This attractive Ten Commandments of Serra Membership Plaque is ideal as (1) a "thank you" to current Serrans or (2) a "welcome to Serra" gift for new members. Displayed at home it provides a natural entree to inform others about the importance of Serra to the Catholic Church, and invite friends and relatives to join our Serra mission.

1-11 plaques         $30.00 each

12-48 plaques        $25.00 each

49 or more plaques  $22.50 each

prices include shipping and handling within the continental US.

The USA Council of Serra International will receive 22% to 42% of the proceeds depending on the quantity ordered.

If you would like more information please Contact:

Tom Moretti

315 Thomas Street

Phillipsburg NJ 08865-3343

Email: Tom Moretti.

Make checks payable to:

Forks of the Delaware Serra - MP and mail to Tom Moretti at the address above. Please provide clear shipping instructions with club name and telephone number.

WHY NOT.... Put on a program to honor retired and inactive priests?

Canadian Council President John Plunkett sends us this great club activity idea from the Serra Club of Toronto:  

“Here is a program Toronto Serra has for retired/inactive priests:

“The Archdiocese of Toronto has one chancery office staff member who looks after the concerns of retired diocesan priests. The normal retirement age is 75 and presently we have about 50 men in this group.

“A couple of years ago, the archbishop wanted to have an annual luncheon for his retired priests in order to maintain some regular personal contact with them. “He asked Serra to look after the details, such as location (central) and the menu (including wine), and to provide transportation for any priests who required it. The diocese agreed to cover all the costs.

“His first luncheon was so popular with the retired priests that the Toronto Serra clubs offered to sponsor a second annual luncheon, which the archbishop also agreed to attend. The funds for the Serra event were to be provided from part of the profits of Toronto Serra’s annual Ordinandi Dinner.

“The invitation list and current addresses of the retired diocesan priests are provided by the chancery staff member. She also advises us about who is too ill or infirm to attend, and who will require transportation.

“The event consists of a 30-minute pre-lunch reception, with free bar service. A brief program after lunch, possibly with a guest speaker, provides information of interest or concern to retired priests, such as retirement home availability, old age security benefits, pension benefits, income tax information, health insurance benefits, etc.

“The lunch provides the retired priests with an opportunity to question the archbishop and the chancellor, who also attends, on anything they wish to know. “It’s also a great time for the priests to chat with fellow priests of their own age group who share similar concerns. They look forward to it and enjoy it.

“We usually get about 40 priests at each of the two annual luncheons. Serrans in attendance are restricted to the presidents of the four local Serra clubs and any other Serrans who are required for transportation purposes. This is an event for priests, not Serrans.

“The program, with one event in the spring and one in the fall, has been running for several years now and remains very popular with the retired priests. It has proven to be a good program for Serra.”

VOCATION AWARENESS: Where should Serra go from here? Diversity outreach! 

Serra has taken seriously the name we’ve been given: “The Vocation Arm of the Church.” Outstanding efforts have come forth from clubs across the U.S.A. with innovative programs and ideas on how to reach out, inviting potential candidates to consider if they are receiving a call to service in priesthood or professed religious life. These efforts are reaping benefits in areas where Serrans and their bishops are sincerely putting into action a program that best suits their diocesan needs.

For example: one club, the Serra Club of Minneapolis, organized a vocation gathering for young adult Catholics. The event began with a beautiful formal liturgy at a Mass of Anticipation and was followed by an informal gathering where food and prizes were offered. Local priests and professed religious representatives were invited to attend and were given the opportunity to circulate among the attendees to introduce themselves and discuss their work on a one-to-one basis. It was a huge success and Minneapolis Serra Club President Charlie Dahl was encouraged to sponsor more such events.

In analyzing the effort, the club determined that the purpose of these vocation events is to reach out to the young adults in the University area. However, they noticed that the majority of attendees were Caucasian. Minneapolis Serrans asked themselves: “Where is the growth of the church coming from?” They realized that the population growth in the area had been from Hispanics, African and American blacks, and Asians. So the club began to reach out to the young people of these groups though Hispanic, African and Filipino liturgies. Correspondingly, the food and music provided after Mass has been ethnic also.

For three years, the club sponsored vocation gatherings at local churches with high concentrations of diversified parishioners. The vocation directors have found these events to be a wealth of opportunity and are happy to send representatives to participate along with the local diocesan vocation office director. The drawings for great prizes encourage the attendees to stay until the end of the event, giving the priests and religious time to spend with those who wish to talk to them. The club also addresses youth between the ages of 13 and 18 with a “Vocation Day” at an inner-city high school. The event consists of an opening Mass, an adoration chapel where Serrans keep continuous prayers going throughout the school day, and visits to classrooms by priests and professed religious.

