Last Saturday, I presented a leadership retreat to the Parish Council of Epiphany Catholic Church here in Louisville entitled "The Responsibilities and Disciplines of a Pastor and Those Who Share in His Pastoral Leadership." While the two posts this week are not complete copies of those presentations, beginning last Tuesday and Wednesday as well as this Thursday and Friday, I wanted to share some partial follow-up summaries with those who attended and with the readers of this blog.
PART II- THIS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
For
the pastor and those who share in the responsibility for pastoral leadership,
the Church has identified three facets of one effective pastoral leadership:
servant, king and prophet. All are necessary and important, though one or the
other may be more prominent depending on the situation.
·
SERVANT
– The servant facet of pastoral leadership is the impact, the
relationship, the connection, which is experienced by others because the
servant is sent to heal, console, listen to, counsel, encourage, invite
welcome, empower, support, affirm, minister to, care for and love. This means
to be profoundly present to and become deeply connected to the People of God.
Servant leadership is focused on relationships. Our messages about Christ are communicated
not only through what we say but also through our gestures, tone of voice,
stride, facial expressions and actions. Pastors need to be models of these
behaviors because it is difficult for others to experience the love of
Christ if pastors are grumpy, impatient, inattentive, aloof, disinterested,
dismissive or inaccessible; the truth of Christ if it is spoken in a
harsh, condemnatory, righteous, overly complex, academic or confusing manner;
the joy of Christ if the pastor speaks in a sour or critical way, or not
at all, and carries himself in a disinterested demeanor. In other words, the
pastor must be able to “walk the talk.”
They need to monitor their behavior, reactions, emotions and motivations
to make sure they are in congruence with Christ’s. They need to be intentional
about their own spiritual and personal growth and ask for feedback on their
leadership. If pastors are not credible, they will have a diminished impact and
they will not command attention.
·
KING
– The kingly facet of pastoral leadership is connected with stewardship
– with managing and directing the resources of the parish to achieve Christ’s
mission. Resources available to the pastor include facilities, money, time,
information, connection to the larger Church and – most importantly – the
people of the parish. Engaging, organizing, directing and administering these
resources to prepare and empower the people to “build the kingdom” is the
primary focus of kingly pastoral leadership. Pastors extend their capacity
by relying on resources outside themselves as well as to compliment their
personal and professional limitations. Organizing, directing and
administering the staff and volunteers, as well as the informational,
educational, programmatic, and monetary resources of the parish to prepare and
empower the people corporately to “build the kingdom” is the primary
focus of kingly pastoral leadership. The key of kingly leadership is to
extend resources in such a manner as to increase them – to create abundance. It
is important for kingly leadership to maintain the trust of the people as
regards their resources: to be credible by having clarity of purpose or a
vision, transparency and openness about what, why and how, willingness to be
accountable about results, recognition that the people made those results
possible and affirmation of their generosity. With sustained credibility and
effectiveness comes trust. In the
absence of credibility and effectiveness, people retreat to, at best, a
maintenance level of engaging and contributing.
·
PROPHET
– The prophetic facet of pastoral leadership is concerned with the
future of the parish. It focuses on patterns and trends in the present day and
it projects those into the future. Prophetic leadership is visionary,
strategic, corporate and foundational. Prophetic leadership is focused on the
“big picture.” It thinks long-term. It connects the dots among societal events,
discerns broad-scale trends and connects with others who are knowledgeable
about the demographic, cultural, social, religious, economic, educational and
technological trends affecting the parish. Prophetic is visionary and analytic.
It attempts to anticipate the future impact of those changes on society and the
parish. It uses this information to shape and concretize a desired future for
the parish, rather than allowing the parish to be a victim of
circumstances. It calls for change and
renewal.
A pastoral leadership that engages and calls the people to be co-responsible as servants, stewards and prophets is needed if the people are to grow in their baptismal priesthood and be able to transform their civic communities and participate in “building the kingdom.”
ADDITIONAL ASCETICISMS REQUIRED OF PASTOR-LEADERS
The pastor is responsible for the unity of the flock,
not just the welfare of individual sheep.
As such, a pastor must move from a personal point of view to a viewing
point so that he can appreciate, not only his own point of view, but also the
various views of the community. The Congregation for the Clergy has made it
clear that a priest can never put himself at the service of an ideology or
human faction. Pastors are the primary ministers of communion in the community,
something that is so sorely needed in our badly divided church. Unlike a
seminarian, or even an associate pastor, a pastor does not have the luxury of a
point of view, but must hold in unity a variety of legitimate points of
view.
A “passion for pastoring” is ultimately a spiritual
gift that must be asked for, embraced and cultivated through prayer. God never calls people to spiritual
leadership without also giving them the ability to do the job. Like Solomon who
prayed for all he needed to be a good king, those who are called by God to be
pastors will get what they pray for. Like Gideon who prayed to know how he
could possibly do what God asked, we are told that God will be with us if we seek,
knock and ask for what we need to be a good pastor. Through prayer, it will be
given to us, running over into our laps. Having the people to pray for us, as
pastors, is also a good suggestion. A pastor’s spiritual leadership depends on
it.
The skills of a pastor include skills in communication
and administration. Pastors need practical wisdom to translate general norms
into particular situations. They need presence and availability to their
people. “I am the Good Shepherd. I know mine and mine know me.” Pastors need to
have a sense of the whole. They need
spiritual transparency or an evident spirituality that enables them to be
unambiguous witnesses of the holy mysteries they proclaim and celebrate.
