Where do the days go? It seems like yesterday I was giving my first report on the Nelson Diocese. Our parish councils have reported with enthusiasm of the many works they are involved with as they serve their church communities. At our Diocesan Convention, listening to the parish presidents reporting on their activities, I heard the pride and uniqueness of each council.

Many councils have adopted the method of 1/3rd business, 1/3rd spiritual and 1/3rd social. This method for the monthly meetings I see as a tool for growth, I think this will help to increase our membership We say we cannot encourage younger members. Yet if we share prayer and fun, the work is easy and the fear of leadership is less frightening

Having said this, do not think we don’t have struggling councils, we do! There are many things that must happen; we must adhere to change of executive. There is a good reason for executive to stay on in a position for only two years. When I was on council executive I thought being organization chair was the best position anyone could have, two years went by quickly, time to move on to President. To my wonder that became the best position ever. They are the best if we do them with joy and fulfillment, after two years others want the job because they saw how much fun I had doing it.

Here I am today, happy to be reporting for our Nelson Diocese, telling you I am proud to be serving our councils in the League.

We haven’t had any great lightening bolts strike. However we had a wonderful convention this May. It was packed with spiritual, with fun and lots of laughter and we all learned a lot through experience and presentations, our Nelson Diocesan C.W.L. is growing in enthusiasm and love for the League and slowly our membership is growing.

Change for Change was received well in our Diocese, most of the councils celebrated mass for Our Lady of Good Counsel with having a collection and the money going to a local charity to help the poor and homeless in their community.

Yes, the year has gone by too fast. This has been a year of learning and growing within the League. I have achieved my goal, that communication is a way to success. Without communication we live in a cocoon, we do not see the light of day. I have had the opportunity to meet many of the ladies of our diocese through workshops and of course, at the convention in Nelson.

This year was our 75th annual convention, along with the Diocese of Nelson also celebrating 75 years as a Diocese. The Bishop celebrated our closing Mass with the church full to capacity.

I have had the pleasure of attending Provincial and National conventions, as well as Provincial and Diocesan mid-term meetings. All this has helped me to reach out to our Parish Councils with strength and guidance to grow in our work for God and Canada.

The Nelson Diocesan Council reports for 2009 indicated that most parish councils are doing quite well. Some Standing Committee Chairs are not filled. However, most councils submit reports of activities in all committees. The challenge for all councils is to attract younger women to join and take responsibility on the executive level.

There has been an increase in our membership in the past two years and we hope that this trend continues. A majority of councils divide the meetings in the business/spiritual/ social components and this leads to better attendance and interest in league work. The best notes about parish councils were the ones which stated the camaraderie among the members is great, as is the love for one another.

We honored two women for their exceptional service to the League with the Bellelle Guerin Award. Perhaps, we could honor more of our deserving members with this award.

Nelson Diocese will host the 2011 B.C.& Yukon Provincial Convention in Penticton. Sharon Vaillancourt, of St. Ann’s Council is Convention Chair; she reports the convention is now a work in progress.

Our Past-President, Alice Hallgren, attended the Provincial Midterm meetings, and presided at the diocesan meetings, finding this a rewarding experience.

The Nelson Diocesan 74th Annual Convention was held in Osoyoos, April 29-May 2, 2010. It was well attended, 25 out of 28 councils were represented. We were very pleased to have a resolution brought forward which was approved for presentation to Provincial Council.

Our new Spiritual Adviser, Fr. Rex Velmonte was installed last September. At convention, Fr. Rex gave us a presentation on the Year of the Priest, by giving us his journey of his decision to become a Priest and his life as a priest today.

The Provincial Workshop presented by Provincial President-Elect, Nancy Simms, assisted by the Organization and Community Life Chairpersons, was well received. We were taught how good leadership helps to encourage members to participate, to take responsibilities and duties which uses their gifts and talents.

Agnes Bedard, 1st Vice-President for North America, of WUCWO widened our vision of the world scene; she gave us an insight to Catholic Women’s Organizations and WUCWO. It is all about connecting with the women of the world, being the voice for our sisters, who have no voice; it is about doing what we can do, because we can.

