District Governor's Message
By: DG Bob MacKenzie, Kennebunk RC
We’ve made it through the holidays and in a blink of an eye our Rotary year is ½ over. As we enter a new calendar year we have much to look forward to. Some important dates are the Mid-Year Brunch on January 19th, Northeast President Elect Learning Seminar March 6th-8th, District Learning Assembly on April 5th, District Conference/Celebration May 30th-31st and our District Installation/Changeover on June 18th. As you see there is much going on and great times are ahead! I am hoping you will be able to make our events. January is Vocational Service Month. We bring much value to our clubs and community through our vocations. It’s important that we use our vocational skills to serve our communities, practicing our professions with integrity, and inspiring others to behave ethically through our words and actions.
I want to share an article written by Past Chair of the District Vocational Service Committee Ian Lancaster of the Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise:
Vocational Service is at the heart of Rotary, which was founded on the classification system of membership. Business and professional life are the bedrock of Rotary, and Vocational Service is a major force in promoting honor, integrity, and trustworthiness in business.
A Short History Lesson
Originally only one representative from each business or profession was invited to join a club. Paul Harris felt that if several members of the same profession were to join, they would either sit together and “talk shop” or compete against each other for other members’ business.
The Forgotten Avenue of Service
Of Rotary’s five Avenues of Service* – Club, Vocational, Community, and International – Vocational is difficult to define, so it is sometimes called the “Forgotten Avenue of Service”. One reason is Club, Community, International and Youth Service activities usually involve groups of Rotarians. They enjoy the fellowship of Club Service, the satisfaction of serving the needs of their communities, and the hope that their International Service promotes world peace and understanding. But Vocational Service – the second Avenue of Service -- is generally conducted by individual members.
Service Above Self
Rotary’s early leaders often cited the Golden Rule – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” – as the guiding principle of Rotary’s Vocational Service. By the time the National Association of Rotary Clubs held its first convention in 1910, the networking emphasis had begun to shift. The majority of clubs told the new Civic Committee that Rotary should move from being a booster club to improving their communities. The concept of “he profits most who serves his fellows best” became “he profits most who serves best”. This idea morphed into “Service, not Self” and finally, it became the Rotary slogan we know today -- “Service Above Self”.
In 1940, Rotary International defined the Object of Vocational Service “to encourage and foster: high ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; the dignifying by each Rotarian of his occupation as an opportunity to serve society.” Today’s Rotarians still pride themselves on being able to use their professional stature and knowledge to make things happen worldwide, wherever there is a need for change.
I found this to be very helpful for me as a history lesson and Rotary’s spin on vocational service. We bring much value to our clubs and community through our vocation. We can use it in order to talk about our profession in our clubs, take the time to learn about members’ occupations, use our vocational skills to serve our communities, practice our profession with integrity, and inspire others to behave ethically through our words and actions. We can also help young people to achieve their goals and help guide and encourage others in their professional development. We are so very fortunate to have an organization such as Rotary that brings us and our vocations together to improve the world we live in!