National Ministry Summit and Human Resource Personnel
by Thomas SchroederJuly 31, 2007
When one thinks about it, ministry is very labor intensive. Whether it is in responding to the needs of our youth, providing education and catechesis, serving the poor or providing the sacraments...all that we do in ministry depends on who we have to do it. In the Church we have a tremendously rich and diverse labor force available to help in building the Kingdom, however, the traditional mix of ministers is changing and ministry itself is becoming much more complex.
We live in a time of almost constant change and dealing with it can sometimes be difficult. The key, however, is to be aware of what is happening around us and prepare for the change rather than to become a victim of it. For the past four years, the Emerging Models Project has been devoted to studying trends in the labor force, anticipating changes in Catholic pastoral leadership and, envisioning parish ministry in the future.
With all of this, there are tremendous organizational and human resource implications for the laity, as well as members of the clergy and religious communities. It's often said that "we're church and not a business", however we are all called to be good stewards of the resources God has made available to us. It means that we are called to be good leaders, to be good managers, and to be good ministers. During the National Ministry Summit the findings of the Emerging Models Project will be presented as well as information on the implications of those findings.
Church statistics available from CARA.
Come to the Summit Y'all
April 20-23, 2008, Orlando, Florida
