Good News Parish Leadership:
Trust-Building Guidelines, Tools and Ideas

by Michael L. Papesh

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Good News Parish Leadership presents a vision for parish leadership with is both real and pastoral.

For many Catholics today, strong lay leadership does not exist as we need it. For just as many, "parish leadership" does not equal "good news." But Father Michael Papesh believes it certainly can, and here he offers guidelines, tools, and ideas for making it happen.

By sharing pastoral leadership and structuring power distribution, he says a parish can enjoy, be, mirror, proclaim, and bring to the world the transforming goodness of God. And thus he offers a "whole system" model for pastoral leadership that is theologically grounded in the hospitality of God as revealed through the ministry of Jesus.

Because he clearly defines roles for the pastor, council, commission, and committee members, and for pastoral and administrative staff members, his visionary, spiritually grounded and highly participative model builds trust within the parish as a whole. He believes that effective leadership is grounded in the church's mission, sound theology, common sense, and people working together in a common cause.

He highlights four essential elements of a good news pastoral leadership: ongoing pastoral planning, discernment, decision-making; broad and gracious hospitality; and trust building.

This is a fascinating and challenging book for students of ecclesiology and pastoral leadership, pastors, leaders, pastoral council members, and all who are involved in and committed to parish life.