(note:previous blog was part 1)
Implications
It is evident that seminaries are aware of the importance of leadership training. There was a tendency for confusion among some of the seminaries as we sought to differentiate leadership training from management training. A majority of the schools (61.5%) are offering 3 or more credit hours focused on management and/or leadership. These courses included finances, budgeting, human resources, etc. When the courses were reviewed in more detail an attempt was made to better discriminate with a more refined focus specifically on leadership teaching. Upon further review and differentiation of the two disciplines, most seminaries (59.3%) are offering courses focused more specifically on leadership training alone. While fewer schools have, or recommend, mentoring/post graduate programs, it is worthwhile noting that a significant number (42.3%) see enough value in this type of effort to have begun an initiative in their programs.
Dr. Charles Zech, a Villanova University Business School professor has been quoted as saying, seminaries “have so much other stuff to cover, that they’re required by the diocese to cover, that they frankly don’t have the time to cover this very important topic.” While the results of the survey are encouraging in light of Dr. Zech’s comments on the volume of material vs. the time available that is required for effective priestly formation, it is clear that additional efforts would benefit our priests as they transition to parish life and becoming pastors.
Research funded by the Lily Endowment in 2014 concluded, “Mentors are particularly important for many clergy, and the combination of clergy mentoring, well-designed training and development programs, and helpful instruction from lay leaders provides a powerful influence in shaping the trajectory of ministry and leadership for new clergy.”
There are several consulting groups and websites to help priests in their role as managers, leaders and team building. Some examples include; Amazing Parish, The National Leadership Roundtable, The Catholic Leadership Institute, and Evangelium Consulting. The list is not intended to be all-inclusive or serve as a source of recommendations. It intends to provide a few of the better-known entities just to provide context. Many dioceses have been helped by these knowledgeable organizations. These entities, and similar ones not mentioned, are excellent resources for priests and their staffs, and many have been helped by their services.
The Future
Our seminaries do an excellent job in training Catholic priests. The curriculum required in the Program for Priestly Formation provides strong foundational education in the four pillars; human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. This is a rigorous course leaving little time for training in other aspects of the priesthood that will be required of the priests to ensure their successful future and that of our Church.
Leadership training is one area which will become increasingly more important. Although seminaries do provide some level of instruction, it is generally agreed that this is insufficient for the challenges these new priests will certainly face. As such, some realistic action is needed to fill this void. The option of engaging leadership consultants and organizations is a viable choice and should be employed when feasible. Other options including mentoring by senior pastors or working with local business institutions of higher learning will also serve this need. Finally, dioceses should look into the option of capitalizing upon existing in-house talent and resources to help with this, if possible.
It should also be noted that the engagement of consulting firms and mentoring may be more appropriate after ordination. This would afford the young priests the opportunity to be involved with some practical experiences requiring leadership in the early stages of their priesthood. They may be more interested in, and receptive to teaching on leadership at that stage of their ministry as compared to still being more focused on academic development as a seminarian.
Our Church will require strong leaders facing difficult challenges in the future. We must do all we can to ensure their continued success.