A similar program has been taken to a highly diversified grade school. President Dahl is convinced that a program like this must evolve because a static program will not continue to attract young people. He and the Minneapolis Serra Club are looking at options such as basketball games between vocation representatives and students or assemblies with a panel of priests and religious telling their stories and answering questions from the audience, and then returning to the original program on a rotating yearly basis. This is the story of just one Serra club’s efforts.

If you have similar success stories about diversity outreach, why not share them with the USAC Vocation Committee?  Let Serrans reach out to all the peoples of the world who seek freedom in our United States. God is calling their youth also; let us provide the contact.

by Norma Swanson, Barbara Feyereisen, Tom Fath, USAC VOCATION COMMITTEE

Key ingredient for new members: challenge

As my theme for this year, I selected "Let Us All Work for Vocations." I have been reflecting on that theme over the past few days. The cause of this reflection was some troubling information I received at the USAC "SuperWeekend" meeting held in Chicago in January. This information was about membership. Let me explain.

Over the first six months of this fiscal year, from June through November, 900 new members were added, but 937 were lost. Now, adding 900 new members is outstanding, but losing 37 more than that is downright discouraging. Ever since hearing these statistics I have been wondering how this could happen. We do know there were 115 deaths, and since we do have a good number of older folk, I am sure there are quite a few who are ill or lack energy, but there remains that significant number who left Serra for other reasons. And that is how I came to reflect on my theme.

Serra has a great mission in vocations. In this day and age, it is a marvelous motivator for potential new members. So we make the sale, welcome the member into the club, and I assume he or she is given a good orientation. What is overlooked, in more cases than we realize, is that this motivated new member is not given an assignment to meet the expectations generated when recruited.

Statistics show that a large percentage of new members are lost in the first five years. If we think that we are able to recruit younger, educated and energetic people, but then neglect to challenge them with work for vocations, then we can expect many years of disappointing membership numbers. So, "Let Us All Work for Vocations." I emphasize the word all and by that I mean particularly newer members. Our mission is exciting and can do much for our church. All members, from the charter Serrans to the new recruits, deserve to experience the reward of actively participating in our ministry.

by USAC President Jim DeNike

BORING BUT IMPORTANT Club business: insurance, tax-exemption, accounts and incorporation 

1. During the formation process, each club completes an IRS SS-4 form and is assigned an EIN (Employer Identification Number) in this format: XX-XXXXXXX. Each club in the U.S. has one. Your bank will not open an account until you produce your EIN.  

2. When the IRS issues this number, it automatically includes the club under Serra International's Not-for-Profit 501(c)(3) Group Exemption Number (GEN), 1059. This means that the local club is a 501(c)(3) organization and charitable contributions to the club or the USA Council are generally deductible.

3. Annually USAC's Chicago office files a report verifying the EIN of all of the clubs in the U.S. As long as your club is included on this report it is exempt for federal income tax and does not have to file a form 990. If the IRS or your state department of revenue sends you a 990, send it to the USAC Office.

4. You don't need to incorporate in your state. Just don't do it, please! It creates a big hassle, costs the club filing fees and, potentially, fines.

5. You don't need insurance. A part of the dues you send to the USAC office is used to pay for insurance. This includes liability, excess liability, crime and directors and officers insurance. If you need a Certificate of Insurance, call Jan Cholke at our office. Please allow a week to 10 days to obtain your certificate.

6. If you club needs a sales tax exemption number for your state please contact our office. We will do the work for you in obtaining the sales tax exemption.

The Serra Leader bulletin board

Support for Region and District Conventions

Do you need help planning for your district/regional convention?

Check out the newly revised Convention Manual now available on USAC’s website, www.serraus.org. The purpose of the annual fall convention is to bring together USA Council Serrans, spouses, guests, priests, and religious so they can all work for vocations through prayer, training, fellowship, and sharing.

We try to use this gathering to foster attendees’ spiritual growth, increase their communication skills, to share information, for training and education, leadership development, motivation, to build community, and to learn to collaborate with other vocation organizations. At this meeting we work together to find more ways to accomplish our mission to be the lay vocation arm of the church.

The Convention Committee must plan months in advance to schedule the keynote address, programs, and workshops to ensure that the participants receive high-quality information so they may carry out the mission and ministry of Serra. The Convention Manual includes a timeline for Convention Committee and sub-committee tasks.

The manual is presented in a step-by-step process giving rationale and responsibilities for each level of support from the USAC Meetings and Conventions Committee, the regional director, the host district governor and each position in the Host Convention Committee. 

