Even in the post-Vatican II era of collaborative ministry, bishops only entrust parishes to ordained pastors.  Such pastors rely on professional staffs and competent volunteers, as well as on pastoral and finance council members.  But none of them have more than what Canon Law calls a "consultative vote."  The buck stops with the pastor.  He alone can make legal decisions on behalf of the parish, and the good pastor must be a prudent leader as well as a good shepherd.

All the more…

Do you know why people are leaving your parish?

Speaking to the Leadership Roundtable in 2008, Mr Larry Bossidy, retired Chairman & CEO of

Honeywell International suggested that parishes conduct exit interviews to find out.

The first [suggestion] is to establish a parish committee for the retention of Catholics. In other words, when people drop out of the Church, do exit interviews to find out why they are leaving. There are a number of common reasons why…

Keys to successful diocesan planning discussed at Sept 2011 Upper 09212011%20Diocesan%20Planning%20Forum.pdfMidwest Diocesan Planners meeting were:

In November, my church's annual financial report appeared in the parish bulletin.  It showed that expenses exceeded income by about $6,000.  The report was a balance sheet.  It included a number of categories of parish income (such as regular weekly giving, the Christmas and Easter collections, income from religious education, and gifts to the parish).  It also included a variety of expense categories (such as salaries, fixed expenses, operating expenses, etc.).  The pastor used the $6,000…

Jeff Parrott has a fascinating article in US Catholic, Where 20,000 or 30,000 are gathered: Life in a Catholic megaparish,

Leadership Roundtable member Sr. Katarina Schuth is quoted in the article:

“She says tomorrow’s priests and lay leaders must be prepared to deal with the…

It has been common to distinguish between "pastoral" and "parish" councils since the publication in 1983 of the Code of Canon Law, which recommended parish pastoral councils.  Today we prefer the superior "pastoral" council to the old "parish" council, which …