list in August) was that some felt that the future direction of XCS could make it difficult for Corpus to engage in dialogue with the hierarchy. Jim and Jack Shea and other members of Corpus who share their views believe that this dialogue is important. The motion as presently worded clarifies that Corpus and XCS are independent organisations, so that any activities undertaken by XCS in addition to publishing The Journal will not be an obstacle to dialogue between Corpus and the hierarchy. Art Menu noted that from an administrative perspective Corpus Canada made a management decision for XCS to publish The Journal to set the publication on a sound financial basis. If Corpus wishes to find another publisher for The Journal, it can do so. John Palardy recommended that this motion be accepted as an item of information for understanding and clarification. ALL AGREED. b. (Arthur Menu) MOVED, that Corpus Canada adopt the revisions to the "New Vision of Corpus Canada" that have been suggested by the National Coordinating Team. The "New Vision of Corpus Canada" as revised would read as follows (additions are in square brackets [ ], deletions are crossed out): Who Are We? We began [and continue to be] a support group of married Catholic priests, their wives [family] and friends, seeking acceptance by the hierarchy of an [in dialogue with the hierarchy, seeking] an optional married priesthood. We have become [also] a faith community of men and women empowered by our baptism in Jesus' Spirit to reach out to others in their need as Jesus did. Where Are We Going? This faith community is dedicated to: -- Renewal of ministry (service) in the Church; -- Being a catalyst for development of lay leadership [among all the baptised] in the Church; -- Promotion of a wholesome view of sexuality. -- Justice for all based on Gospel values in matters relating to the government of the Catholic Church. Our message is a healing one and is directed to everyone, but especially [including] the marginalised in the Church. It is our hope to reach them [people] through [many ministries, and in a special way through] the creation of local [small] faith communities. How Do We Get There? Through a collegial approach based on consensus reached through [communal] discernment in the Spirit, we share our gifts in small faith communities building Christ's body --Corpus [that all creation might be transformed according to God's loving plan]. [Informational notes: These changes were given provisional approval at the NCT meetings in Ottawa in 2000 and in Bragg Creek in 2001.] ALL AGREED to accept the changes. c. (Arthur Menu) MOVED, that the National Coordinating Team (NCT) consist of i. representatives of regions of Canada and existing Corpus local communities; ii. program leaders who take responsibility for major projects and programs that have been approved by the NCT; and iii. a Coordinator (or Coordinators) who will facilitate NCT deliberations and provide leadership for the NCT; and that a member of the NCT may hold one or more of the roles of regional representative, program leader or Coordinator. Discussion: i) Questions re the reasons for the inclusion of program leaders and the need for a Coordinator. At the Victoria AGM, Corpus made a decision to move away from a structure in which a board exercises governance and to set up the NCT to represent Corpus membership on a regional basis. The inclusion of the program leaders would increase the amount of action and information at the national level. In decision making the members of the NCT represent the views of their regions. Governance of Corpus Canada is exercised by the membership as a whole through the direction the regions give to their representatives on the NCT and through the Corpus Canada Annual General Meeting. Until now the NCT has had facilitators who served terms of three or six months. This did not provide adequate leadership and the Team feels it needs someone for at least a year who can not only coordinate NCT activities but provide inspirational leadership for the NCT and for Corpus Canada as a whole. ii) Question re the process of choosing a new Coordinator. This could be the responsibility of the NCT. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED. d. (Chris Diamond, seconded by Joe Gubbels) MOVED, that Corpus Canada appoint Grant Crosswell and Colleen Lissamer as Coordinators of the NCT. Discussion: Grant said that he and Colleen would accept an appointment to be Coordinators for a two-year term. ALL AGREED 6. Motion from Francois Brassard. (François Brassard) MOVED, that Corpus Canada adopt the following strategy as one way to promote its goals and activities and that Francois Brassard be the project leader for the strategy: A. Target Audience - priests and religious of all types. - reform and renewal people and organisations. - Catholics/Christians in the pews. - unchurched or marginalised Catholics/Christians. - the 'secular' world. B. What are we promoting? a) Goals - a renewed priesthood within a renewed Church. - a healthy view of sexuality. - justice issues: in the church and in the world. b) Activities - hospitality ministry - sacramental ministry - justice ministries C. How to promote. - establish accurate directories of active and inactive clergy and religious. - establish accurate directories of reform groups. - promote via The Journal, e-newsletters, web sites. - promote via syndicated columns in Catholic or secular print media. - promote via radio and TV. ALL AGREED. 7. Report of the chief editor of The Journal, Chris Diamond. The Editorial Team is the servant of Corpus Canada. Whatever Corpus wants, we try to do. Whatever is in The Journal speaks for itself -- we have tried to put quality in our work. The Journal needs people to write for it. The editorial team constantly encourages people to contribute material for publication. Joe Cashen volunteered to start a Toronto page. Thanks to Chris and the editorial team for a fine job. 8. Motions of thanks. a. (Emil Kutarna) MOVED, that Corpus Canada send thanks to Wayne Debly who looks after the Corpus-N mailing list and the Corpus-L mailing list, and thanks to Michael Zarb who is the Web Master for <www.corpuscanada.org> b. (Grant Crosswell) MOVED, that Corpus Canada thank all those people who worked on the Conference, all those behind the scenes like Chuck and Mary McLellan, who helped bring this Conference from planning to reality. c. (Fred Miller) MOVED, that Corpus Canada thank everyone for coming to the Conference. ALL AGREED. 9. Conferring of Corpus Canada Life Memberships. a. (Joe Cashen) MOVED, that Corpus Canada confer on Francois Brassard and Connie Kurtenbach the award of life membership in Corpus Canada because of their faithful service to the organisation. Because Francois and Connie had to leave the conference before the AGM started, Joe made this motion before the AGM was formally called to order. ALL AGREED. b. (Ron Dobbin) MOVED, that Corpus Canada confer on Joe Gubbels the award of life membership in CorpusCanada because of his passionate concern for Corpus Canada and his work as Treasurer at the beginning of Corpus. ALL AGREED. 10. The next Corpus Canada conference. Joe Cashen is considering Toronto as the next venue and asks for prayers. The meeting adjourned. Minutes submitted by Alanna Menu, secretary For pictures of the conference see Bragg
Creek Album
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