DELPHOS —  Last spring, Bishop Albert Ottenweller, who served at the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church parish for more than 25 years, visited Delphos to spread the word about his Servant Leadership Center in Toledo.
The center was started by Bishop Ottenweller and Sr. Nancy Westmyer as a way for people to look inside themselves and see that they are special because they are a child of God and to find their gifts and talents. They are then taught to use these blessings to change the way they lead, therefore changing their community and, ultimately, the world.
“People generally want to do something about the condition of their community and world,” Ottenweller said. “They see a problem and they want to go out and fix it. The first thing they need to do is go down within themselves. We help people find their gifts. Many people have talents and abilities they’ve never explored.”
Ottenweller and Sr. Nancy are now working to bring a satellite of the Servant Leadership Center to Delphos. According to them, the program is not just for Catholics.
“This is an ecumenical process; anyone is welcome. It’s not just for some. That in itself tends to be very enriching. Different relationships expose us to how others view things and we can all benefit from that,” Sr. Nancy said.
The program is facilitated in three sections. The first section deals with looking inside oneself as the beloved of God, realizing the dream of God for each and looking at how our current societal system fosters inequity and injustice and how people are complicit in keeping that system in place.
The second section calls for participants to be a community “as a people” and making a commitment to make a difference. It also examines “the abundant” or “good” life and how “we manage our resources such as time, money and the earth and how power is used, misused, given inappropriately and taken inappropriately,” Sr. Nancy explained.
The final section addresses the discernment of gifts and the passion that motivates. It asks the question, “What is this challenging me to do or be?”, according to Sr. Nancy.
The pair hope the program is in place by fall and need just 8-12 people to start. The first group will be facilitated by Sr. Nancy; she hopes in time, a local facilitator will step forward.
“Every class is different,” Sr. Nancy added. “The class direction depends on the individuals involved. It’s an opportunity to look at the essential and very critical parts of their lives and ask some deep, searching questions. I’ve never had two groups embrace it the same.”
Bishop Ottenweller and Sr. Nancy will be in Delphos Tuesday evening at the Knights of Columbus hall to ask for support for the center in Toledo as well as to pass out recruitment materials for the local program.
Call the rectory at 419-695-4050 to see if tickets are still available.