Tell Us About Your Chaplain

Often, the chaplain's involvement determines whether or not a Serra club will achieve its goals of fostering and affirming religious vocations. In such clubs, the chaplain is the pillar of the club. He inspires club members in doing their vocations ministry work and participates in the planning and the promoting of the club's objectives.

On the other hand, in some clubs, the chaplain is only a token position. Because of other responsibilities, he is only able to take an interest in Serra's work and does what he can on special occasions. It has been observed that often the chaplains who are active in club activities are responding to the club's enthusiasm for vocations ministry work.

The USA Council Vocations Committee would like to help clubs get more involved with their chaplains. The committee is asking clubs to submit descriptions of their chaplain’s club role. Hopefully, with a better understanding of what chaplains and clubs are doing together in promoting and affirming vocations, we can share these experiences by publishing them in Serra's future publications.

It would also aid in the revision of the Chaplain's Manual. Club chaplains are an important link in Serra's work. Help the USAC Vocations Committee become more knowledgeable about your chaplain's involvement with your club. Send your articles to the USAC Vocations Committee at USAC’s Chicago address (on Wacker Place). We look forward to receiving your articles. 

Who’s on first? Keep us updated!

Your club’s new officer rosters for the 2004-2005 lineup is due at the USAC office on May 31. You can submit this data by going to www.serraus.org, clicking on “In the Loop” at the top of the page, and scrolling down in the far left column to “Submit a report of your Serra club officers.” 

Moving. . . or just flying south for the winter?

Last month, the USAC office received eight returned-to-sender magazines -- all from one Minnesota club! If you have a seasonal change of address -- or any change of address at all, let us know about it and help us save money on postage. Follow the website directions above, but click on “Submit a change of address” on our site’s “In the Loop” page. Your postman (and ours) will thank you! 

Represent!

Last year, Serra International disqualified over 100 delegates to the convention because their credential forms were tardy. Don’t let this happen to you in Pittsburgh! The convention delegate credential form, mailed to you by SI in its Bellringers newsletter, is due at their State Street office on May 24. 

Getting the word out

Are you helping to start a new club in your area, or are you waging a membership campaign with your existing club? Consider asking the local press to help you get the word out. The USAC office can provide you with materials for your diocese’s newspaper.

We have prepared a special USA Council of Serra International press kit, complete with information on our patron, objectives, organizational statistics, activity details, a copy of Pope John Paul II’s address to Serrans in 2000, contact information, and an informational article template you may customize to fit your own club. We can also e-mail you a copy of our logo! For more information, contact Anne McCormack at USAC, (888) 777-6681. 

Where’s my serraUSA?

Recently we’ve received two letters from Serrans wondering why their magazines are arriving late. Meanwhile, up to two weeks before, we received phone calls and e-mail from Serrans giving us a thumbs up for the magazines they had received only a few days after it was shipped from our printer! We’re stymied, but have been advised that sometimes the case with bulk mailing is that even cities within one state can see a one to two-week difference in when they receive their magazines.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and will try to get the magazine out even further ahead of schedule. 

Wilkommen, bienvenue

Did you know that you can now view the USA Council’s website, www.serraus.org, in German, Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese? To translate our site, go to www.google.com and click on “Language Tools” (to the right of the search text box).

On the Language Tools page, scroll down to the “Translate” section and type our website address into the “translate a web page” box. Select your language below, and voila! Instant translation!

BACK TO BASICS Tried-and-true membership strategies pay off

Are you completely satisfied with your club’s performance of attracting and retaining new members? If your answer is “No,” take a look at the methods you’ve used over the years to attract new members.

You’ll likely discover one truth: If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, what you’re going to get is what you’ve got! A change of method is essential to get improved results. The problem is, we are all looking for some magical formula to fetch scores of new members without us having to work too hard for it. We convince ourselves that if we simply say, “We are having a membership drive, so everyone bring a potential member to our next lunch,” it will bring results. It rarely does.

What I suggest is not new, nor is it magical, and it doesn’t work without a club-wide effort. If your membership vice president will take out the Membership Manual, study it thoroughly, and implement one of the three methods outlined in the manual, you will get new members. The “Two Today for Serra” program, “Four-Step Program,” and “Twelve-Step Program” really work. However, you can’t eliminate or bypass some of the ingredients and expect to be successful. You must take every step and follow the guidelines completely.

In the past 15 years, three new clubs have been formed in my district. Two of those involved transfers of our existing members to the new clubs. In one case, we lost eight members to the Mountain View club, and in the other, we lost four members to the San Jose-Evergreen club. These losses were over and above the average annual 10 percent of members lost to death, moving and resignation. To compensate, we had a membership drive each year resulting anywhere from four to 11 new members per year. At our low point we were at about 35 members. Today we have 60.

