The thing that seems to be lacking.
The YCW depends too much on full-time workers. This has resulted in the limitation of the size of the movement both in dioceses and nationally. The problem is not only one of limitation of numbers involved in movement but rather the problem that the YCW is not and should not be a fulltimers’ movement. There is something wrong in the attitudes we have developed.
Despite efforts to counter this, the YCW has an image of being a consumer group for people with problems in daily living, or a social justice group people joining the movement do so to be part of one of these two aims – worse people will not join it because they do not like these aims.
Relationships of counsellors/client or supportive friend/person in a crook situation dominate often. Leaders “work” with people who have problems” – supporting and challenging them. This means leaders work with “clients” rather than with peers who are leaders in life.
Diocesan Teams find difficulty in working out their reason for existence apart from administration of the movement often they are not even friends, let alone being a community of peers supportive and respectful or one another commitment in life and action. The difficulty seems to be more than a difficulty of practice – it seems that many lack the vision, the theology, and the practical ideas and talents to put them into practice.
Aims
To get participants to evaluate their own life and living in a deeper way often we seem to present as the best possible worlds, a world in which people free of oppression or injustice. This is a negative picture. Where we find instances of injustice etc. we aim at eliminating. And of course we can find situations the demanding change. But this does not go far enough.
So somehow we want people to evaluate the whole of the life and living, what seems to be taking place naturally plus the conscious organised action in life and to evaluate this against the picture of what could be, given the possibilities of each human individual and the vocation and mission of each person.
To achieve this we need to give direction in getting people to draw up a picture of their own life and action. We need to present the truth of faith not just as a static dignity but as a dynamic mission. And we have to find a way to get participants to outline what the possible reasonable, achievable, aims of Christian living and practical examples of this.
Then we needed to evaluate the life and living of the YCW in the same sort of way not according to numbers or actions but as a community way of living what has been seen as an individual Christian way of living by the process above. In a special way we need to evaluate the life and living of the Diocesan Teams.
This will need to be done not only by looking at what has been the action. Somehow it will need to incorporate the growing vision of audit losses and Team could be both as a community of people who live out the vision of the west of you, and as a body that takes responsibility for the growth of the movement both as a spirit and as an organisation.
In all of this evaluation of self, YCW, and the Diocesan Team we want to present the notion of leadership – of the individual in his/her life, of the YCW community in the Church and Parish, of the Diocesan Team in the YCW and among YCW members. Also the practical ways that this leadership will be demonstrated.
Hugh O’Sullivan
[Date, venue unknown]