We did indeed have a wonderful convention.

As for my hopes and expectations for this year I would like to reach out to every Council in the Diocese by visiting the outlying areas, especially the small councils who have problems recruiting any members, let alone younger members. I believe personal contact with the councils fosters growth.

I hope to increase the locations of doing workshops, reaching out to some of the smaller communities. In the past we have had four workshops each fall. I would like to increase this to six.

Our Diocesan convention held at Holy Cross in Creston, went well and was well organized. I received many positive comments regarding the convention as a good social and learning experience. We said our goodbyes to Fr. Jim Ratcliffe; our Spiritual Advisor who has retired after ten years of giving us much valued guidance. Fr. Rex Velmonte is our newly appointed Diocesan Spiritual Advisor; he will be officially installed in September.

We had the honour of having Marianna Caldwell, Provincial President attend our convention, and, assisted by Sandra Stajduhar presented a workshop “Changing the World” a how-to do a resolution. This was well received and I might add a pleasant experience as we went through the process. Let us pray it bears much fruit next year and in years to come with Resolutions from our Diocese.

Last year at this time the Diocesan Council did not have a full slate of officers, however, the positions were filled by the time of our Fall Executive Meeting in September. I am pleased to say we have a competent and enthusiastic executive working together in a cooperative and loving manner.

Since becoming President I have attended Council Anniversary celebrations and most of the Executive meetings required and Conventions, thus great experiences with wonderful women.

The Diocesan Policy and Procedure Manual is to be updated/ revised. There is a need to have practices reviewed to be current and easily understood.

The Nelson Diocesan convention format was challenged. A survey was produced and sent to parish presidents for responses and suggestions on ways to improve the format and to reduce attendance costs.

In future we hope to have resolutions submitted, as currently we do not do well in that area.

The concerns are mainly ongoing issues of filling executive positions at the parish level. Most councils are doing well and carrying on with our work “For God and Canada”. We have increased our membership in 2008.

The Bishop of Nelson John Corriveau outlined three challenges we can work on in our local Diocesan Church: the faith development of our youth, a culture of Catholic family life, reaching out to alienated members of our Catholic community and to those, who profess no formal religious affiliation. He wrote: Women of hope and peace, serving with faith and joy can make a qualified and irreplaceable contribution to each of these challenges.

We have been given a job to do and with God’s help, and the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel we shall do good!

We are an amazing group of women whose accomplishments are many and diverse. Most councils report working on basic duties in the parishes.  Councils use whatever means necessary to keep councils active. Co-operation among members is evident as the League meets the needs of individual parish councils in ways which are  productive and positive. To improve communication in parish councils various means to relay messages and/or information may be explored as only the Bulletin is used by most.  Councils which do not have Resolution & Legislation Chairpersons report the members have interest in resolutions presented at Provincial and National levels. The Standing Committee Chairpersons have done a good job delivering their designated duties.

Five workshops were presented and, it would seem, well received last fall in the Diocese.  Topics discussed were: Chairperson’s Responsibilities, Dying and End of Life issues.

The Diocesan Convention in Kelowna at St. Charles Garnier was inspiring and informative. The spiritual enrichment sessions consisted of music and awesome presentations by Paulette W….. and Fr. Jim Ratcliffe on cultures very foreign to ours. These sessions were educational and interesting, and so riveting that we did not want the “Out of Africa” and Fr. Jim’s recollections to end. It showed us how ordinary people could do a lot of good for others. Our world view widened.

The  Nelson Diocesan  CWL Council does not have a full slate of officers. Motivating our membership to serve enthusiastically at Parish, and  Diocesan level is a challenge. A challenge to achieve the ideal which is to increase our membership numbers, encourage younger women to become active participants in our parish councils; fostering enthusiasm for and dedication to working for our great organization, The League.

We do need to work at revitalizing our councils. We ,of the Catholic Women’s League must remember our heritage and be proud members. We must remember how much good has been done by our predecessors. The resolutions which have been presented to governments at Provincial and National levels indicate how many times CWL has been on track long before the rest of Canada. CWL members are  pioneers, front-runners, groundbreakers, in issues which have impacted many Canadians for good.

