Current Topics in the Current Topics in the Sponsorship of Schools Sponsorship of Schools

for Religious for Religious CongregationsCongregations

Alice I. Hession

Director of Sponsorship

Sponsorship Relationships

Canon Law– Recognize entity as

ministry of the Church– Faithful administration

of the ministry– Preservation of

ecclesiastical goods

Civil Law– The way in which the

canonical reality is expressed in civil law. Typically, through reserve powers that control mission, appointment of directors/trustees, alienation of property

Defining Sponsorship

“Sponsorship is a reservation of canonical control by the juridic person that founded and/or sustains an incorporated apostolate that remains canonically part of the church entity. This retention of control need not be such as to create civil law liability on the part of the sponsor for corporate acts or omissions but should be enough for the canonical stewards of the sponsoring organization to meet their canonical obligations of faith and administration regarding the activities of the incorporated apostolate.”

Jordan Hite, TOR

Defining SponsorshipDefining Sponsorship

Sponsorship of an apostolate or ministry is a Sponsorship of an apostolate or ministry is a formal relationship between a recognized formal relationship between a recognized Catholic organization and a legally formed Catholic organization and a legally formed entity entered into for the sake of promoting entity entered into for the sake of promoting and sustaining the Church’s mission in the and sustaining the Church’s mission in the world.world.

Francis G. Morrisey, OMIFrancis G. Morrisey, OMI

Sponsorship usually entails three important Sponsorship usually entails three important elementselements

1.1. Use of one’s nameUse of one’s name

2.2. Exercise of certain governance responsibilitiesExercise of certain governance responsibilities

3.3. Accountability to Church authoritiesAccountability to Church authorities

Sponsorship MythsSponsorship Myths

• Sponsorship, as we know it, has worked fine

• It is important that all parties are “on board”

• Sponsorship is just a mode of governance

• A good board member makes a good sponsor.

Some definitions …Some definitions …

• A spectrum of relationships between the province leadership and various institutions (very different from place to place). Basically a North American issue. (Holy Cross brothers and priests)

Definitions provided at annual meeting of Directors of Sponsorship

Dec. 2002

• Mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between the congregation and an organization in which the SSND charism and educational vision are defining characteristics of the organization. (School Sisters of Notre Dame)

• Relationship between congregation and our schools that insures identity and charism; not tied to ownership, governance. (CFC Christian Brothers)

Some definitions …Some definitions …

Definitions provided at annual meeting of Directors of Sponsorship

Dec. 2002

• Relationship between the congregation and its institution/works. Congregation publicly identifies with, exerts influence on and provides various levels of support. (Sisters of St. Joseph, Chestnut Hill)

• Sponsorship is a relationship between the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart and a particular ministry. The Congregation articulates a vision and establishes structures, policies, and modes of accountability which enable the relationship and the ministry to flourish. The Grey Nuns hold the values of charity and justice as essential dimensions of the mission. We recognize all who work with us as partners. We affirm the dignity of each person and the principles of collaboration, and co- responsibility as the bases for our action.

(Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart)

Some definitions …Some definitions …

Definitions provided at annual meeting of Directors of Sponsorship

Dec. 2002

• Relationship between the congregation and its institution/works. Congregation publicly identifies with, exerts influence on and provides various levels of support. (Sisters of St. Joseph, Chestnut Hill)

• Xaverian Sponsorship is a complex of guiding Xaverian Sponsorship is a complex of guiding

principles, governance structures, formational principles, governance structures, formational

programs and networking opportunities through which programs and networking opportunities through which

the Xaverian Brothers and their lay collaborators have the Xaverian Brothers and their lay collaborators have

come to ensure that the schools that carry the name come to ensure that the schools that carry the name

Xaverian live up to their mission “to serve the Church in Xaverian live up to their mission “to serve the Church in

its work of evangelization, particularly through the its work of evangelization, particularly through the

ministry of education.” (ministry of education.” (Xaverian BrothersXaverian Brothers))

“Frequently the remark is heard that if we have encountered one model of sponsorship we are knowledgeable of just that: one model. In light of its evolutionary nature no single snapshot of sponsorship actually exists; rather the concept can be imaged as a collage or scrapbook containing various representations and continually in the process of being fashioned. ”

