The Marks of Pastoral Excellence:
Some More Difficult than Others
We are all challenged by the call to pastoral excellence. But research being conducted by the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project is finding that some aspects of pastoral excellence may be more challenging than others.
A wide variety of Catholic lay and ordained pastoral leaders tell us, for example, that they are more effective at being pastoral than collaborative; that it is easier to be welcoming than prophetic. They appear to know more about being ethical than about being inclusive.
Yet, the good news we have to share with our colleagues in other Sustaining Pastoral Excellence projects is that, despite incredible challenges, lay and ordained leaders have a deep fidelity to their ministry, to God, and to God’s people. Indeed, despite the many changes occurring in Roman Catholic parishes—the shortage of priests, the increasing role of lay leaders, rapidly changing demographics--our project participants are optimistic about the future. Overall, 70 percent describe themselves as either “confident” or “very confident” that the parish of the future will be a vibrant faith community.
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Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership is a joint project of six national Catholic associations, aimed at identifying and promoting new models of pastoral leadership that nurture and sustain vibrant, empowered Catholic parish communities in the United States. As part of that effort, Emerging Models is conducting a series of regional leadership meetings designed to discover new and creative models of local church leadership and anticipate what models of leadership might look like in the future. To date, four such gatherings have been held, with each attended by 70 to 100 pastors, parish life coordinators, pastoral associates, deacons, diocesan representatives, and parish pastoral council representatives. Four additional gatherings are scheduled.
In those meetings, participants were asked among other things to rate their leadership in six areas that our project earlier established as critical elements of pastoral excellence. Specifically, they were asked how effective their parish leadership had been in demonstrating behaviors that are ethical, pastoral, prophetic, collaborative, inclusive and welcoming.
Preliminary results, summarized in Figure 1, revealed interesting differences in how effectively parish leaders are demonstrating the six marks of excellence. While solid pluralities of participants—from 38 to 46 percent—rated their parish leadership as “effective” in each of the six areas, wide differences emerged among the various behaviors in the percentage of participants who rated their leadership “very effective” or “ineffective.”
Figure 1: Effectiveness of Parish Leadership in Demonstrating Concrete Behaviors of Excellence |
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Ethical behaviors, pastoral behaviors, and welcoming behaviors generally had the highest percentages of “very effective” responses (32, 29 and 30 percent respectively) and the lowest percentage of “ineffective” responses (3, 7 and 13 percent, respectively). Prophetic behaviors, collaborative behaviors and inclusive behaviors, on the other hand, each had low percentages of “very effective” responses, and high percentages of “ineffective” responses.
Only 14 percent of participants said their parish leadership was “very effective” in demonstrating prophetic behaviors or inclusive behaviors, and only 18 percent said their parish leadership was “very effective” at demonstrating collaborative behaviors. From 14 to 16 percent rated their parish leadership as “ineffective” in demonstrating those same behaviors.
While it is too early to determine the final results of the study—indeed, more data will be collected at future meetings—these preliminary results seem to “make sense,” given current issues in Catholic parishes and what participants tell us in the regional meetings. In the majority of dioceses, the priest shortage and the growth of lay ministry have made collaboration a key issue, as varying combinations of lay and ordained leaders search for ways to work together with parishioners to provide strong Eucharistic communities. Parishes nationwide are working to be welcoming places for an increasingly diverse population, but genuine inclusiveness is often difficult to achieve. In many parishes, several different first languages—sometimes as many as 15 to 20, or more — are spoken by parishioners.
At the same time, many pastoral leaders are experiencing isolation, either geographically, professionally or both. Some participants in our regional meetings tell us they are the sole pastoral presence in a 100-mile radius or more. Others finds themselves in settings where ministers do not collaborate, forcing them to function as “lone rangers.”
And yet, these leaders, whether lay or ordained, are committed to their ministries and are continuing to provide them despite such obstacles. In our meetings, these leaders have energized themselves and one another by sharing experiences and remembering their call that brought them into ministry.
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In the end, we are finding that the most significant sign of the presence of good pastoral leadership is a faith community that is being sustained and nourished; one that affirms and respects the dignity and sacredness of individuals. In the presence of good and faithful pastoral ministry, ongoing growth and development occurs within the community, and attention is paid to the personal and spiritual development of individuals. The community is called to experience a clear prophetic challenge rooted in the Gospel, and is called to build up the Reign of God. These are the marks of excellence.
The following are partners in the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project:
- National Association for Lay Ministry
- Conference of Pastoral Planners and Council Development
- National Association of Church Personnel Administrators
- National Association of Diaconate Directors
- National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association
- National Federation of Priests’ Councils
Marti Jewell is Project Director for the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project, and is on the staff of the National Association for Lay Ministry.
David Ramey is founder and president of Strategic Leadership, Inc., and is the facilitator of the Emerging Models Leadership Symposia.
