People who are passionate about justice are invited to explore their gifts and discern where God is calling them at the Servant Leadership Center this fall.
Groups forming in communities around the diocese will begin meeting in September to participate in the 10-month servant leadership process.
|
| Tiffin Franciscan Sister Nancy Westmeyer, executive director of the Servant Leadership Center, in front of the center on Sylvania Avenue in Toledo. (Chronicle photo by Laurie Stevens Bertke) |
“Servant leadership is really a way of life, in which an individual gets clear about their own purpose and their own passion, and their own call from God — especially to respond to people who are poor or marginalized,” explains Tiffin Franciscan Sister Nancy Westmeyer, executive director of the Servant Leadership Center in Toledo.
“We believe that it’s normal for people to have a hunger for justice within themselves, and so what we try to do here at the center is to help people tap into that hunger and clarify for themselves how they’re going to live that out,” she adds.
Groups meet twice a month for three hours to share a meal, pray, study and reflect on common readings together. Through the process, individuals explore their gifts, passion and call to do their part in creating a more just world.
In the first part of the process, Sr. Westmeyer says participants explore three fundamental truths: “the fact that each of us is the beloved of God, that God has a dream for the world and that we have a part to play in carrying out that dream.” They also explore examples of ways that injustice is institutionalized and how that interrupts God’s dream.
In the second part of the process, participants explore ideas related to the topics of community, “the abundant life” and the use of power.
In the final part, participants explore their gifts and passion, to discern how they can use their resources to positively impact the world.
Sr. Westmeyer founded the nonprofit Servant Leadership Center with retired Bishop Albert H. Ottenweller of Steubenville in 2005.
The two have collaborated on various projects off and on since the 1970s, all of which, she says, have related to “renewal efforts and working to strengthen parish life, and to strengthen the laity.”
The process originated 60 years ago in an ecumenical church in Washington, D.C., but Sr. Westmeyer became familiar with it in 1996 after meeting a Methodist minister, the Rev. Deborah Campbell, who had implemented it in Dayton.
Sr. Westmeyer and Bishop Ottenweller embraced the concept of servant leadership and began leading small groups in the area through the process.
“We saw the power that it had, especially to help laity develop as adults in their faith and to claim their voice and to use their voice for good, especially for helping people who are poor and marginalized,” says Sr. Westmeyer.
A small group of participants eventually came forward to help Sr. Westmeyer and Bishop Ottenweller develop the center located on Sylvania Avenue in Toledo, which is open to individuals of all faiths.
The Servant Leadership Center facilitated 11 small groups in communities around the diocese last year. In addition to the 10-month process, it also offers servant leadership workshops to area businesses and organizations.
For Servant Leadership Center program information, visit www.servantleader.org or contact nancy@servantleader.org or 419-476-0941.
|
