Frequently Asked Questions
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Lumen is a Catholic organization for business and societal leaders who seek personal development in character, faith, and leadership in order to reflect the light (lumen) of Christ in today’s world.
Business and cultural leaders who desire and commit to:
- Character development
- Spiritual growth
- Using their influence to shape culture, business, family, and community
Just as non-Catholics can attend a Catholic school, as long as they do not expect the institution to abdicate from its identity or tenets, so too, any non-Catholic could become a Lumen member if there is a clear commitment to respecting the nature of the organization.
Coed groups and working environments are ubiquitous and Lumen acknowledges the richness that both women and men bring into the world. With the topics discussed in Leadership Circles, however, many persons would find it more difficult to be candid or transparent in the presence of a person of the opposite sex. While most of our Leadership Circles are constituted solely of men, Lumen welcomes the constitution of all-women Leadership Circles. A woman who meets all membership criteria could also join a primarily male Leadership Circle with the approval of the existing members, as is the case in some chapters.
Just as dozens of cell phone models exist in the market, meeting differing needs and priorities of comparable customers, in a similar way Lumen has a specific mission and focus that better meets the needs of its audience. No other existing group that we know of has the same focus or drive as Lumen.
- Lumen’s Mission is to enhance the character, faith, and leadership skills of today’s business and cultural leaders through personalized formation, guided training, and education.
- The purpose of the Lumen Institute is to associate today’s top business and cultural leaders with a highly personalized formation in its core values of character, faith, and leadership. It was established to bring into association those leaders who, first and foremost, desire to model their attitude and living after the person of Jesus Christ (the way, the truth, and the life) – and who subsequently commit to influencing, in a positive way, those within their business, family and community circles. This desire and commitment are expressed through living Lumen’s core values and remaining steadfast in Lumen’s formation program, especially regular spiritual coaching with the Lumen chaplain. Lumen does not seek members whose main reason for Lumen affiliation is social or business networking of like-minded leaders or those unwilling to participate in Lumen’s formative programs and personal services. Lumen involvement is meant to instill members with a renewed and ongoing sense of mission and provide the guidance and tools needed to live that mission effectively.
Lumen seeks to associate those who have:
- Recognized leadership (i.e. organizational responsibility and professional/social influence)
- Who identifies with the mission of Lumen
- Desire to avail themselves of its resources
- Ability to pay the annual dues.
As Lumen’s mission indicates, its priorities for its members are personal development in the three domains of character, faith, and leadership. As a natural outgrowth, Lumen wants its members to exercise positive influence in their world through Lumen Action. Since Lumen offers highly personalized attention to its members, these general priorities will be transposed into the concrete reality of each individual through spiritual coaching.
By Lumen Action, we understand three levels of active engagement to make the world a better place, guided by the principles of Catholic social doctrine:
- Personal: members are encouraged to ‘give back’ through personal initiatives not affiliated with Lumen per se. These can include stewardship, non-profit board membership, mentoring, and participation in the parish or diocesan ministries, just to name a few.
- Chapter: Chapter-wide initiatives engage all or many of its members. The goal of such collective efforts is sustainable high-impact results, development of strong bonds of friendship between members, addressing a common need, and drawing other leaders into their mission. Action of this level may have a local, regional, national or international focus and may involve inter-chapter partnerships.
- Institutional: The Lumen Fellows for younger professionals ages 21-36 is the primary institutional program of the Lumen Institute. Young Catholic Professionals (YCP), Catholic Worldview Fellowship, Leadership Training Program, and Mission Youth are examples of other organizations that Lumen has supported or partnered with at some point. Lumen recommends that each member actively engages as a mentor for younger professionals, primarily with Fellows, but also through YCP or some other organization.
