The following article is reposted with permission of The Michigan Catholic, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Detroit, May 15, 2009.
by Kristin Lukowski
One lay minister decided it was time to clean up his desk; another was looking forward to being on the same page as his pastor to communicate with parishioners. And all who attended the recent Tending the Talents leadership conference were hoping their newly learned tools will bring people closer to Christ.
That program was the second part to the Catholic Leadership Institute's clergy leadership program, Good Leaders, Good Shepherds, of which 56 priests of the archdiocese have completed or are currently enrolled. Parishes whose pastors had taken the first course had an invitation for lay ministers to participate in the second, for which they gathered at Sacred Heart Major Seminary for two days of classroom training last week to begin the two-year leadership formation curriculum.
"The program seeks to strengthen the overall quality of ministerial relationships and increase the quality of parish life and leadership," said Fr. Bill Dickinson, national director of leadership of development.
Matthew Manion, president and CEO, said the vision for Tending the Talents is that if pastors and lay leaders are speaking the same language when it comes to leading their parish, they can become more vibrant, life-giving parishes, he said.
"I'm encouraged," he said. "I just hope they'll be better equipped to fulfill their role, to have better leverage of the gifts and talents God's given them."
The course includes 11 days of instruction over the next two years, including distance learning and projects at their own parish, making the program a significant commitment to leadership on the part of the parish. But with that stronger, more effective leadership, more people could be called to be followers and into the life of the Catholic Church, he said.
"Ultimately, it's about building the Kingdom of God," he said.
The curriculum of Tending the Talents focuses on five different areas of leadership development: leadership of self, one-to-one, team, organizational and in the Kingdom of God. Over the two years, participants will work with institute trainers and their pastors to develop as confident and competent leaders.
Efrain Zamudio, Christian service coordinator at Holy Redeemer Parish, Detroit, said although a leader might try to get people to act a certain way, they usually resist. "The most important thing is to be able to understand myself, my personality, and then understand why I'm answering in certain ways in different situations," he said.
The first thing he was planning to do back at Holy Redeemer was to organize his schedule, appointments and desk. From the advice he was taking back to the office after the weekend, he was hoping it would help "do the best we can for the good of the Lord," he said, "and for our own good, too."
Lisa Brown, pastoral associate at St. John Fisher, Auburn Hills, said at lunch the second day she was still processing all the information to come up with strategies.
"It certainly is helpful in terms of understanding the people we minister to as well as our pastoral team," she said. "It's very insightful. It's going to be very helpful, especially in terms of communication."
The sessions shed light on her own behavior, too: "I must be driving them crazy," she said of her team.
Lory McGlinnen, of the archdiocesan Department of Parish Life and Services, said the 60 lay leaders who attended were more than anticipated. Even with half a day left in the program, she was already hearing comments about how valuable the program will be for ministry and for their own personal development, she said.
Chris Kozlowski, youth director at St. Mary of the Hills Parish, Rochester Hills said not only did having training from a Catholic perspective make a difference, but so did knowing that his boss, the pastor, already went through the course, "so we can all be on the same page for our approach to leadership," he said.
He'd learned a lot of self-analysis, he said, such as that he shouldn't necessarily treat all volunteers the same way. "It's enlightening," he said
Kathy Hasty, pastoral associate at St. Joseph Parish, Lake Orion, was taking away a better understanding of people's personalities, which could help the parish staff work better together and with volunteers, too. "I think it helps to develop more skills and strategies in our ministry," she said.
She said all the lay leaders were at the conference for the same reason: "The ministry of Jesus." "Whatever tools can help us to do that better together are a good thing," she said.
The Catholic Leadership Institute was founded in 1991 as an organization of lay Catholics whose mission is to build Catholic leaders for today and tomorrow. Catholic Leadership Institute combines leadership and personal development programs from academia and the corporate world with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.
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