Bishop seeks members for ICC board

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
March 15, 2007

The Iowa Catholic Conference is the public policy agency of the Iowa bishops.

According to Tom Chapman, executive director of the ICC, the agency's main mission is to advocate for the Catholic Church's ideas in the state legislation. He called it a voice for the common good in the state.

He pointed out that persons who serve on Iowa Catholic Conference Board of Directors give valuable input to the ICC staff and the ICC committees, which helps to set the legislative priorities and concerns.

When the board was set up years ago, he noted that they wanted diversity on the board both from a geographical point of view with representatives from each diocese as well as a mix of individuals - priests, women religious, laymen and laywomen. All of the Iowa bishops also serve on this board.

Presently, Bishop R. Walker Nickless is seeking individuals who may be interested in applying to serve on the board. The diocese currently seeks to fill these representatives: one woman religious, one layman and another person to serve as an at-large representative. In addition, this October the terms for two other representatives will expire. Therefore, the bishop will soon have to appoint one laywoman and one priest.

"The Iowa Catholic Conference is a very important arm of the ministry of the bishop in all of the four dioceses in Iowa," said Bishop Nickless. "We are unique in that our conference is made up of not just the director but a number of laity and religious from each of the four dioceses."

He mentioned that in many states, these types of conferences are made up of bishops and often do not have lay involvement. The various perspectives, the bishop noted helps to do a more effective job in communicating the positions of the church in the dealings with the legislative body.

"I've found it to be a wonderful group of people who care deeply about the Catholic Church's teaching on a variety of issues, but especially the social concerns," said Bishop Nickless. He cited the recent work by the bishops and ICC regarding the cloning of human embryos. "It was a great and valiant effort, but we could have used more help from different people who are interested in the same things we are."

While much of the work is done by the ICC staff and through the committee structure, Chapman said board members provide important input and perspectives.

"They meet twice a year at American Martyrs Retreat House outside of Cedar Falls for an overnight meeting," Chapman noted. "They have reports from the different committees of the Iowa Catholic Conference and then they discuss what some of the priorities of the ICC should be during the upcoming months. Particularly in the fall, they take a look at what should be our list of legislative concerns for the next session."

He pointed out that input from the board members give the ICC staff and committees a good indicator of what they should be working on. The four bishops provide valuable theological perspectives.

Although Chapman is new to the staff of the ICC, as a former staff member of the Diocese of Des Moines he had served on various ICC committees. The committees, which mainly are staffed by diocesan staff members, consist of education, social concerns, pro-life, communications and family life.

"It has been my experience at the meetings that there has been a good mix of opinions and theology to help arrive at helpful conclusions," said Chapman.

He mentioned that generally the board members have not served on the committees but they often receive informational e-mail updates from the director as well as committee reports in advance of the board meetings.

"Since the Iowa Catholic Conference is focused on public policy, ideally we would like to have people on the board who are interested in public policy and interested in working to advocate for the common good in the state," said Chapman. "They should be active Catholics and be willing to bring their knowledge and information forward at the board meetings."

In addition to lobbying and providing communication to raise awareness about the church's positions on various legislative issues, ICC helps to sponsor other activities during the year such as teaming up with the four Iowa dioceses to offer a Social Action Workshop each January.

"What I hope to do is offer some education in different regions of the state to try to get more involved in the political process," said Chapman.

If an individual is interested in serving on the board of the Iowa Catholic Conference, the bishop would like them to send him a letter or e-mail expressing their interest. Interested persons must be a Catholic in good standing, with the support of the local pastor. Write him a letter and direct it to Bishop R. Walker Nickless, 1821 Jackson, Sioux City, IA 51102 or e-mail webmaster@scdiocese.org - please put ICC or Iowa Catholic Conference in the subject line of the e-mail.

People may learn more about the Iowa Catholic Conference by going to its Web site - www.iowacatholicconference.org. This site contains ICC's legislative concerns. At this site, people can sign up for the Action Alert Newsletter.