Ministry Summit Calls for a Culture of Accountability
National Leadership Roundtable on Catholic Management
May 20, 2008“Create a culture of accountability through performance reviews for all ministers – ordained, religious and lay – that reflect the application of best practices of emerging models of parish leadership.” That was one of the key recommendations from over 1,200 lay leaders, deacons, priests and bishops who gathered in Orlando last week for a national ministry summit on emerging models of pastoral leadership.
View this ArticleLeadership Roundtable Newsletter - April 2008
National Ministry Summit on Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership - Orlando, Fl.
"Create a culture of accountability through performance reviews for all ministers - ordained, religious and lay - that reflect the application of best practices of emerging models of parish leadership."
That was one of the key recommendations from over 1,200 lay leaders, deacons, priests and bishops who gathered in Orlando last week for a national ministry summit on emerging models of pastoral leadership.
Kerry Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, addressed the Ministry Summit and emphasized that the Church, its people, and its facilities "deserve to be managed well," and that "the mission of the Church is far more important than the bottom line of a corporation."
She challenged participants to "be the change you want to see in the Church," Leadership demands the highest levels of accountability and good stewardship. "Aspire to excellence at every level for the sake of the Church. ... Ensure that your parish and ministry is worthy of generosity."
Participants in the four-day summit also called for comprehensive training and formation for all those involved in church ministry, specifically recognizing the need for "clear definitions of roles, responsibilities and relationships", "balancing leadership, administration/management and support roles" and improved "use and implementation of technological tools that young adults use for communication."
A major concern was expressed in the area of pastoring multiple parishes; a significant and growing reality for the Catholic Church in the US. The pastoral leaders present called for "pastoral planning processes which include greater consultation between lay leaders and pastors of area parishes with diocesan leadership, when considering clustering, twinning, merging and closing parishes."
Not for the first time, lay leaders in the Catholic Church called for "a comprehensive human resource management system... including a just wage and benefit package." This is a matter of serious concern as the Catholic Church transitions from pastoral leadership provided mostly by priests and religious sisters to new models where lay people provide the leadership in parishes and diocesan offices.
Michael Brough, director of planning for the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management reported that all participants in the Ministry Summit received the recently published Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for Catholic Parishes that provides a comprehensive model for parishes to implement a culture of accountability and best practices in the temporal affairs of Church life.
The Emerging Models project is a collaborative effort of six national Catholic organizations, funded by a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. The organizations are the National Association for Lay Ministry, the Conference for Pastoral Planning and Council Development, the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators, the National Association of Diaconate Directors, the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association and the National Federation of Priests' Councils.
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For further information on the recommendations from the National Ministry Summit visit http://www.emergingmodels.org.
For further information on the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management visit www.nlrcm.org .
