From: Christa Grillmair, President
The fluffy white stuff was wonderful to look at but now it is too hard to actually shovel – so I made a snow-person and am waiting for the sun to melt the two or more feet of snow that fell on our deck and yard. We are lucky, here on the Island, because winter only visits; it doesn’t live here.
2020 will be another exciting year. We celebrate our League’s 100th anniversary and a change of leadership at some of our Parish Councils and at our Diocesan and Provincial Councils. Changes are also anticipated nationally as we move into year two of our strategic plan. In our diocese, we have presented the strategic plan to 263 members on seven occasions and have scheduled nine more between now and mid- February. Thanks to you and the help of Laurel Phyall and Kathy Weswick, we are able to update all councils in our diocese.
Here are ten items for your consideration:
1. Diocesan Spring Interim Meeting – March 3, 2020 at Christ the King, Courtenay
The team at Christ the King are preparing for our spring meeting and looks forward to hosting us. In addition to the usual business section, we will keep to our current strategy of providing you with workshops rather than reports at the interim meetings. The workshops will be on Communication and Dealing with Conflict. Father Alfredo will also lead us through a Lenten Reflection.
ACTION: please send any items you wish added to the Business Section of the meeting to me by January 25, 2020 so that we can finalize
the agenda.
2. Leadership Opportunity
Yes, it’s an election year for our Diocesan Council – an opportunity for others to step forward and share their talents when some of us are moving on to other challenges. I encourage you all to consider what you would like to contribute – we all have unique gifts and talents and together we make an amazing team.
ACTION: Please say YES to the call!3. Diocesan Pre-Convention Team Meeting – April 22, 2020 at St.
Edwards, Duncan
The diocesan team meeting (parish council presidents, diocesan executive and chairs) will be on Wednesday, April 22 at St. Edwards, starting at 5:00 pm with dinner lovingly prepared by our own Father Alfredo and his helpers. The meeting will commence at 6:00 pm.
ACTION: Please send me any items you wish included. We will finalize the agenda after the interim meeting to ensure we address all your concerns and cover all the issues.
4. Diocesan Convention – April 23-24, 2020 at Oceanfront Suites, Cowichan Bay
Plans are well underway for the 2020 Diocesan Convention coordinated by the team at St. Edwards to be held at the Oceanfront Suites in Cowichan Bay April 23-24. The registration package will be sent out by the beginning of February. The draft agenda will be included in the registration package.
ACTION: This is an opportunity to meet and share with like-minded women from our diocese. Please make an effort to bring many members from your council to the convention.
5. Centenary Projects – National and Diocesan
a) At the 100th National Convention to be held in Montreal August 9-12, a wall of memorabilia will be posted in the convention hall. We are looking for photographs that showcase our history.
ACTION: To ensure that our Victoria Diocese is well represented, please go through your council archives and pick up to five photos that represent your history. Bring your photos to the March diocesan interim meeting and we will take some of them and make up our own “Wall of Fame” to display at our April diocesan convention. Tape your council name, event, date and any member(s) names on the back of the photograph. Laurel and I will also take some of the photos to Montreal to display at the national convention.
b) The national plan for each Diocesan Council is to plant a tree – with the objective of planting 100 trees across Canada.
ACTION: Please bring your ideas to the interim meeting as to where and when you think our Diocesan tree should be planted.
6. National Project – Focus on Water
Our diocesan theme, Solid Rock, Living Waters, will change with the change of leadership in April. However, the national theme, Caring for our Common Home, is in its second year. This year’s national focus is on water, which ties in very well with our diocesan theme as well as our social justice endeavours.
I encourage you to consider this national project. In partnering with the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA), the CWL will be supporting the repair of a drinking water well in Pothy, Kerala, India.
ACTION: When you plan your fund-raising activities for 2020, please consider making this one of your project. We are asked to track our contributions and submit the total amount to the diocesan chair of
community life by August 1, 2020. I would also suggest sending a copy to our treasurer. Full details are in the December 5, 2019 Communiqué from the National Chairperson of Community Life, Marie Rackley (copy of which is attached to my email)
7. Membership Apathy
One goal of our national strategic plan is to ‘include – leave no member behind and to affirm – make members feel welcome, needed and wanted”. One of the concerns we have addressed is the fact that we lose members every year who choose to not renew their membership. In our BC/Yukon region, from 2018 to 2019, 573 new members joined us and 371 came back to us. We lost 110 members who passed away but 890 chose not to renew their membership. Unfortunately, we do not have statistics for each of our councils but this fact is disconcerting. As part of our national strategic implementation, we have done a comprehensive study on the reasons for this apathy and found that it affects all levels of the League – from the clergy to members and non-members.
ACTION: As we plan to address this nationally, let’s work on some strategies in our own councils to reduce apathy. Suggestions are to work with our Spiritual Advisors to promote the CWL from the pulpit and encourage their participation at meetings and conventions. Ask your members what they would like to get out of your meetings, foster their participation and welcome their input. Make your meetings interesting, informative and action-oriented.
8. Showcasing and Sharing our Actions
People won’t know all the wonderful things members of the CWL do if we don’t show them.
ACTION: Include a short ‘did you know’ in your parish bulletin. Share your success stories. Talk about the many projects the CWL is involved in. Send Gerry Heywood stories and photos of your activities to post on
the website and Facebook and encourage your members to check out the National, Provincial and Diocesan websites for news and updates.
9. Comprehensive Register
Getting the information to the right people is important so we need to ensure that we have the correct contact information for every member of your parish CWL council.
ACTION: Please send your CWL council list to Nancy Horsfield at by the end of January. Nancy compiles your information into a comprehensive list and shares it with all of you, as well as provincial and national councils. If you have a vacant position, please do not put ‘vacant’ but assign a contact person to each portfolio, otherwise any information pertaining to that particular portfolio will not come to your parish CWL council. If you have any changes throughout the year to contacts or contact information, please remember to let Nancy know.
10. Questions, Suggestions, Ideas, Comments All are welcome!
Blessings, Christa
Save the Dates
- 2020 Spring Interim Meeting, March 3 – Christ the King, Courtenay
- 2020 Diocesan Convention, April 23 - 24 – St. Edwards & Oceanfront Resort, Cowichan Bay
- 2020 Provincial Convention, June 11-13, Prestige Inn, Vernon
- 2020 National Convention, August 9-12, Montreal “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3