Invitation to CLC-USA Leadership Assembly 2010

June 24-27, 2010
Gilmary Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Purposes:
1. Discern for a model of organizational structure for CLC-USA
2. Discern with ExCo/NCC in its election of a new president-elect for CLC-USA

Dear friends in CLC-USA:

The Houston Summit was a key moment for us in our journey toward finding a more suitable structure. We had 21 people gathered. At the summit, D&O effectively handed over this effort to the leadership of our community, ExCo specifically. In Houston, we came together to help each one of us to honestly face certain realities of our community so that we can see clearer a structural model for our community. Some realities are encouraging, full of hope, and some are harsh. In a body all the components need to be fully functional in order to give life to the body. There is also a connectedness among all the components. If one component of the body is in distress, the entire body would be in distress. At Houston we recognized and lived out that sense of connectedness and found that everything depends on TRUST. With that we did face the realities of our community, and we faced them with understanding and compassion, for we would not be able to move forward effectively without recognizing these realities and our connectedness. Now we need your presence and participation in expanding that trust to a more comprehensive circle.

First, we do see a need for an adjustment/shift in the way we think about our COMMUNITY:
▪ Shift to a model of an organization that is open, dynamic, interconnected and full of graces
▪ Because the world that we are called to serve is ever evolving and dynamic
▪ Because our members are diverse in more that one aspects in life, both tangible and intangible
▪ Because we are called to discover and live out our personal vocation in community
▪ Because we are called to also to empower each other to discover and live out our own gifts.

Second, we do see a need for an adjustment/shift in our understanding of RELATIONSHIP:
▪ Relationship is the organizing principle of who we are, what we are, whom we serve and how we serve
▪ CLC-USA is a set of relationships that define our connectedness among ourselves, individually and within and between components
▪ CLC-USA is a set of relationships that reaches out to serve the world around us.

Third, we do see a need for an adjustment/shift in the nature of our COMMITMENT:
▪ We do not just commit to a specific activity, task or mission
▪ We do commit to the CLC relationship – the essence that defines who we are, in individuals and communities, and propels and moves us to serve others in relationship
▪ We do not commit according to our own plan but with a willingness to respond to God’s desire in a state of surrendering and readiness – we trust that whatever we need to meet our vocation will be provided providentially through others along our journey and through the ever growing relationships we form.
▪ We commit to the profound understanding that we are an essential part, but not the only part, of the unfolding of God’s enterprise.

Finally, we do see a need to reconvene the Summit with a broader and more participative cross-section of the community’s leadership. Thus we seek to bring together at the Leadership Assembly in Pittsburgh the entire body of NCC, all the regional coordinators, about 12 leadership members from each of Korean CLC, Đồng Hành CLC, and South Florida, the EAs and some special people in the community. This assembly is not a continuation of the past Pittsburgh Leadership Conference. It is a new beginning for us to put our discerning hearts and minds together to renew our community with a new participative structural model. We understand that you are engaging in an overwhelming number of activities, but your participation is really essential. We hope to see you all in Pittsburgh June 24-27 to discover what God has in stored for us in a concrete way.

In Christ,
Liem T Le
For the National Executive Council