The minimum steps for a successful membership drive are: Membership involvement Invitation to prospects (letter plus personal) Orientation meeting Follow-up Prospect Sources include: Individual current member suggestions Parish ministry group suggestions Parish pastor suggestions Parish talks at liturgies Hospitality informational tables after liturgies

Use all the resources available to you, such as the USAC informational pamphlet #77 on Serra’s objectives, history, meetings and programs, and the pocket folder, “What is Serra?”, #179. Our club added local club information in a two-page question-and-answer format. This includes information on when and how often we meet, what is expected of a Serran in terms of time and involvement in our vocational programs, our social activities, club dues and what they include, our club officers, etc.

A more comprehensive folder is used in starting a new club. It includes the following: Separate letters from the bishop, diocesan vocation director, and the president/rector of your local seminary telling how important Serra is to them, encouraging new prospects to join Serra objectives Serra membership requirements How a local Serra club operates Serra club committee structure A sample Serra President’s Advisory Council agenda A sample affirmation letter sent to all priests in the diocese Parish Vocation Committee guidelines Parish Vocation Committee suggested activities A sample Parish Vocation Committee agenda A Serran prayer card Two membership applications Of course, your informational packet should be tailored to fit your own club.  

Once we have signed up new members, it is extremely important that we retain them. Unfortunately, we often induct them, collect their dues, and then forget them. In order to keep our members, we must remember why they joined Serra in the first place. They probably read about Serra or heard about Serra and felt they had something to contribute. They joined because they wanted to be involved; they wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment in doing the work of fostering and affirming vocations. They bring to our club gifts, talents and desires. Let’s not deny them the chance to do what they want to do and can do.  

The biggest mistake we can make is to assign a member to a committee that he or she has no talent for or desire to serve on. We all function best doing what we know best and like to do. How do we avoid making this mistake? Ask new members what they’d like to do!  In our club, the membership and vocations vice presidents work closely together. They developed an “Activity Preference Form” listing a total of 52 activities, offices or committees that our club or another club in our district maintains. Members are asked to mark as many as six activities, in order of preference, that they are interested in.  

The information derived from that survey is plotted on a chart showing the member names grouped by parish and all activities so that they can visually determine who is interested in what.  The final refinement is to select a mentor experienced in each activity to be available for advice and support. This gets all members involved and working, and hopefully will keep them interested in Serra work.  

As I mentioned before, none of this is new; maybe it just has a different twist. Remember, if you’re not happy with your club’s history of gaining and retaining new members: “If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, what you’re going to get is what you’ve got!”

Tom Bommarito, Santa Clara, Calif., Past District 31 Governor

Dear Peter...Sound advice from USAC Membership Coordinator Peter Cunningham 

Dear Peter,

I am planning a fall district/regional convention. What kind of help can I get from the USAC headquarters? Convention Chair Newbie  

Dear Convention Chair,

1. We can add your convention to our calendars. First, let us know when and where your convention will be held. The USA Council will publish the dates of your scheduled district/regional convention in the USA Council Board calendar, the serraUSA magazine, and on the USA Council website.  

2. We can send you mailing labels. When you have convention announcements to send to your district/region, call us for mailing labels. In addition, the USA Council will provide labels to your convention committee for the convention registration forms and additional follow-up mailings as required. Our database is updated almost everyday, so don’t ask for labels much more than two weeks in advance; if you do, you may end up with out-of-date material. Under normal conditions, the USA Council can prepare labels in 1-2 days and have them delivered to you within another week via the U.S. Postal Service. The mailing labels are available free of charge.

3. Speaking of labels, a word about privacy. . . Please note that both Serra International and the USA Council of Serra International prohibit the commercial use of the mailing list. The mailing list may only be used for official Serran purposes. You may not under any circumstances distribute Serran information outside the USA Council for non-Serran activities. This policy is strictly enforced. If you have any questions or need additional information please contact me at (888) 777-6681.

4. We can provide personal presentations. Sometimes district/regional convention chairs ask USAC Executive Director Ed Verbeke or a member of his staff to conduct presentations on the council, membership, communications, etc. If you would like to find out more about having a staff member visit your convention, contact Ed Verbeke, (888) 777-6681.

5. Check out our “Meetings and Conventions Manual.” Produced by the USAC Meetings and Conventions Committee, this newly-revised manual is full of practical tips and checklists made up with district/regional convention chairs and their committees in mind. You can order it from USAC headquarters or download it from www.serraus.org.

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