Fr. Donald Leighton is the pastor or St. Justin Martyr and St. John Vianney. Fr. Donald and his brother priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are scheduled to complete the Good Leaders, Good Shepherds training in June 2009.

I have been a priest for over forty five years and a pastor for over twenty three years.  Through the years I have learned a thing of two about being a priest and about being a pastor.  Back in the spring of 2007, the Clergy Office of the Archdiocese, sent out a letter to all the priests inviting them to participate in a new program directed by Catholic Leadership Institute; called Good Leaders, Good Shepherds.   I was intrigued by the title and knowing that I wanted to be both a good shepherd and a good leader, I asked whether, at my age, it might be too late for me to take such a course.  I was delighted that Monsignor Senior encouraged me to enroll.

A number of my priest friends wondered why I was signing up for this program and I had to ask myself the same question.  After all, I was perfect. My mother always told me that I was perfect and I believed her. What’s not to believe in a mother?  However, the reason I was interested was that deep down in my own being, I knew that there was more for me to learn.  I had taken counseling courses and been in administrative positions before, but I know I didn’t always handle things as well as I could.  I knew that there were other skills to learn both in my personal life and in my relationship with others.  I was excited to sign up for the program.

So in July of 2007, about 30 other priests and I began the program. I have found it fascinating how accurate the exercises have been in defining my own leadership traits - allowing me to see the positive aspects of my style -  as well as pointing out areas where my unique personality gets in the way of achieving the goals and results that I desire for my ministry, my people, and for my personal life.

Recently, we learned about setting realistic goals. Through this instruction we learned about the obstacles to achieving our goals and the dynamics of motivation, why our motivation cools and we fail to achieve the goals that we set for ourselves and our parishes.  We learned how to avoid sabotaging our goals and motivation so that we can achieve what we set out to do and continue the mission of Christ’s Church.  We learned that we don’t have to stay in our state of incompetence, but that we can learn managing skills that will aid us in our ministry and our personal lives. 

I am excited about the program Good Leaders, Good Shepherds and I look forward to the parts that are coming up in the next year.  St. Irenaeus is reported to have said that the Glory of God is the human being fully alive.  I see Catholic Leadership Institute has given me the means of becoming more fully alive, of becoming a more effective pastor, of being a better priest. That is something to be excited about at this stage of my life and I am excited and happy about that.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Cardinal Rigali, Bishop Thomas, Monsignor Senior at the Clergy Office and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for supporting this program for me and my brother priests in the Archdiocese.