National Council

OCDS National Council

Meeting Highlights

Members of the OCDS National Council met June 14 and 15 in Bellevue, Wash. Following are some of the points discussed:

• Province updates:

· The California/Arizona Province has completed its statutes and is working on a procedure manual. The province has 2,300 members in 60 communities,

· The Oklahoma Province will be having its first provincial elections. There are 870 members in 40 communities.

· The Washington Province is continuing to work on statutes. Washington has 4,000 members in 123 communities.

· OCDS had a tax-exempt IRS number! I was informed the latter part of August by a banker in Oregon that the tax id number formerly listed here is not operative. He said an annual financial report must be submitted to keep the number filed active. I was never asked for a financial report, so the feds must have retired my OCDS number years ago. I apologize for this inconvenience. If you are thinking of using that number to your community's bank account, please do not use it. If you already have your account listed under that number, it would probably be best to close that account and take out a new one. Treasurers, it is important that you keep good records of money earned and spent while using that number, in case you are investigated. We will try to file for a new number and appoint someone to file the needed reports to keep the tax exempt status active.

· If an OCDS member moves to another province, he or she is under the jurisdiction of that province. The two communities involved in the transfer must be in dialogue about the individual who has moved. The community receiving the transfer is not obligated to accept the individual. The receiving community is in charge of the individual's formation.

· In general, OCDS members should be attached to the community they are most proximate to. It is recommended that seculars maintain membership in communities closest to them; they should not divide along political lines. OCDS must be assigned to a community. Provincial councils decide on questionable cases.

· Father Deeney spoke about dismissals of definitively professed members from the order. Canon law must be followed in exercising penalties. Other valid punishments (e.g., being taken off an active role, not being allowed to vote or to participate in business meetings) must be used first. Penalties must be discussed with the offender. For dismissal, the problem must be grave, provable, consistent and recorded. The Provincial must be consulted.

· Good formation is essential. The local council has the responsibility to refuse progress to those in formation if they do not have vocations. Councils should not commit sin against the community in the name of being charitable to an individual in formation.

· Promises make a person a full member in OCDS. Vows are distinctly personal, not institutional. The key is to focus on good formation in preparation for promises before spending much time on the details of vows.

· All three provinces are committed to a three-year cycle of regional congresses. Provinces will do their best to decrease the costs associated with congresses. Regional congresses will attempt to have more workshops and more OCDS speakers.

· The National Council will provide a theme for the National Congress. Each province will submit a list of speaker suggestions to the host community for that congress.

· When it is decided to extend the first promise, an extension of the promise is to be made before the Spiritual Assistant. It is best if all promises could be received by a Carmelite priest.

· Spiritual assistants cannot sub-delegate their responsibilities to another priest [if they are appointed by the Provincial delegate].

· Father Deeney plans to set up secretariats in Asia, India, Europe-Africa and the Americas. These secretariats will be made up of committees of OCDS members.

OCDS are full members of the order, dependent on the friars.

· The National Council has not authority to dictate decisions to the provinces. Provincial Statutes take precedence over National policies. The National Council proposes policies to the three provinces. Each Provincial Council may accept or reject or amend these suggested policies. Then each Provincial Council can make an addendum to its Provincial Statutes. These addenda are binding to OCDS in that province. When the policy is published, it is considered promulgated and carries the weight of law.

· Any community that does not accept the Constitutions ceases to be a community of the order.

National Council

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2006 MEETING
OF THE OCDS NATIONAL COUNCIL
OF THE UNITED STATES

Meeting held Nov 3 & 4, 2006 at
Holy Hill, Hubertus, WI

1. The OCDS National Council of the USA is currently operating on an interim basis pending the approval by the General Definitory of the final draft of the By-Laws of the National Council. The final draft of the By-Laws will not be considered until after all three Provinces have their Provincial Statutes approved by the General Definitory .

2. The Oklahoma Provincial Statutes and Formation Guidelines have already
been approved and are published on two websites:
-the Oklahoma Province website:

http://www.carmelitesok.org/ocdsok/oklahoma_province.htm

or on the OCDS National Council website: http://www.ocds-us.org/, managed by Chris Hart whose e-mail address is: thekingshouse@hotmail.com .

The Oklahoma Provincial Council’s process for visitation was discussed at some length.

3. The California-Arizona Provincial Statutes have recently been approved by the General Definitory and will be published on two websites:
The California-Arizona Province website: http://www.ocds.info/ and the OCDS National Council website: http://www.ocds-us.org/ .

4. The Provincial Statutes of the Washington Province are currently in process. The Washington Province website is: http://www.ocdwashprov.com/secularorder

5. The 2007 Regional Congress will be held from Friday June 15 to Monday, June 18, 2007 at the Bellevue Hilton Hotel in Bellevue, WA, near Seattle. Cindy Sliger, co-chair of the Congress, announced that reservations are now being accepted. A reservation form is available on the website: http://congress.ocds.info/ . The theme is the Rule of St Albert: Fount of Living Waters.

6. Chris Hart, Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the National Council reported a balance of $265.14 in the National Council Treasury. She noted that the 2006 contributions for support of the National Council in the amount of $500.00 from each Province are now due.

7. The 2008 Regional Congress has been scheduled for September 11 to 14, 2008 at the Wyndham Greens Point near Houston, Texas.

Oklahoma Province representatives to national council ocds in Holy Hill: Elizabeth Korves, Paul Schubert, Fr. John Michael & Nancy Thompson.

8. The next meeting of the National Council was scheduled for Thursday, June 14, 2007 and Friday AM June 15, 2007 at the Bellevue Hilton, just before the Seattle Congress.

9. Much of the meeting on November 3, 2006 was devoted to extended discussion of the value, purposes and format of the Regional Congresses.

The traditional convention model consisting of conferences and workshops is organized more from the top down. Concerns expressed were:

a) that they were directed more to personal enrichment than with
progressing with one another toward a common goal; and

b) that they excluded those who couldn’t participate by reason of
finances, time or disability.

A “Chapter” model was suggested. This is organized more from the bottom up with issues and agendas proposed by the members and their communities and devoted more to local issues and governance.

A third or “hybrid” model was also discussed which might have some features of a chapter as well as a convention along with inter-community socializing.

There was general consensus that the provincial councils should further discuss the nature of the regional congresses.

10. There was consensus among the delegates that the National Council has
important value and it remains committed to its mission which is to:

a) provide a National Congress every 10 years

b) foster communication between the provincial councils

c) coordinate inter-province transfers

d) make recommendations to the Provinces

e) coordinate other activities where deemed useful or necessary for the
good of the Secular Order in the USA.

11. The Saturday morning session was devoted essentially to continued drafting and refinement of the National Council’s own By-Laws and will be continued at the Seattle meeting.

12. This meeting of the National Council was chaired by Pedro Gonzalez of the Washington Province. The position now rotates to the Oklahoma Province and Elizabeth Korves is the present Chairperson of the National Council and she will serve until the conclusion of the next meeting.