The Value and Importance of UCWLC – Part Two



A tremendous challenge facing not only our organization, the Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League of Canada but also all faith communities today is secularism. Look at current social issues as they affect us and our organization:  consider all the forces currently at work undermining Catholicism in particular and Christianity in general.  We are all familiar with how the media attacks Christianity especially at Christmas and at our most holy time of the year: Easter.  In Canada, euthanasia may become the ”normal” way to die. In Canada, abortion is already promoted and applauded. And, in Canada, traditional marriage is currently being devalued and mocked while, at the same time, ‘alternative lifestyles’ are being promoted and encouraged. Overseas, in view of the return of Russification activities by the new government in Ukraine, we, as descendants of Ukrainians in Ukraine (and, with some of us even coming from Ukraine), must do our best to safeguard Ukrainian language, religion, culture, and history.

As we speak, history is being rewritten by Ukraine’s enemies, namely Russia as it returns to its imperialist agenda.  We must take every effort to inform ourselves and our communities of historic facts from our perspective.

To deal with these and other secularist agendas both home and abroad, we need to know our faith and to be knowledgeable about the Church’s position on current social issues.  Also, we need to know our Ukrainian roots, our Ukrainian heritage.  This challenge tells us the value and importance of UCWLC to us. The UCWLC is a medium through which our members can further advance our own understanding of our Catholic faith and learn about our Church’s social teachings in order to act on issues of social justice.  In addition, the UCWLC is a medium through which our members can learn about our Eastern Christian heritage and Ukraine’s dynamic history and culture.  It is for these and other reasons that today, more than ever, we need a vibrant UCWLC organization.

Let’s look at what is happening to our organization, to our membership.

From 1980 to 1995, a span of 15 years, the UCWLC membership remained at over 6,000.  From 1995 to the present date of 2010, membership dropped to  under 4,500, a drop of almost 2,000 members in the last  15 years.

Let’s review our organizational structure.  Our organization can be compared to a great pyramid with three levels: the local parish branches form the base, the eparchial executives form the middle level, and the national executive forms the top level.  Without any one of these levels, our pyramid would crumble.  If the  base, that is, our branch level,  is weak, then our whole organizational structure is weak. According to the present status of our membership , the loss of membership at the Branch level has weakened the whole organization.  This is a major concern to all levels of the organization.

Although we have built an impressive national organization, at the present time our organization is deteriorating.  We need to ask ourselves two probing questions: (i) where are the members? (ii) how can we attract new members?

We need to urgently begin to revitalize our League. The challenge for members of the UCWLC is to refocus on Who we are and What our mission is. We need to explore our UCWLC Mission statement as this statement is designed to provide us with a starting point in helping us understand Who we are and What our purpose is.

Briefly, our Mission Statement states that we are committed to our Church.  This means that our primary responsibility is to develop a deep understanding of our faith in order to truly understand what it means to be a Catholic and a Christian.  Accordingly, the basic objective of the Mission Statement involves developing and instituting programs oriented towards development of the religious and spiritual lives of our League’s members as laity within the Ukrainian Catholic Church.  Our Mission Statement also draws attention to the importance of our cultural heritage.  The Mission Statement states that we are to live a true Christian life and to actively contribute to the Church and Society.  This means that we are to participate in both specific missionary activities of the Church but also in broader acts of social justice and charity.

The Mission Statement was adopted in 1995.  Gradually it is appearing in our handbooks, folders, and congress and convention books.  The increased presence and visibility of our mission statement demonstrates that there is a growing awareness, understanding, and acceptance of our purpose and goals as outlined in the Statement.  However, now we need to go beyond mere awareness and acceptance. We need to look deeper at our Mission in order to understand how our programs specifically speak to the mandate of our League, that is, to our mission.

We need to urgently begin to revitalize and strengthen our Branches, the core of our organization. Revitalization of the UCWLC should begin with a process which addresses two key components: Who we are, and What our mission is as addressed in our Mission Statement. This process should begin with a study program picking a theme spelt out in the UCWLC Mission Statement.  There are several phrases in the Statement, each suitable for a theme on its own. For example:  “What is the mission of the church?” “How does it involve us as members of UCWLC?” “What is the significance of our heritage?”

“What do we mean by discovering “our own true vocation?”

These all emerge from key phrases in our Mission Statement.

Team Work:  A Unified Approach

Pursuing and developing this study program should be made into a top priority at all three levels. And, all three levels should focus on the same theme for a period of one or two years.  During this time, each level should also share information and help each other level with this task.   Each and every one of us needs to become ‘stakeholders’ in this process. The program would include Branch workshops, questionnaires, and seminars.  This worthwhile effort cannot be achieved by any one level alone, but, again, needs to be coordinated on all three levels.

Summary of “Action Plan”

1.  Develop and share a Study Program focused on the key phrases in our Mission Statement;

2.   Recruit and train new members and then develop an ongoing formation program.

3. Value experienced members. Draw on the many talents and resources that exist in the organization.  Draw on UCWLC Honorary Members and Eparchial Past Presidents to assist with the development of leadership programs and the above mentioned “Study Program for UCWLC Mission Statement.”

The challenge facing us is both difficult and different than it was in the past.  And today, we are recruiting members from an ever-changing society.  Women today have many demands on their time and no shortage of ways to fill their day. It is our challenge to adapt our programs in accord to our UCWLC Mission.  If we show women the relevance of the League, then we will be able to recruit more women as they will see that in the UCWLC there is something vital to them socially, culturally, and, of course spiritually. In addition, rejuvenated program will help to sustain and revitalize the current existing members. Any revitalization, however, will only occur if we have a sense of urgency, and if we can show our members and prospective members that we have a vision, one which is relevant to today’s society.

The value and importance of our organization is comparable to a priceless Pearl, and the UCWLC has something precious to offer to each one of us, to all our members and to prospective members.

By Lena Sloboda

This is my speech delivered at 32^nd UCWLC National Congress in Edmonton,July 7^th, 2010.  However, I have outlined my ideas in more depth.