CORPUS, a ministerial faith community…

Growth and transition are a natural part of existence, for each of us, and organizationally, for CORPUS as well.

We've been there before… transitioning from an community of 'reserve' priests working for reinstatement to canonical ministry, becoming an 'association' of priests and their wives collaborating on witnessing to a 'married priesthood' and encouraging members to reengage in some type of ministerial activity. We grew further as we embraced the viability of women's ordination, and as we formally recognized that an ordained priesthood, semper reformanda, must truly be inclusive and supportive of our gay sisters and brothers called to ministry.

Individually and collectively we've grappled with our organizational mission to renew and reform ordained priesthood, in collaborative tension with the Vatican II revitalization of the ministerial, priestly people of God.

CORPUS, our CORPUS, is a ministerial faith community in the Roman Catholic tradition. Building on our common baptismal call we recommit ourselves to spread the good news of freedom we have received from the Spirit of God. We celebrate the call to true gospel leadership that ordination heralds.

We are a movement within our Church… undefined by canon law. We proudly embrace our truly catholic / universal faith heritage. And we will do all within our power to pass that legacy on to our children joyfully and, full of hope to our grandchildren. We are a voice and people of inclusion who celebrate the wideness of God's love and mercy.

We constitute ourselves around ministries of Proclamation, spreading the good news, Solidarity, working hand in hand supporting each other and beyond, Commission, calling each other into new and renewing servant ministries, giving Testimony to what we have seen and heard, and providing Support to our mission within and outside the bounds of our faith community. We are a stewardship community of people willing to donate 'time, money, and talents' to revitalizing our Church.

Connecting both the call for a deeper spirituality and prayer of Jesus that we might all 'be one,' further steps are being taken to birth the Community of John XXIII, an ecumenical partnership between CORPUS and the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. A legal charter is about complete, enabling our Taize in the marketplace to take form. We expect a first meeting of those interested in this public witness to a spirituality of frugality (poverty), solidarity (obedience), and fidelity (chastity) to be held at our June national conference in Delaware.

I am heartened about the growing collaboration CORPUS is experiencing with both Women's Ordination Conference and those women who have followed a call to ordination through Roman Catholic Women Priests. I have hope that in the not too distant future we'll be discussing effective steps we can take to reunite organizationally with our sisters and brothers in the Federation of Christian Ministries. I am excited about the pre-Call to Action conference we will be hosting in Milwaukee in November under the banner of the National Catholic Ministerial Alliance.

Part of our being catholic is to be actively engaged with other communities of faith. Our active participation internationally is as a driving force within the North Atlantic Federation for a renewed priesthood. As such, CORPUS is a vital contributor to identifying ways in which the vision of a continuously reforming priesthood can unfold within our global church. Hand in hand, we are united with federations from Europe, Latin America and the Philippines. For the past three years NAFed congresses have been held in Germany. Early stage preparations are underway for CORPUS to co-host a multi-national conference here in North America in 2007.

Through the years we've taken a lot of bows for our support of the CORPUS Pension Advocacy Campaign. Great strides have been made in a few dioceses. PAC activity has the potential to bring our church in line with its social justice imperative.

What is still on the horizon is our working toward helping the members of our community refresh, sharpen, or augment their ministry service skills. We need to provide adequate support equipping our members to provide spiritual direction, bible study, ecumenical chaplaincies, Clinical Pastoral Education, and training in couple-hood as a spiritual path. We have a nascent bereavement ministry already launched supporting those within the CORPUS community who have lost a spouse. It would be valuable to provide these wounded healers with some professional training to round out their innate and compassionate skills.

We are glad you appreciate CORPUS Reports, e-CORPUS, Mirabile Dictu, Pension Advocacy Campaign, member services, career transition, advocacy, and our new foray into pod-casting. While undertaking these expansive activities, we still work as hard as ever to maintain the hallmarks of CORPUS' engagement for years: supporting those men who transition from canonical ministry (yes, they are still leaving and coming to us for support); engaging in dialogue wherever possible with official representatives of our church for rapprochement; and providing pastoral ministry wherever possible.

To make this, and more happen, we need not only your prayers and engaged activity. We need your moral support shown through financial contribution.