- Patricia Smith, OSF

The Evolutionary Waves of Sponsorship

• Family Business Model

• Franchise Model

• Partnership Model

• The Next Generation

After We’re Gone: Creating Sustainable SponsorshipAfter We’re Gone: Creating Sustainable Sponsorship

Mary Kathryn Grant & Pat Vandenberg, CSCMary Kathryn Grant & Pat Vandenberg, CSC

Traditional Governance Models

• Two-tiered boards– Members of the Corporation (most often role played

by provincial council or leadership team) reserve powers; control of documents; appointment of Trustees/Directors; alienation of property, appointment of chief administrator; approval of loans

• Boards with two classes of Directors– One class of Directors (usually members of the

province leadership or appointed by province leadership) has veto, approval, reserve powers over certain defined areas.

Movements in SponsorshipMovements in Sponsorship

[In the 90’s,] the question was no longer [In the 90’s,] the question was no longer “should we sponsor,” but “how can we “should we sponsor,” but “how can we effectively sponsor with limited personnel and effectively sponsor with limited personnel and resources” and “how can we leverage sufficient resources” and “how can we leverage sufficient control within collaboration to assure our control within collaboration to assure our meaning and mission?”meaning and mission?”

Helen Marie Burns, RSMHelen Marie Burns, RSM

Effects of SponsorshipEffects of Sponsorship

It is probable that religious sponsors have been at least as profoundly changed by withdrawing from their sponsored institutions as the institutions themselves have been changed by their absence.

Sr. Patricia Wittberg, S.C. Sociology of Religion, Fall 2000

Some additional Some additional questionsquestions

Whether and how we can Whether and how we can make sponsorship the sort make sponsorship the sort of force in our works that of force in our works that can hold them to their can hold them to their purpose … purpose …

Whether and how Whether and how sponsorship can provide for sponsorship can provide for our works stability but not our works stability but not rigidity--that is, just enough rigidity--that is, just enough structural shape to hold up structural shape to hold up through chaotic times but through chaotic times but not so much as to hasten not so much as to hasten their obsolescence …their obsolescence …

Whether and how the Whether and how the institution of sponsorship is institution of sponsorship is for us an enabler of life and for us an enabler of life and progress …progress …Whether and how the Whether and how the sponsoring of works is for us sponsoring of works is for us a source of both a source of both organizational coherence organizational coherence and flexibility and and flexibility and adaptability …adaptability …Whether and how the Whether and how the sponsoring of works (and not sponsoring of works (and not just the works themselves) just the works themselves) gives a sense and purpose to gives a sense and purpose to the lives of our members and the lives of our members and to our life as an institute…to our life as an institute…

Sr. Helen Amos, RSMSr. Helen Amos, RSMMercy Medical Center, BaltimoreMercy Medical Center, Baltimore

Questions for DiscussionQuestions for Discussion

• What does it mean to “sponsor” today?

• What do you see as the issues tied to the next generation of sponsorship?

New/Developing Models

• Sponsorship Boards or Councils– Group (including both lay

and religious) appointed by congregational leadership holds reserve powers on behalf of congregation

• Contractual Agreement– Congregation enters into

contract with self-perpetuating board and has influence and responsibility for mission

• Public Juridic Person– Consideration of following

example of Catholic health care creating a public juridic person to act as sponsoring agent

• Association of the Faithful– Seeking recognition from a

diocese to form an “association of the faithful” that would have canonical status and come under the proper ecclesiastical authority

Xaverian Governance Structure

T rustees/D irec to rs

M em bers

C ongrega t ion o f the B rothe rs o f S ain t F ranc is X av ierE lec ted Leadersh ip

-Appoint Members-Must approve changes in corporate documents-Must approve alienation of property (merger/dissolution)-Mission

-Appoint Trustees-Control Corporate Documents-Merger/Dissolution-Encumbrance-Associated Legal entities

-Appoint Chief Administrator-Establish Policy-Set and approve budget-Mission effectiveness

Endorse – every member’s work, places with historic ties.

