Dear Sisters in the League and Father Mike:
It is that time of the year when many of you are holding elections for your parish councils. Earlier this year I gave a little talk at our Diocesan Convention about what vice presidents do and I would like to share these thoughts with all of you because I believe this is important.
Being Vice President is a really important role and if you don’t have a Vice President in your council or on the Diocesan level, then you could be in for big trouble at your next election. Vice Presidents bring stability to your councils on every level whether Diocesan, Provincial or National. When you’ve got a good vice president, your council is preserved because part of this person’s role is to train to become the next president. That one’s a biggie; training your next president.
An important part of the Vice President’s role is taking care of our members. We recruit new members, we support, train and develop material to help you as League members and as potential (and actual) leaders. Again, that’s leaders at all levels. So, you might (will) see me coming to recruit you for a Diocesan position. You, as your own council’s Vice President, should approach and encourage your members to step up and take on a council leadership role.
Now, here’s another biggie that I think applies to every member as well as Vice Presidents on all levels. If you see something that needs to be done and no one is doing it; do it. It strengthens our League. Also, your president may ask to take on other duties.
Then, there’s the dreaded reports! Now, I can hear all of youl thinking: is she nuts? What reports? I don’t know what to write! What if I’m wrong? Yeah? Huh?
Let’s all take a deep breath and relax. If you’re on the parish council level, then the only report you’re likely have to do is to take part in the annual National Survey. There will be specific questions that only you can answer. And it’s all done on a computer by your president or secretary . To be truthful, your president might ask you to do a write up on some subject but that would call for less formal writing.
On the other hand, you will be asked to write communiques on the diocesan level but that’s not as hard as it might seem.
These are the day to day tasks that Vice Presidents do regularly. To sum it up, serve our membership through League development and leadership training, recruit new members, learn what the president does and be her if needed.Oh, yes, and just be yourself.
Now, before your mind freezes at the thought of being a Vice President or being on any executive committee, keep this in mind. If one person can learn to do a thing, then you can learn to do it, too.
Now, I hear you asking “how can I do this? How can learn this thing I am asked to do?”
You will be glad to know that just about any one who starts out to do something new, usually hasn’t got a clue how to do it. If they did, they’d already be doing it. So, first of all, you go on line to cwl.ca and look up the Vice President Hand Book and the National Manual of Policy and Procedures. Look up your role as Vice President and then PANIC!!!!!! Oh, no.there’s so much to do!!! Where do I start?
Well, first of all, take a deep breath and look again. Do you see something you know needs to be done in your council? What of the list of duties do you have a special interest in? Start there. For myself, for example, I love teaching so I really like presenting the training modules you’ll find on line at the national site. So, in your role as parish vice president, you might ask me or someone else to come to one of your meetings and do a quick workshop. Or take a look at a module you like and present it yourself.
So, there you are. You know where to look for information. Another place to get help is to just look around you. There will be people in your council or on the diocesan level who have done this job before and would be a good bet to help you. Obviously, you’ve got me. But you’ve also got our President Bertha or Christa and Laurel who know all this stuff and can help you. Or help can seem to come out of no where. Just the other day, Maureen Ingram, who is my council’s President and a former Diocesan President, said to me, “I’ve done all this stuff before; I’ve got your back.” Do you see, there’s a lot of people who want to help you succeed.
Now, I’d be remiss not to mention the most important source of help in the job of Vice President; God. I believe with my whole heart that He, too, wants you to succeed. Talk to Him. Ask Him to help you with your work in the League. He is the best source of inspiration.
God bless you and yours,
Gerry Heywood: Vice President, CWL Diocese of Victoria