My hope is we will grow in numbers to become more powerful for influence on governments.  Women in the League have been ingenious in their ability to create projects at the parish level that can and will make a difference in our communities, in Canada and beyond. Attendance at conventions teaches and inspires us to continue in the League, to persevere in our works ‘For God and Canada’.

May Our Lady of Good Counsel intercede for us.

Rev. Fathers, Madame President Sisters in the League:

Well it is just over one year now, since my elevation to Nelson Diocesan President! It has been an interesting year, one of learning, listening and supporting!

Many councils in my diocese have or are having problems filling positions on there councils. But the amount of accomplishments in each parish council are huge, totally overwhelming in fact! Councils continue to achieve the impossible with fewer and older members! Report forms at year end were a huge problem – yes and no questions do not complement a report for a report book. Our diocesan newsletter which we started in Sept. is very successful and well received by all.

On April 26th to 29th we held our annual convention in Trail. B.C. What a great time it was, we had over 120 ladies attend. We were thrilled to have National President Lorette Nobel with us! The National theme Love One Another became so very real! Her workshop on the national theme was very powerful, spiritually enriching and thought provoking. Dr. Walley with Matercare gave us a one and a half hour presentation on all the great works of Matercare and inspired my councils to donate $2,518.oo that day. Very Impressive! Our Spiritual Advisor Fr. Jim did an enrichment on Our Lady of Good Counsel; we learned so much about this history, we heard much more than any of us knew about this special feast day! Our provincial representative Elaine A…. guided us through the workshop on realignment of chairpersons; it seemed like the ladies really enjoyed going through this process, and were happy to be asked for their input! We also did not use any Styrofoam table ware at this convention. We received many compliments for a well run convention, for the wonderful speakers and programs that we listened to, learned from – all were terrific.

We were blessed to have a 90 year old member with us at convention, a very active and busy lady. One council reported a 90 year old lady joined the league for the first time. A member who had taken time off for a very serious illness, is back after four years, and is once again president of her council, where they had no president for 4 years. Just an example of the patience and positive attitudes we need and a reminder to keep focused!

We are planning four workshops this fall in the diocese, all will have Love One Another for the spiritual component, two will have responsibility of chairpersons as their 2nd part and two will have End of Life, Death and Dying for their 2nd part. All members of my team will be involved in these workshops. Two councils are celebrating anniversaries. We look forward to welcoming a new bishop to the Nelson Diocese this fall. We move in to the next year with love, humility and the gift of amazing grace. Thank you!

Respectfully submitted: Caroline A..-…..

Madame President, Reverend Fathers and members of the Catholic Women’s League:

My name is Carol R., and I am the newly elected president of the Nelson Diocesan Council. I am from Holy Spirit Parish in Kelowna, the smallest of the five parishes there. We currently have 29 councils with 1960 paid up members.

The table officers enjoyed a spring retreat at Marywood Prayer House in Cranbrook , with much praying and planning for the diocesan convention, which took place May 4th to 7th in Oliver, B.C. This was a great time and our theme of Companions on the Journey was incorporated throughout the convention. We were delighted to have our Provincial President-Elect, Barb D. with us. She provided us with much food for thought with the Discerning Workshop, and she was also guest speaker at our banquet.

Our Spiritual Advisor is Father Jim R. from St. Theresa’s Parish in Kelowna. This is his second term as the Spiritual Advisor for the Nelson Diocese. I am proud to have with me here in Whitehorse: Father Jim, Alice H. – diocesan president-elect from Kimberley, Jean F. – Life member from Kelowna, Doreen R. – my Education and Health chairperson from Creston, Pollyanna K. – Life Member Liaison from Oliver, Jan K. – President of Holy Cross council in Creston, Carol P. – Provincial Treasurer from Golden, and Elaine A. – Provincial Chairperson of Community Life from Castlegar.

I am also proud to have a full slate of table officers. My goals for the coming year: to listen, to study, to be a mentor to my executive. I am happily looking forward to the challenge of being Nelson Diocesan President. Thank-you.

Carol R.