Milwaukee Archdiocese Priest Alliance
Minutes of the Meeting of the Convening Board
March 24, 2004
Members present: Steve Amann, Bill Burkert, Dave Cooper, Mike Erwin, Joe Hornacek, Alan Jurkus, John Lukaszewicz, Brian Mason, Ken Mich
Also in attendance: Allan Sommer
The meeting was held at St. Matthias Parish and was called to order at 1:30 PM. Bill Burkert led an opening prayer.
The minutes of the February 25th meeting were reviewed. Alan Jurkus said that he had no interest in heading up the committee to work on vocations issues. We will need to look at the reports from the February 5th meeting to see who might be willing to lead that group. The minutes were approved with the correction of two spelling errors.
Brian Mason has signed all of the necessary forms to have his name added to the checking account. Bill Burkert will also have to have his name affixed to the account as an authorized signer. We will require the signatures of two officers on any checks written.
Br. Paul was paid $300.00 leaving us a balance of $1,033.57. Steve Amann submitted a bill for the website. Also, Mary Kettlewell of St. Matthias has contacted Brian about transferring the accounting software to him.
On March 15th, Steve Amann, Dave Cooper and John Lukaszewicz were invited to meet with the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful at St. Alphonsus in Greendale. The members of Voice of the Faithful seemed to have come to the conclusion that the Alliance came into existence as a result of their actions. Dave clarified that he had been in communication with other priests about the formation of the Alliance for quite some time. Another issue that arose was that the victims of sexual abuse had the perception that the Alliance could be an ally with them in their struggle against the bishops. They would like to have a meeting with the Alliance to get the Alliance to be in their corner as future issues and confrontations arise. Dave explained that the first issue for the Alliance to be about is how we as priests can continue to survive. Most there seemed to understand that position. The question was raised whether or not we should meet with victims of clergy sexual abuse? We will continue to track this on the agenda.
Steve Amann reported that a meeting was held on March 10th at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and that
eight priests attended. Steve and Joe Hornacek represented the Convening Board. A good portion of the meeting was spent raising complaints. Steve said there is a need for priests to get things off their chests. The group decided to take up John Schreiter’s suggestion to survey the priests to determine which morale issues are affecting the life and ministry of priests. The question was raised whether a survey was a good idea? It was suggested we email members to ask if they feel a survey is a good idea.
Bill Burkert mentioned that a Crosier priest from Detroit did this sort of survey there. Is there a group in the Alliance that has an interest in doing this?
Ken Mich asked if there was some other way of determining the first and second most important morale issues other than a survey? Could we look at surveys from other prebyterates as we do not seem to be all that different in our views and issues.
It was decided to follow Ken’s suggestion first and the determne if there are other issues not reflected in their studies. It was also suggested that this focus group discuss ideas for the best way to take the pulse of priests regarding morale issues in the future.
They have another meeting scheduled in April.
Bill and Brian felt they were giving real life proof that priests are overworked in that they have not as yet been able to call this group together.
John Lukaszewicz had been out of town and did not have an opportunity to call this group together. Alan Jurkus said he would like to join this focus group.
Mike Erwin reported that this group had met earlier today (3/24) and they discussed a variety of issues. Three surfaced as most important:
Pat Legus from Chicago might also be a resource.
The focus group felt that there should be formation for all priests on their rights and the process. Joe Hornacek responded that all of this has already been published in the Chancery Newsletter and the Cincture and that there is nothing secret about it. It is a matter of priests reading what has already been sent to them. The focus group felt that any clarity we could provide would be helpful to all. This might take the form of a booklet or handbook for those who have been accused which outlines procedures, rights and resources.
Dave Cooper said this group has not met. This would seem the appropriate venue for meeting with victims of sexual abuse and one of a series of listening sessions.
Could the website be the best way for this sort of communication? An issue could be posted on the site and the members could be asked whether they would like to meet to discuss the issue.
If we receive phone calls on an issue, we as the Convening Board need to discuss the issue and then send it out via email to put the issue before the Alliance for their decision. There should also be some forum to facilitate the discussion of the issue (i.e. conference call, chat room, etc.).
The question was also raised as to how we make statements on issues?
We also need to stay focused; we cannot take on every issue that comes up. That is why we as a Convening Board need to discuss issues first.
After much discussion, the following procedure was agreed upon for responding to new issues:
1. An individual calls one of us.
2. We discuss the issue as the Convening Board
3. We develop a draft statement on the issue
4. We send out the statement via email to the Alliance and ask the members to respond to one email address if they are interested in pursuing the issue
a. We could also allow for discussion through the website chat room
5. Once a group has expressed interest in working on an issue, they become a focus group and begin working on the issue
The address is www.milwalliance.org. There is a member’s page, a constitution page and committee page. There is also a chat room. We will publish minutes from the focus groups on the site.
A meeting space has been requested during the Spring Assembly where we would be available to speak with other priests about the Alliance. The preference of the group was to have the meeting space for the hour before Mass on Tuesday afternoon. It would be good if we had information on membership, goals, etc. We could also ask people if they wish to be part of a particular focus group. Should we have Convening Board nametags to wear? We need to discuss this further before the Assembly.
The agenda items regarding Building Membership and Establishment of Dues were tabled until the next meeting.
The next meeting of the Convening Board will be held on Friday, April 23rd at St. Roman Parish from 1:30-3:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Mason,
Secretary/Treasurer
Issues to be discussed: Our presence at the Spring Assembly
The work of the six focus/issue groups
Building membership
Establishing Dues
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Mason
Secretary/Treasurer