Change and Transition National Council May , 2016

Members of the National Council The L’Arche Canada Board and National, Regional and Foundation Leaders with delegates from each of the regions.

Purpose of National Council John named the purpose of the National Council to gather yearly on behalf of the General Assembly “to ensure the ongoing integrity of the vision and strategic direction of L’Arche Canada” by giving advice to the national leaders and adjusting the Mandate as necessary. John Rietschlin, Board President, and Hollee Card, National Leader, are the co- chairs

Thursday Evening Change and Transition The focus of the Council was to reflect on Change and Transition -how we react to change, -and how we can respond to it and make it easier to live. To support reflection, the Council was held in prayer/faith sharing each day.

Thursday Evening: The Impact of Servant Leadership Small group reflection Summary of Feedback It is hopeful, focused on living the mission, and producing good tools that are helping to make a difference; yet there remains a lot of work to do; we need to invest more time and energy at all levels especially in the communities; so that Servant Leadership can become “natural” (fully integrated) in our lives and help our Identity and Mission bear more fruit.

Friday Presentation L’Arche on the Move L’Arche International: new Country structures, support for the ‘isolated communities” and Solidarity; building commitment to the mission, developing leaders, and engaging the world; renewing governance structures

Friday Presentation L’Arche on the Move L’Arche Canada Priority areas are: Growth Servant Leadership Outreach while continuing to build relationship with the regions, and address dues and fundraising

Friday Presentation L’Arche on the Move Communities face pressures re Funding, changing Government vision and regulation that impact community life; changing needs and desires of aging and a new generation of core members; the need to strengthen our spirituality and make it more inviting.

Friday Presentation L’Arche on the Move Alignment of mandates (strategic priorities) between all levels of L’Arche and with the Foundation is essential so that we are all “rowing in the same direction.”

Friday Feedback on L’Arche on the Move The founding generation is passing – are we collecting stories and capturing the founding legacy? People coming today and their families have different expectations and we have to adjust; Increasing pressures on communities without the matching resources; desire for outreach but not the resources; Increasing agency requirements are we losing community life? spontaneity? Are we losing parts of L’Arche identity? What must we not lose? Is L’Arche part of a movement –do we know how to think like a movement and make continuous change?

Friday Presentation Change is what happens; transition is how you adapt Claude Gravel: 3 Phases of Transitions In the first phase, we must consider: “What must we let go? Are we losing parts of our Identity? What must we not lose?” Concerns evolve as change progresses.

Friday Feedback on Change and Transitions We are feeling tension between L’Arche Identity and demands of an agency – can we find a way to balance? Maybe we are not ready to let go, turn the page; some confusion: we resent standardization but it can help us have more time together; we seem to be stuck in “impact on individual roles” and “impact on community; how do we allow “grief” for old ways?

Friday Night Testimonials on Change and Transition Linda and Patrice: Transitions can be tough but …“without change, there would be no community, no homes” “without change things would be dull” “no matter what happens, I know that life is beautiful”

Friday Night Testimonials on Change and Transition Marni “what I committed to doesn’t exist today…I miss water fights over dishes…I don’t miss chaos and conflict.” “We are in the middle of a huge change…We have not yet left our old ways behind, and we have not yet fully embraced a new way of doing things. We should expect that this would be a time of uncertainty, a time when we are living some tensions and some contradictions. We need to be aware of this and not panic!”

Saturday Relationship, Transformation and Sign vision talk by Hollee and Gabrielle Relationship: to be partners in the mission:  with regions, with Foundations, with communities  communication is key  with International: structures, fundraising, giving and receiving; Solidarity; membership; forgiveness and reconciliation

Saturday Relationship, Transformation and Sign vision talk by Hollee and Gabrielle Transformation: how can we change our ways of being and doing so that we may better integrate Identity and Mission in daily life?  Reviving the Spirituality Commission; Growth, Outreach  Standardizing best practices in order to share resources and build unity (e.g. training modules)

Saturday Relationship, Transformation and Sign vision talk by Hollee and Gabrielle Sign: to bring our message and life outside our walls  Seeking out others who create places of transformation and share our values; attracting donors to our mission; finding ways to have greater impact and share our gift.  “Do I want to open my heart?”

Saturday Mandate Review and Advice to National Leaders The Mandate remains solid –some directions could be tweaked, but they don’t need to be changed. It is time to begin preparing for the 50 th. Maybe next mandate won’t look very different. A proposal was made for National Council to form two task forces: “finance/ collaboration” and “tensions/values.” The National Council determined that it was too soon given that we still are living the changes, so no task forces were created.

Last words Cynthia Klus of L’Arche Hamilton: “We need to know what the changes are going to be. All we want is for people to let us know what is going on so we can tell them how we feel. And we should always take the changes one step at a time. Don’t rush!” Stephane Bastarache of L’Arche Saint John: “I really liked meeting people, people from L’Arche in Canada. I had good conversations and made some friends. I liked talking in English and in French. I liked that people listened to me.”