Operate – own, manage

Sponsor – institutions carry name and mission, yet may be separate from congregational corporation.

Movements in SponsorshipMovements in Sponsorship

The question today is “how can we co-The question today is “how can we co-create with lay stakeholders new images of create with lay stakeholders new images of mission which give honor to the re-framed mission which give honor to the re-framed calls to ministry in the church through our calls to ministry in the church through our charism?”charism?”

[In the 90’s,] the question was no longer [In the 90’s,] the question was no longer “should we sponsor,” but “how can we “should we sponsor,” but “how can we effectively sponsor with limited personnel effectively sponsor with limited personnel and resources” and “how can we leverage and resources” and “how can we leverage sufficient control within collaboration to sufficient control within collaboration to assure our meaning and mission?”assure our meaning and mission?”

Helen Marie Burns, RSMHelen Marie Burns, RSM

The Next GenerationThe Next Generation

• Control vs. Influence vs. Co-

creation

• Developing/articulating a

theology of sponsorship• Critical competencies for

Future Sponsors

A sponsoring community’s deep story will have to be embedded in lay communities. There will have to be lay appropriations of the congregation’s deep story. It takes a long time for a deep story to be lodged in the heart of a community, lodged so deeply that members have no choice but to enact it. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults offers a possible model for adult community formation. Religious congregations may have to give up control of the deep story so that it can be developed in a thoroughgoing and coequal lay setting.

Bernard J. Lee, SM “The Beating of Great Wings”

Formation for the Next Formation for the Next GenerationGeneration

Theology of Theology of SponsorshipSponsorship

• Built on theology of stewardshipBuilt on theology of stewardship• Built on theology of BaptismBuilt on theology of Baptism

For Xaverian Brothers• Rooted in Fundamental Principles of Xaverian

Brothers and the documents of Vatican II on the role of the laity in the church

• Vision and values expressed in the Foundational Documents of Xaverian Sponsorship

• Connected with mission of Xaverian Brothers as that is lived out internationally

What is the theology that informs your What is the theology that informs your sponsored works today?sponsored works today?

Stewardship

Sacred Trust

Co-responsibility

Active, dynamic, living

collaboration

INDIVIDUAL

FORMATION

ONGOINGBOARD

FORMATION

FORMATIONAL MODEL

Role of Sponsors Today• Interpreters of Mission• Institutional Memory and Conscience

– Have a “right” to ask about institutional fidelity

• Successors and present day embodiment of pioneers– Symbolize the lives given to the mission

• Help to shape institutional culture• Contributors to institution• Serve as structural link to the Church

– Can serve as a “buffer” between hierarchy and institution

Message and Patterns of Sponsorship Today Morey and Holtschneider

Structuring the Relationship between Sponsor and Institutions

• Lines of authority between Sponsors and Boards of institutions must be clear

• Agreement between parties as to expectations– Has to be appreciation of each other’s culture (that of the

religious community and that of the institution– Will of the sponsors need to be clear– Outlines how the relationship is to develop– Both sponsors and Boards need to know and respect the

civil and canonical structures

• Relationship between leaders (institution and sponsors/congregation) is key

Message and Patterns of Sponsorship Today Morey and Holtschneider

AREA SAMPLE COMPETENCIES

STRATEGIC Skill in discernment in decision making Mature social vision (social justice, etc.) Appropriate business expertise Comfort with risk taking

CULTURAL Sensitivity to culture, history & tradition Ability to translate historical values to current

situations Passionate concern for the poor Capacity for ambiguity

PERSONAL Personal spirituality Ability to manage conflict Capacity for system thinking Appropriate self- reliance

After We’re Gone: Creating Sustainable SponsorshipAfter We’re Gone: Creating Sustainable Sponsorship

Mary Kathryn Grant & Pat Vandenberg, CSCMary Kathryn Grant & Pat Vandenberg, CSC

Competencies for Sponsors

Vocation Decision making and oversight guided by Xaverian charism of educationEvidence a commitment to ministry of Catholic education and provide a prophetic challenge in decisions that affect sponsored ministries

Values Catholic Social TeachingEvidence leadership in advancing Catholic social teaching in evaluating decisions made by sponsored institutionsTransformationEvidence a sensitivity to diversity in all aspects of sponsored ministry and serve as an agent of systemic transformation that creates deeper awareness of the common good

Focus Relationship with Church - knowledgeable of tradition, history, structurePrivate school governance – have a clear knowledge

Action Ability to choose effective leaders and to develop leadersStrategic LeadershipAdapted from “Mission Centered Leadership Model”

Bon Secours Health System

“The laity will be the arbiters of whether congregational identity survives”.

