Special Note: The following article appeared in the February 24, 2010 edition of the Palm Beach Florida Catholic.
PAT LANGFORD | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT
Posted: 2.24.10
PALM BEACH GARDENS | The Diocese of Palm Beach is offering a new clergy leadership program here that is designed to give priests tools to build on God-given abilities and pastoral ministry skills.
“I am very enthused about the Good Leaders, Good Shepherds program, which has commenced in our diocese as a means of supporting and assisting our priests in their ministry,” said Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito, who attended a good leader program this year and endorses the course.
“I am especially happy that it has been initiated as a part of celebrating this Year for Priests (launched by Pope Benedict XVI). We are blessed with wonderful priests in our diocese, and I am confident this program will assist them as well as the lives of our parishes in Palm Beach,” he continued. “I attended a special session of this program for bishops and found it very helpful.”
The ongoing formation and development program is designed and conducted by representatives of Catholic Leadership Institute, headquartered in Exton, Pa. The first Good Leaders, Good Shepherds session in the diocese was held Feb. 2-5 at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center in North Palm Beach. It was led by Denise Ehlen and Dennis Pfersich.
Passionist Father Paul Wierichs, director of Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center, described them as “the most professional people I have ever come across.”
Basically the comprehensive curriculum, given over the course of two years, gives priests the opportunity to develop and learn leadership practices to help them in day-to-day pastoral ministry work. The program also gives priests the tools they need to effectively meet challenges they face when dealing with the wide range of people they come in contact with as they perform ministries, administer and go about continuing to build the city of God in and outside parishes.
“I was impressed by it,” said Father Kevin Nelson, pastor of Holy Spirit in Lantana, about the first three-day session he attended with more than 30 priests from around the diocese. “They really geared it toward ministry in the parish and leadership as a pastor. I found it very helpful, very insightful.”
The program includes four additional three-day sessions and 15 single-day sessions, spread over the next couple of years. Class topics vary, but beginning classes mainly focus on self-examination.
Father Gavin Badway, pastor of Holy Name of Jesus in West Palm Beach, attended the program and describes what he learned as “helping us better know ourselves; looking at our personalities — how we think, how we feel, how we act.”
Father Richard George II, pastor of St. Anastasia in Fort Pierce, also attended classes and was intrigued by the program’s approach. “It was good to get the chance to confirm or reconfirm, or discover even more deeply our own strengths and how we process information,” he explained.
The Diocese of Palm Beach is one of several dioceses in Florida taking part in the Good Leaders, Good Shepherds program. Priests from the Dioceses of Venice and Orlando and the Archdiocese of Miami are also involved. Participation also gives priests a time to join in fellowship with other priests and to “bond together,” Father Badway explained. “It really helps to get to unify in the diocese.”
Priests will meet almost every month starting in April, after the busy Lenten season.
“I think it’s an excellent program,” said Father Wierichs. “The feedback … is positive-plus.”
Father Nelson said he is already using techniques he learned from sessions at the beginning of this month. “So far I’ve found it very helpful,” he said. “I can see things more clearly and my impression, it’s a very positive experience. I imagine it will only improve.” Father Badway agrees that the program is inspiring. “It’s a motivational program for us … in our ministry, as well as helping us to improve ourselves,” he said. “I’m happy to be a part of it."
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