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National Ministry Summit| April 23

Ministry summit–goers see diverse leadership as a key to church’s future – but don’t see it in themselves.

KAREN OSBORNE | FLORIDA CATHOLIC STAFF

Posted: 04.23.08

VALETA ORLANDO | FC
Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City, S.D distributes holy Communion during opening liturgy at the National Ministry Summit on Sunday, April 20, at the Rosen Hotel in Orlando. Bishop Cupich is episcopal adviser for the effort, known as the Emerging Models Project.

ORLANDO | Catholic ministry leaders detailed lifelong learning, collaborative ministry, solid formation and a greater need to encourage diverse leadership as crucial to the further growth of a healthy church on the last day of an unprecedented summit meeting.

“Emerging models require an emerging vision of leadership,” Dr. Robert McCarty of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry said April 23, near the close of A National Ministry Summit: Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership, which attracted about 1,200 lay ministers, religious sisters and brothers and clergymen. “What a blessing it is to be in this church at this time.”

McCarty served as a panelist on the morning’s plenary session, which examined responses to recommendations made for the future of pastoral leadership during the previous few days of the summit. Present were members of a coalition of six Catholic national organizations that, in 2002, received a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment for a four-year study in response to changes in the church.

These changes include an increase in the number of Catholics, a more-educated laity, a decrease in the number of priests and vowed religious, an increase in permanent deacons and professional lay ecclesial ministers and growing cultural diversity in the church.

Many of the recommendations made at the summit proposed further development of and changes to the training, formation and development of parish ministers at every stage in their careers.

Attendees suggested developing comprehensive training programs for ministry at all levels in the diocese; defining the roles and responsibilities of lay ecclesial ministers, sacramental ministers, and priest moderators; providing initial and ongoing formation for ministers that balances leadership, management, and support roles; creating a culture of accountability; and increasing consultation between lay leaders and pastors.

Panelist Kerry Robinson of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, emphasized that the church, its people, and its facilities “deserve to be managed well,” and that “the mission of the church is far more important than the bottom line of the corporation,” she said.

Her challenge to the summit participants was to “be the change you want to see in the church,” she said. “Aspire to excellence at every level for the sake of the church. … Ensure that your parish and ministry is worthy of generosity.”

Father Richard Siepka of the seminary division of the National Catholic Education Association and an educator at Christ the King Seminary in the Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., spoke about a need to emphasize lifelong learning both in the seminary curriculum and in lay ministry formation.

He also mentioned the possibility of streamlining formation through the seminary, as they do at Christ the King, where lay ministers and deacons study alongside future priests. Springing from the “unity of vocation” that ordained ministers and lay Catholics share in baptism, he said, sidelong study “has maximized exposure to all in formation,” so “priests and laity find it easier to work together in parishes,” he said.

The lack of racial diversity among summit participants was a major concern for many. With 91 percent of attendees identifying as white or Caucasian, and 70 percent between the ages of 50-69, speakers wondered about the summit’s ability to adequately speak for the more diverse parts of the church, which has a growing Hispanic and intercultural population.

“Look around this room,” said Greg Welch, a young adult minister from Renew International. “We are very white, and very white-haired. Where are the Hispanics? Where are the young adults?”

Debra Krisher, a lay ecclesial minister involved in adult ministry in the diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., also expressed her disappointment with the conference’s racial makeup. “I don’t think it’s a fair representation of the church, of my parish and of the population of the Northeast,” she said.

Age diversity was also a concern, with only 2 percent of attendees younger than 30. Robinson challenged participants to be “proactive” in encouraging the next generation of church leaders by inviting young adults onto finance councils, parish councils, and other boards in Catholic organizations.

The findings were useful for ministers looking for solutions in areas hit hard by the priest shortage, such as the Northeast, Krisher said. They might also come in handy in the southern parts of the United States where the church continues to grow, said Father Richard Wahl, adjutant judicial vicar on the metropolitan tribunal in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas.

“In a certain sense, I’m experiencing the future by hearing about what other people are experiencing already. I am going to take this list of suggestions and share them with people to use as a source of thought,” Father Wahl said.

Summit participants said they were inspired by the experience, and that they plan to see how the recommendations work on a practical level in their parishes and organizations. The six sponsors will also work further on developing ways summit recommendations can be implemented in real practice across the country, and will disseminate that information later this year.

“I love seeing people come together to talk with some candor about how we can become a better church,” said Father Joseph O’Brien, a parish pastor in the Diocese of Albany, N.Y. “There are many things that we have a common ground and common mind on. Many people focus on shortage. I think this gathering is focused on opportunity.”

Father Scott Boeckman, pastor of St. Peter Catholic Church in Woodard, Okla., agreed, noting that very few laity would have been present if the summit had been held 50 years ago.

“It’s wonderful to see the explosion of vocations that have happened since Vatican II,” he said. “This is hope, that we’re all in this together.”

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