Parish Leadership Team

New Paradigm of Parish Leadership and Decision Making - Co-repsonsible with the pastor

We have started a new paradigm of parish leadership that is simply being named the “Parish Leadership Team.”  The Parish Leadership Team (PLT) is a small group of deeply committed people who are co-responsible for achieving the common objectives of the parish organization.  Along with the pastor/administrator they share the power and responsibility of leading.   
 
To repeat, the PLT shares in the power and responsibility of the pastor/administrator in leading the parish!  This is not a consultative body, as are the Parish Pastoral Council and Parish Finance Councils.  This is to be an operative body – a team that will collectively discern, make decisions and ensure the decisions and actions are followed through in the parish organization.  They will determine many of the strategic and operational on-the-ground decisions and actions.  These are the things that in the past the pastor/administrator would do and decide on himself. 
 
Why is this so important now?  First, we just began to implement “On Mission for the Church Alive” with the vision of breathing new life into parish communities.  There is no better time to create new models and structures for parish ministry!  We need structures that empower the laity in leadership positions and hopefully enliven every member of the parish to live their call to be a baptized disciple!   Second, we also continue to experience not only the horror and trauma of the abuse scandal and the crimes of sexual abuse of minors, but also the abuse of power within the church that permitted such brokenness and secrecy.  We must admit the former structures are no longer working!  
 
Who are the members of the PLT?   They are:

1. Christine Jordanoff
2. Holly Mohr
3. Fr. Daniel
4. Fr. Michael 

 
Why were these people chosen and who choose them?  They were discerned with/by me the pastor/administrator.  I will shift into the ‘first person’ and speak for myself here J.  First of all, my gifts and way of being as pastor/administrator are limited.  I am limited by what God has given me and what he has not, limited by my upbringing and experience, limited because I am a white, male member of the clergy, none of which I apologize for, but have to acknowledge.  These members of the PLT bring together a diversity of gifts, experience, and perspectives - male and female, clergy and laity, younger and older, and more.  They each have rich experience inside and outside this parish grouping.  They are open, honest, and willing to engage in healthy conflict and tension with me and one another, for the good of all. 
 
What has the PLT been doing so far?  The team began in February and we have been meeting almost every week for 2 hours.  We are building trust and honesty within the team and with the Clergy Team.  We have been working on and communicating a new organizational chart and parish structure that will be non-hierarchical and support the discipleship of every parishioner.  We have been focusing on the merger process for our parish communities and working with the diocese to clarify a timeline for when this merger will happen.  We have discussed parish finances and debt, as well as how to focus on and build engagement in Sunday masses, and more! 
 
As with any new paradigm, this process will be “messy” and will take time and patience to fully implement.  It will take extensive communication with the other leadership bodies, ministries, staff, and parish as a whole.   It will take time for trust to be built, both within the PLT and with the parish as a whole.