What began as an initiative to strengthen leadership among priests and their parishes in the Diocese of Covington has grown into a transformative opportunity to include staff members in living out the call to be missionary disciples.
“When I asked CLI to come into our diocese,” said Bishop John Iffert during a Next Generation Parish event for diocesan and parish staff members, “it was to provide human formation and ministerial formation for our priests… It was to help them not get choked in that idea that they have to do it all themselves.”Bishop Iffert spoke candidly about the burnout that priests sometimes experience, especially in their first few years of ministry. Often, they are asked to take on responsibilities beyond their natural gifts, and to do so in highly public, evaluative environments.
The bishop shared his own personal turning point that renewed his priesthood and ultimately his episcopacy: the realization that he did not need to have all the answers because he wasn’t meant to carry the weight of his parish — or diocese — alone. He shared: “We have to be able to engage others and invite them into what we do. It’s the way we foster their spiritual growth and development; the way we help them become engaged disciples of Jesus. It’s the way we do our ministry.”
One way the clergy and laity have been invited to work together in the Diocese of Covington has been through Next Generation Parish and the implementation of pastoral planning. With the help of CLI Leadership Consultants, parishes and diocesan offices have been encouraged to determine their priorities and create a vision for the ministries they serve.
Bishop Iffert admitted that, though there was some initial hesitancy in the pastoral planning process, he, along with priests and their staffs, witnessed the tremendous value that planning can bring, especially when clergy and laity work together to discern their plan.
“You are coworkers and collaborators with me,” said Bishop Iffert. “[God] invites us to serve Him and to minister to Him in a special way by ministering to the people He loves. That’s how He treats us. He respects us and empowers us and recognizes our giftedness and invites us to make use of it.”
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