← [[service-in-ocds-communities-fh|Service in OCDS Communities]] | [[formation-handbook-toc|Table of Contents]] | [[centrality-of-the-order-fh|Centrality of the Order and the Church]] → # Leadership “You, Brother B., and whoever may succeed you as prior, must always keep in mind and put into practice what our Lord said in the Gospel: Whoever has a mind to become a leader among you must make himself servant to the rest, and whichever of you would be first must become your bondsman” (Rule of St. Albert, 22). It needs to be made clear that everyone must be willing to take a turn serving the community in a leadership role. Some may be more suited than others, but everyone needs to be willing to serve on the Council or as a formator if they are asked. These roles are not to give honor and prestige, but to serve and work for others. Some of Fr. Deeney’s thoughts (below) help us understand the essential elements of leadership: “I join the community in order to learn and to be a member. Before I am ever a leader, I am a member of a community. No one, absolutely no one, in religious life has a vocation to be a leader. We have no hierarchy. Everyone has a vocation to be a member, and certain members are asked at certain times to take on the responsibility of leadership, but no one has the vocation to be president of the community. No one. Everyone has a vocation to be a member of a community. So we approach this membership as the most important part of our spiritual life.” “The greatest obligation, therefore, on those who have the responsibility of leadership is to respect the differences that exist in the members of the community. I believe that those who are given the responsibility of leadership in community are called to a deeper humility. Because it’s the humility that almost, can be crucifying. They elect you to 23 come up with all the answers and you know you don’t have them. They elect you to decide things and you don’t know what to do. It is a deeper humility that’s required, and the humility demands a deeper cooperation with the members of the council. And the deeper cooperation with the members of the council increases the responsibility of the council to listen to the members of the community.” “We do our best in cooperation, certainly with the council, but we must realize that after we have done our best, we must trust God with the results. So I take these two attitudes, actually it’s one basic attitude, to be [to exist] humbly before God, and a member of the community; and when called upon by the community to realize that we’re called upon by God to fulfill a responsibility to the community — fulfill that responsibility, humbly. Not with arrogance! Not giving the impression that I know, and you do not! Because we must be aware that we could be trampling on the Holy Spirit active in the life of another person. But equally as members, we must realize that before God we are charged with the responsibility of cooperating with those who have this burden to be leaders and that this cooperation that we must give speaks about the maturity of our spiritual life.” “… the council is not like the bishop. The bishop has a vocation to be a leader. He therefore receives the grace to be a leader. We have the grace to be members. And out of that membership, we cooperate in leading the community. When we’re no longer the leader, we go back to being a member. The bishop never goes back to being a diocesan priest. It’s a different vocation. But we can’t use that model for understanding how we function in the OCDS communities.” “… if you’re a member of the secular order, there’s some way in which you are being called to give yourself. Not receive! You can receive all those other things by yourself. But if you’re being called to be a member of the Discalced Carmelite family, you are being called to give yourself in some way.” (Fr. Deeney’s talk, Responsible Leadership and Collaboration, Appendix B) “Hence, election to a position in the community is for the purpose of doing a service to the community… Our structure is completely on a rotation basis. You are and then you are not; and you might be again, or you might not be again; but you are always a member. You are always a visible sign of the Church because you are a member, not because you are the President, or a member of the Council or the Formation Director.” (Fr. Deeney, Welcome, p.116) 24 Consequently, as a leader, it’s not your responsibility to be the best at everything or know more than everyone else in the community. Instead, your role is to be a facilitator ensuring that the community has all the resources to nurture the members and succeed in its mission. This concept of being a member needs to be part of formation and should always be nurtured and practiced in our communities. It is important how well the communities recognize and adjust to the different types of leadership and the different ways of doing things. Failing to do so leads to cliques and divisions. When this happens, it is detrimental to the community’s morale. In addition, everyone in the community needs to understand how the Council ought to function — its responsibilities and limitations — so that they can cooperate constructively with those in leadership and serve well if called. We highly recommend that communities, councils, and candidates periodically review together (especially just before elections): • Fr. Saverio Cannistrà’s March 6, 2019, letter to the OCDS (Appendix C) • Fr. Aloysius Deeney’s article, How Ought the Council to Function (in Welcome) • Fr. Aloysius Deeney’s talk, Responsible Leadership and Collaboration in Light of the Constitutions (Appendix B) • Relevant paragraphs of the Constitutions and Provincial Statutes • Relevant best practice articles on the provincial websites Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28) --- **Source:** [[maps/bibliography#^biblio-ocds-fh|OCDS Formation Handbook]]