The May - June issue of CORPUS Reports includes our annual report and launch of our annual membership drive. Thinking about finances and worrying about finances takes more and more valuable time for a totally volunteer board and staff to negotiate through our organizational expectations. We've done pretty well for the past several budget cycles, but last year we had to dip significantly into our reserve funds to meet expenditures. Bill Manseau, our treasurer, has worked long and hard in providing you with a solid overview of your board's effective stewardship of your hard placed contributions.

There is not a lot of 'fat' in our budget. We're organizationally trying to do more and more to be an engaged representative of the progressive voice of our church. But assistance is sorely needed. As you review the Treasurer's report make note of the significant number of volunteer, unpaid, donated hours in kind.

Realize that for your contribution, you are getting the engaged activity of three elected board representatives for nothing more than minimal expense reimbursement. You also are benefiting directly from the services of a webmaster, journal publisher, and membership services coordinator at no cost because we had to cut their stipends. For 2006 we've also continued the zero-dollar stipend of both our public relations representative and conference coordinators since there was no money in the budget for their activities either.

To shave expenses further we're trying to squeeze in a board meeting during our June conference rather than beforehand. This past January we even held our three day board meeting around a staff member's kitchen table and camped out in his home. Bulk mailings to membership and beyond still happen the old fashion way… hand stuffed, hand labeled, and sealed. Press release contacts are hobbled together from names culled from news articles. Mirabile Dictu and eCORPUS were cut off a couple of times last year because the email routing systems considered them spam. Realize that we lose valuable time that could be put to better use in running a national organization. Even still we are committed to being that voice in the wilderness.

Last Christmas, David Gawlik, in his role as editor and publisher of Mirabile Dictu, the morning coffee issue of CORPUS daily, asked the 3,000 people who receive this electronic publication to support it with a contribution to CORPUS. He received a whopping $45.00, including a widow's mite donation of $5.00 from a person with no income, and another check for $ 0.10!! (Have you checked the time of night David completes and sends out MD while we are sound asleep?)

We're hampered from doing what we need to do because we cannot water the soup down any further. We need a continuous and consistent positive cash flow to function efficiently.

We considered not raising our annual dues sensitive to those whose circumstances restrict or limit their funds and disposable resources. As we ask specifically for even greater contributions, the last thing we want to be considered is 'greedy or over the top' or creating what might be construed as a second class membership. But bills need to be paid for printing, postage, and a myriad of other expenses. And our fixed expenses are going up. It has been over 7 years since we raised 'membership dues.'

New memberships and renewals are increasing to $85.00 per year. Many folks through the years have added a rounding donation to an even $100.00. We ask you to consider still doing the same. If that contribution is too steep to make in one payment, we can easily extend it by credit card to two or three payments. Know too that we've never turned away a member because of financial difficulty. If finances are tight, consider an in-kind donation of time and talent. That type of contribution is incredibly valuable. Does your employer match contributions or in-kind donations to 501(c)3 organizations? Can you get CORPUS listed?

On the other hand, we know that people make sacrifices and contribute to what they consider valuable. We're counting on the fact that you consider the ministry and mission of CORPUS to be valuable! We also know that there are members who can contribute more than they have. If you are in the position to do so…

o We'd like a member, or group of members to underwrite an upcoming issue of CORPUS Reports … to the tune of $3,500 per issue including proofing, layout, setup and printing, and mailing. (Do you realize that each undeliverable issue of CORPUS Reports costs us $2.65 when a member moves and doesn't advise us of an address change?)

o We're seeking an angel to donate $2,000 to sponsor a Saturday evening coffee-house at Call To Action and provide an opportunity to reach more people face-to-face.

o We're requesting the underwriting of our deposit for the National Catholic Ministerial Alliance November conference event at $1,500.

o We'd welcome $500 to pay for a year's press release distribution service to more effectively get the word out about our reactions to high impact media events.

o We need seed money to launch Pension Advocacy Campaign activity in several more dioceses.

o We certainly could use the donated services of an individual or individuals who have a background in fundraising, or membership development.

o We'd like you to join with the board and staff who have become charter members of our new “dollar a day club.” Enroll and contribute $30 per month through automatic credit card payments to CORPUS. Those of you who can double, triple, or even half that amount are strongly encouraged to participate.

Finally, I apologize for being seriously remiss if we haven't thanked you personally and publicly for making our growth possible.

We believe in our vision of a ministerial priesthood community. We can make it happen together.

Namaste,

Russ Ditzel