Founder of Theresians: Msgr. Elwood C. (“Woody”) Voss

Father Elwood C. Voss, a priest with a decade of experience as a high school principal and subsequently as Catholic school superintendent as well as vocation director in the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado, realized in the 1950’s that there were few contemporary educational and spiritual enrichment opportunities for lay women in the Catholic Church. He observed that the purpose of women’s church organizations at that time was generally the support of others and although that was good, Catholic women deserved more. He took this reality as a challenge to himself and to women he knew in the Diocese of Pueblo.  (Note: Fr. Voss, when named superintendent of schools, was also named a monsignor because, as he told the story, his bishop thought this title would give status, among his peers, to the 34-year old superintendent. This honorific, however, did not prevent his friends, both among priests and Theresians, from calling him “Woody.”)

The person who worked the longest with Msgr. Voss from 1968 through 1990 was Patricia Mullen.
She believes that Msgr. Voss’ seven greatest contributions during his 29 years with Theresians were: his vision, and his realization of that vision with the establishment of the Theresians; the bar he set for annual and biannual national conferences with the first Theresian conference in 1962; his establishment of a national consultants’ board in 1962; his affirmation of Theresian members and their leaders by means of continuous correspondence and an empowering attitude; his having kept the organization financially afloat despite numerous challenges; his insistence, after Vatican Council II, that the direction of Theresians must embrace the vision of that Council, and his co-founding of the Theresian World Ministry.

The vision and establishment of Theresians:  In 1959, Fr. Voss designed a modest organizational structure to provide an opportunity for women to experience intellectual, spiritual and community enrichment. He chose to name this local, fledgling organization “Theresians” after St. Therese of Lisieux because she was the patroness of the Pueblo Diocese and also because Therese developed her own unique spirituality quite unlike that defined by other theologians and directors of the spiritual life over the centuries.  With prayer, education, community and vocation serving as the four essential components of each Theresian unit, members, until 1969, gave special emphasis to the support of women religious who at the same time were making their own great strides in education and spiritual formation. The new Theresian organization was approved by the local bishop of Pueblo and the first meeting of 32 members occurred on October 3, 1961, the former feast day of St. Therese. Ten of these original members formed the first executive board for the first three years after which the board’s membership became national.

The national conferences: The first Theresian National Conference was held in Pueblo in October, 1962, on the eve of Vatican Council II.  It boasted 1500 participants as well as a program which was both unique and dynamic as planned by Fr. Voss with the leaders of the first community. A number of attendees returned to their homes throughout the U.S. motivated to found Theresian units (the word “community” replaced the “unit” concept in the early 1970’s). National conferences were held annually thereafter until 1974, when conferences were scheduled, by the national executive board, every two years with regional conference occurring in between. Conference themes and speakers continued to be as prophetic and challenging as was true of that first conference in Pueblo.

The consultants board:  Also in October of 1962, Fr. Voss invited a group of fourteen women and men from around the United States to Pueblo. These were lay leaders, church administrators, educators, missionaries and religious congregation leaders who traveled at their own expense to learn about the goals and structure of this fledgling organization and to offer their insights, observations and suggestions. This meeting was later to be recognized as the birth of the national consultants board which, during its 29 years of existence, as Fr. Voss once wrote, “contributed more to the development of Theresians in the early years than did any other body.” It is that board which kept the organization contemporary and progressive, always reading the signs of the times and making related suggestions to national office personnel and the national executive board, the policy makers, and ultimately the world ministry board.

Affirmation and encouragement of members and leaders: Each and every letter ever written to the national office was personally answered by either Msgr. Voss or Patricia Mullen; when the latter was “on the road,” Fr. Voss took care of most of her mail as well. His letters always had a personal touch, were affirming, and -- as anyone who ever received one these letters remembers --  they were written in a distinctive blue ink with an “old fashioned,” wide-tipped fountain pen!  Msgr. Voss always claimed that he had earned spending money in college (Loras College in Dubuque, IA) by typing for others for a fee. But, during his years with Theresians, no one ever again saw him use a typewriter.

