A PROVEN FOUNDATION FOR FRUITFUL MINISTRY
CONGRESS X PLAN OF ACTION
Most Reverend John H. Ricard, S.S.J.
President of the Board of Trustees
(Article: Page 7 of 19)
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BEARING NEW FRUIT:
THE CONGRESS X PLAN OF ACTION
[Jesus said,] "Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.'" John 15:4-8
LEADERSHIP COMMISSIONS
 The Congress X Plan of Action, presented in this document, reflects our perseverance in bringing the Core Principles to fruition. In 2004, National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) staff surveyed diocesan representatives across the country about their progress on the first steps of the Congress IX Plan of Action. The results revealed that overburdened diocesan and parish offices sought resources and models for how to implement the Plan and advance the Principles. Responding to the survey, the NBCC's Board of Trustees created eight Leadership Commissions, one for each of the Core Principles. To constitute the commissions, NBCC staff solicited and reviewed nominations from across the country. Nationally recognized leaders on each principle were designated as commission facilitators. The Leadership Commissions met in extended workshops in
Baltimore, Maryland in 2005 and 2006, guided by the methods of
Appreciative Inquiry, and continued their work through periodic conference calls and emails.
For each of the Core Principles, the designated Leadership Commission created a national agenda of "ideal states," each of which included strategies for progress and specific approaches and resource materials for implementing each strategy. These were compiled into a National Leadership Commission Agenda, which was published in its entirety in the program book that registrants received in Buffalo.
In preparation for Congress X, each Leadership Commission examined its Core Principle in relationship to the Sacraments and then created unique workshops, evening events, and exhibit booths for Congress X, to highlight critical current issues, useful models and resources, and opportunities for action. The Youth and Young Adult Leadership Commission assisted NBCC in creating the Youth and Young Adult track for the program, while the other leadership commissions organized seventeen workshops and events for the adult track at Congress X. These opportunities to learn about and reflect upon our core Principles, in light of our sacramental core as Catholics, were truly the heart of the Congress X experience.
Learning and reflection are meaningless unless they inspire action. At the final assembly of Congress X, on July 15, 2007, chaired by Bishop Joseph Perry, the commissions reported their vision of the Principles with specific steps to implement over the next five years. Those reports, the fruit of the work of eighty-five gifted and dedicated women and men on the leadership commissions, are summarized here.
This is our plan of action-our framework for remaining in Christ, the Vine, and branching out to our parishes and our world so as to bear much fruit. Clergy, religious, and laity; NBCC staff and trustees, diocesan and parish staff members, families, and individuals-each of us, in our work and in our daily lives, will find in this plan steps that we can help to implement, where we live and work.
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