Leadership Training

Parish Leadership Training on Vision

One of the major obstacles for parish implementation of the New Evangelization is the absence of a unified vision. Most members of a parish staff have never had any serious training on evangelization or discipleship. They are a group of individuals who come from different backgrounds, different home parishes, and different ministry experiences. Each has his or her own view or understanding of what evangelization and discipleship are, but often they work only within their own model of ministry and agenda. The first critical step in bringing effective results from evangelization and discipleship is to equip everyone in parish leadership with a clear understanding and model of what parishes are commissioned and called to do.

Another major obstacle for parishes is the lack of a common result of the various ministries. Most parishes run on a compartmentalized ministry model that has every ministry working and pushing in their own direction. While that can be good, one of the undesired results is that they try to achieve their own goal without the overall mission in mind. Therefore, their scope and purpose does not provide those connected with their ministry with the common mission of the Church. For example, one might assume that the overall purpose of the St. Vincent De Paul Ministry is to provide the poor with the basic living essentials such as food or clothing. Yet is that really all they can offer? In the Great Commission (Matt. 28), the Lord called the Church to go make disciples. Within their mission, the apostles understood that there were individuals who were not interested in becoming a disciple of Jesus because they were hungry. So meeting their immediate need (feeding them) became part of the process of leading them into an intimate union with Christ (the ultimate goal). Ministries should not be
operating in isolation, of each other, or apart from the call to evangelize.

Another issue within the parish leadership is that we are finding individuals in leadership positions who have never truly been evangelized. They are good people, who mean very well, but have never been exposed to the fullness of the fruits of the Holy Spirit because no one led them to be properly disposed to the sacraments (CCC 1131). Therefore, part of the training process includes modeling the evangelization process for those in attendance. Our catechetical methodology not only includes oral instruction but modeling and active engagement in this process. We want them to both experience the model and be able to replicate it as the Spirit leads them.

What Else Does NEM Have to Offer Your Parish?

Eradicating Parish Lethargy

It seems that every year parish missions come and go with little to no real intention, other than leadership saying, “this is what we do every year.” How would you like to have a mission that accomplishes more than to have parishioners saying that it was good or bad? How would you like to have a mission that is combined with a process that will evangelize, train, and provide resolute vision?

Pastoral Plan Development

One of the vital elements needed to provide for the spiritual needs of the parish is an infrastructure within which to do so. These systems are most often found within programs that parishes purchase from publishers or ministries. For example, a youth ministry program might use Life Teen, which provides the “how-to” (structure or infrastructure) to distribute the catechetical material to teens. Parishes like these programs because they are user-friendly. While this makes perfect sense in one way, it often causes problems as well…

Volunteer Training

Because parishes come in distinctive sizes and with different needs, NEM also provides various forms of volunteer training. With almost 30 years of parish ministry experience, we can train volunteers in the relational ministry methods used for discipleship development. We are equipped to help form your volunteers in youth ministry, catechist training, and adult small group facilitation…

Parish Staff Retreats

Very often one of the ways the enemy attacks the parish staffs today is to make them so busy “doing ministry” that they do not have time to pray. Reminding a parish staff of the call to pray always and attending to this critical discipline can help ministers revitalize their strength, avoid burnout, and continue to lead them into deeper Holy Spirit-led ministry…

Specialized Seminars

We understand that parishes utilize a wide variety of activities and events to cater for the needs of their parishioners. With this in mind, we create presentations geared to the specific needs of an event. We are very committed to achieving goals with our presentations; it isn’t enough to show up and give a talk. We will ask you to define “what do you want to accomplish with this event?”

Parent Training

Parents today are a part of the “Lost Generations” that were formed post-Vatican II. The results of their formation lead them to make decisions for their children’s religious formation that are not meeting their real desire—to bring them up in the faith. Providing training for parents is an excellent way to help them to become the sound primary catechist the Church desires them to be. However, they cannot give what they do not have…

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