Warning: Serious “wave making” suggestions listed below…

Many Parishes are struggling to find a way to get parishioners re-engaged in the life of the community. The parish staff is asking the people to include God in every aspect of their lives and to cease compartmentalizing their lives.

However, this is exactly what is happening at the local parish. The parish has created a series of different compartments called programs. Within this paradigm, many parishes have established a silo mentality where each staff member has their own volunteers and work only to accomplish their own vision for their program.

If we are going to make serious attempts to initiate the New Evangelization, the staff is going to have to do it together. If the staff is not unified, the messages are different and the people are being lead in different directions. Imagine Moses leading the Israelite out of Egypt and they travel in twelve different directions. Here are some thoughts to get things moving.

Pastoral Leadership Suggestions:

• Make your leadership a priority of your pastoral ministry. As a youth minister, I learned that if I wanted to be effective in reaching 200 teens, I needed to invest in my leaders. I had to learn to multiply myself through them.  Seeing your leaders as your disciples, empowering them to grow as individuals and ministers will enable the to live a discipleship model. Your big investments of time at the beginning pay bigger dividends in the end.
• Strike a balance in management styles.  Often, Pastors are either Micro or Macro mangers. If your managing style is “hands off” and lets the Staff run their own ship, I would suggest you provide some clear staff unifying directions and then let them run. If you are a micro manager, I would provide the directives and give them enough room to grow.  Who wants to work for a boss that doesn’t trust you? Would you?
• Articulate a clear vision that your staff can see and follow. After unity, the absence of a clear Pastoral Vision (Which is what you unify your staff around) is the next big issue to address. Silos are often created in a vacuum when no clear vision is presented. Spend some time with the Holy Spirit and ask for the vision of where He wants the parish to go. Then articulate it to your staff.

Staff Suggestions:

• Start with a staff “Community Check” – What is the state of relationships between the staff? Are they purely working relationships or have they made room for love to flow between one another? Are your office doors open or closed? Are conflicts avoided or resolved in love and reconciliation? All you need to do is ask “Why” and ask the Holy Spirit for help.  He will tell you where to begin.
• Ask for a clear vision from your Pastor of what the Parish is trying to accomplish. Once you have been given the mission, then you must begin the work of evaluating whether your ministry is accomplishing some part of that mission. If not, it’s time to fix what is broken.  If we are not accomplishing the mission then what are we doing?
• Ask for God’s help to get rid of toxic negativity. Often there are staff members that become toxic with negativity. This does not mean they are terrible people, just wounded! Like the rest of us, they have had their share of brokenness and pain. They need love to help them overcome their struggle. The Holy Spirit will give you direction if you are willing to follow it.

Which of these 6 suggestions do you think would impact YOUR parish the most and why?