A pastor also directs, guides, manages, and governs
the parish as a system, as a community. The American Bishops spelled out these
skills in greater detail in their Basic Plan for the Ongoing Formation of
Priests. “A pressing need for a new pastor is to acquire the “know how” of
being and functioning as a pastor. Often, this is tied to very specific issues,
for example, the business function of pastoring. Pastors need to learn basics
of financial management, fundamental personnel management, confliction resolution,
the organization of meetings, community organization and communication, and the
management of volunteers. Pastors need to familiarize themselves with canonical
requirements, diocesan regulations, and any legal provisions that have a
bearing on parish life, such as employment law. Finally, new pastors need to
discover ways of knowing and understanding the community in which they serve:
demographics, culture, economics, and political realities.”
Being named a pastor is not just about getting a new
job or acquiring a fancy title or personal honor, it is the beginning of a
great spiritual adventure wherein one not only learns how to pastor, but how to be
sufficiently centered spiritually. Appointment to a pastorate propels a
priest into new growth and development. The time of entering the first
pastorate is a moment ripe for ongoing formation in all its dimensions. Appointment to a pastorate intensifies the
challenge of integrating who the priest is and what he does as a priest. The
words of Paul to the presbyters of
The title of “pastor” will not of itself make a priest a leader. Designated leaders are people who have the titles and robes of a leader, but not necessarily the appeal and skill of a real leader. When that appeal and skill are absent, designated leaders who are not real leaders eventually have to pathetically appeal to their status. Sheep recognize the voice of the one who is “good at shepherding.” Real leaders have something to offer besides their position. They do not need to rely solely on their titles and robes. The best-case scenario is when designated leaders are also real leaders, people recognized as leaders with obvious ability to lead their flocks into ever expanding discipleship.
What is the essence of good pastoring? Is it merely
good management? Certainly not! People clearly and urgently want priests to
pull themselves out of themselves and out of their in-house, intra-ecclesial
squabbles and preoccupations. They want substance and hope. They want Jesus
Christ and salvation in a world marked by sin, division, violence and death.
They plead with priests, “Show us Jesus. Give us bread. Touch us and heal us.
Forgive and renew us.” They want priests
to be spiritual leaders with a heart for the people of God.
Our capacity to respond will depend in large measure on our preparation to
serve in this way and the ongoing formation that will keep preparing us to
serve in this way.
The pastor most likely to be successful in spiritual
leadership is one who leads not merely by pointing the way, but by having
trodden the path himself. The People of God want to follow a “martyr,” meaning a
“witness,” someone who has “walked his talk.”
Pastors who are spiritual leaders are not just
religious policeman. When a pastor demands obedience of another, he is tyrant.
But when, by tact and sympathy, compassion and prayer, inspiration and wisdom,
a pastor is able to influence and enlighten another to alter his or her course and
pursue a spiritual one, he is a spiritual leader.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders work on themselves,
discovering and correcting their weaknesses, as well as discovering and
cultivating their strengths. In short,
spiritual leaders are always working to increase their ability to influence
others.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders cannot produce
spiritual change themselves. Only the Holy Spirit can do that! Personal transformation
cannot be taught, but it can be modeled and encouraged. Pastors as spiritual
leaders can, and must, strive to be worthy and effective conduits for the Holy
Spirit. They are catalysts in the
chemistry of the spiritual life.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders do not blame their
followers when they do not do what they should do. Instead, they work to
improve their ability to influence. They hone their skills and keep trying.
Many pastors, poor at pastoring, have left their parishes blaming their people
for their own failures.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders can influence not
just church people, but all people. Pastors are leaders in the church, but also
in the civic community at large.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders work out of
compassion and love, never anger and despair. A sure sign of failure in the
spiritual leadership of a pastor is when he looks back and sees that no one is
following him.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders believe so much in
the intrinsic value of what they do that they keep working regardless of the
outcome. As Mother Teresa put it, “We are called to fidelity, not results.”
Pastors who are spiritual leaders have integrity and
transparency, knowing that they cannot achieve a noble goal by using ignoble
means. Pastors as spiritual leaders have
private lives, but not secret lives. Secret lives drain energy away from the
task at hand. As their ordination rite
as a deacon put it, they are to be heralds of the gospel who “believe what they
read, teach what they believe and practice what they teach.” They cannot serve two masters at once.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders do not demonize
their adversaries. It is wise for them to entertain alternative points of view
because there is usually a kernel of truth even in what their enemies
affirm. What they affirm is often a
pastor’s blind spot. This kind of openness is where growth happens.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders lead for the sake of
others, not for their own satisfaction or benefit. As the Catechism of the
Catholic Church (#1535) says, if priesthood makes priests holy, it is in
serving others that it does so. Pastors who are spiritual leaders know that it
is in giving that they receive. Pastors
who are spiritual leaders know that they are helped through their helping. A great spiritual leader always knows that he
has received more than he has given.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders do not insulate
themselves from the pain of the world. They know that “compassion” means “to
suffer with.” Pastor-priests are called
from the laity, to live among the laity, so as to empower the laity. As they
experience the pain of those they serve, they are more able to become better
vehicles of transformation.
Pastors who are spiritual leaders rely on deep faith,
God’s promise of victory over sin and darkness. They know that the kingdom will
come, no mater what, and it is growing even now like a mustard seed or yeast in dough,
regardless of their ability or inability.
In short, pastors who are spiritual leaders lift,
inspire and call: lift people’s vision to God, inspire people to become better
disciples and call people to become all God has called them to be.
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