Brother Stephen Walsh, CSC

TrendsTrends• Move by dioceses to limit exposure by

creating new juridic entities (public/private juridic persons)

• Move by Religious Communities to retain fewer reserve powers in corporations

• Creation of Sponsorship boards or councils who share some of the reserve powers of Religious Community leadership over sponsored institutions

• Reconfiguration of Religious Communities (through merging of provinces, creation of new national/regional structures) and attempt to develop national models

TrendsTrends• Use of Sponsorship model (as it has been

developed by Religious Communities) for bringing together other types of independent Catholic schools

• Attempt by schools once staffed or administered by Religious Communities to seek affiliation and/or sponsorship

• Religious Communities looking at various types of relationships: sponsorship, ownership, co-sponsorship; endorsement

Questions RaisedQuestions Raised• Fear of the future

– On the part of Religious Communities– On the part of trusted and long term collaborators

(faculty, administrators, board members)• Is Sponsorship a “stop gap” measure?• Sponsorship means we are no longer

subsidized by the Religious Community – feelings of abandonment

• Challenges of developing sponsorship models with diverse ministries (elementary & secondary education, higher ed, social services)

• Can we really ensure mission?

Future IssuesFuture Issues• Increased collaboration among diocese and

religious communities in meeting the demands of the Church’s mission of evangelization

• Continued and further development of lay sponsorship, forming lay women and men to claim their own role in the Church and to share in the stewardship responsibilities.

• Increased networking among institutions – moving away from competition toward collaboration.

• Creation of sponsorship academies for education, social ministry, spiritual development that can assist people to be formed in the full range of roles and responsibilities of sponsors

Civil and Canonical Civil and Canonical RealitiesRealities

• Civil Realities– Changing climate for non-profits – Liability issues

• Canonical Realities– Attempt by Vatican congregations to understand

Sponsorship in US context - 1983 Code does not envision issues in US today

– Effort to define and reign in sponsorship

Is it Effective?Is it Effective?

“The purpose of this paper is to suggest that such well-developed models exist and that they are highly appropriate to the needs of those education reformers wishing to generalize their insights and models beyond single effective schools. These models are found in the multischool networks founded and conducted by orders of religious men and women (brothers, priests, sisters) in the Catholic Church. These networks provide excellent models for effective linkage of schools serving students of different socioeconomic and cultural groups in widely separated locations.”

“Building and Maintaining Multischool Networks”

Mary Beth Celio

6 Characteristics of Effective Schools6 Characteristics of Effective Schools

1.  A clear vision of their purpose, their mission. 2.  The leader of the individual school is fully

formed (indoctrinated) into the central vision of the schools/network.

3.  Teachers and other staff form a community; they have become a faculty.

4.  There is a governance system appropriate to the ownership or control of the school.

5.  Some central services are provided consistent with the overall vision/mission of the school, but decisions are made at the lowest appropriate level.

6. There is an accountability system appropriate to an essentially site-managed system.

“Building and Maintaining Multischool Networks”

Mary Beth Celio

ChallengesChallenges Interdependence and mutuality

- We are the Church. Co-responsibility and Reciprocal Accountability

- Trustworthy and Faithful Vulnerability and Fragility

- We boldly go where none have gone before

Sponsorship is an invitation to the Church to co-create a future even greater than the past; an active, dynamic, creative, living form of collaboration.

DiscussionDiscussion

What do you see as the role of What do you see as the role of Sponsorship structures in the future? Sponsorship structures in the future?

What is the role of laity in these structures?

What do you see as the most pressing challenges of co-creation in the future?

Presentation will be available next week on Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools website

www.xbss.org

“Resources and Links” page