Financial challenges: National membership dues were raised just three times from 1961 through 1990.   Nearly all additional income was raised by Fr. Voss through the Development Fund he established as well as through personal contacts that he maintained with generous people outside the organization. Through the Development Fund he encouraged Theresians of reasonably good means to contribute beyond the required national dues in an effort to maintain a level of national dues which allowed membership to those of very moderate incomes. Because Msgr. Voss kept detailed records of such contributions for 29 years, he was able each year to write personally to previous contributors to ask for repeated contributions. In the 1986 publication The Theresian Story, written by Voss and Mullen, the two wrote: 

A Theresian will more frequently place her dues and her contributions  to Theresians and other women’s organizations high on her budget priority list. Her generosity will be rewarded by knowing the following: 1) she is ministering to women she may never meet by helping them have to the same opportunity someone else once provided for her – Theresian membership 2) she will join other members in providing just wages and benefits to her organization’s employees, those same benefits she expects for herself and/or her spouse. She will seek out charitable organizations which contribute to the material support of women of poverty because she knows that statistics reveal that by the year 2000, 90 per cent of U.S. citizens living below the poverty level will be women and children.

Vatican Council II:  The Vatican II documents referring to the laity as also having a vocation [awakened in Theresians exactly what they were experiencing as women in support of women religious. Vatican II called the laity, too, to recognize their own vocations.. The burning question for many Theresians became “What do we, as an organization, do about this? Do we re-state our purpose? Would the founder of Theresians be open to this adaptation of the original vision?” Little did these women know but Fr. Voss and members of the board of consultants had already reached a similar conclusion. They therefore encouraged members to propose to the executive board an expanded purpose statement. The proposal was approved by the executive board in 1969 to the deep joy of the Theresian founder. In their 1986 publication The Theresian Story he and Patricia wrote:

The organization’s 1969 broadened statement of purpose opened up an entire new realm of possibilities for educational programs. Members (lay and women religious members) soon came to grips with the fact that much, if not most, of what was going on in the worldaround them affected them, their families, and their colleagues. If their influence as women of faith was to be effective in society and church they needed to know the issues at hand, be willing to look at themfrom all sides, to be always trying to make the connections between their own conclusions and their Gospelvalues as Christians.

Theresian World Ministry: While his vision for Theresians was unfolding in the United States, Fr. Voss was being asked by priests and sisters in other countries, as early as 1962, to advise them about establishing Theresians there. Although his first efforts reached out fruitfully to Canada and Hong Kong (the original Hong Kong unit dissolved, only to be re-born in the 1970’s through the efforts of Rita Metyko of Houston.), it was not until 1969 that Msgr. Voss and Patricia Mullen created a plan of action to establish an international board for the purpose of defining more clearly how this international expansion might occur and how these international communities would related to one another. In collaboration with the U.S. Executive Board and the Consultants Board, Theresians from the U.S. and Canada were invited to serve on this new board. Everyone invited accepted the invitation and the challenge to serve in this global effort.



A Tribute upon Retirement: 
The following is an excerpt from a letter written to Msgr. Voss in August, 1990, following his retirement from Theresians, by Mary T. Yelenick.  Mary had been close friends with Woody since her high school days, when he had invited her to serve on the Theresian consultants’ board. As an adult, Mary attended nearly every Theresian conference.  In 1985, she traveled to Ghana with her mother, Theresian  Maesel Yelenick, and Patricia Mullen, to meet with Theresians in Accra and in Kumasi. Patricia found this letter recently in a small personal file. She sought and received permission from Mary to include portions of it here. Mary is currently Board Chair of Network, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, with which many Theresians are likely familiar.

Dear Woody,

When I think of “Retirement,” it somehow doesn’t apply to you. Unlike most men I know, whose public identity (and even identity to their friends) is closely aligned with their occupation, your identity is so multi-dimensional and springs from who you are, that it is inseparable from what you “do.”  You are one of those rare men who permits people to know and love you; who enriches others not only with what you know or have accomplished, but who you are. . .
Your political and social awareness, your utter lack of self-aggrandizement, your ability to bring out the best in others – all of these qualities have repeatedly impressed me. I’ve also been struck many times by your deep love and respect for the world of nature: in my mind’s eye, I have an image of you on desert picnics, or sitting beside a mountain stream, with a gleam in your eye and a glowing peace and satisfaction written all over your face. Yours appears to be a deep and living spirituality, rooted in a love of nature and society: not inconsistent objects of affection, but complementary expressions of a holy creation.
Your affirmation of women sets you strikingly apart from others. . . Your self-confidence is unmistakable. .. You avoided the trappings of celebrity, and rejected the enticements of dogmatism, electing instead to encourage others to develop and express their own views and experiences. You  have never insisted on having the “final” say; you have never demanded that the organization you founded serve as a public monument to your own glory. How rare indeed! Your flexibility; your willingness to listen, learn, and change; your gentle encouragement of others; your appreciation of diversity: all attest to your own inner security. . .  Thank you for so much. 

Much love,

Mary