Shaping Catholic Parishes: Pastoral Leaders in the 21st Century (Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project)

Catholic parish life in the United States is changing. As a result, organizational models are emerging: clustered parishes, large 'mega-churches,' one pastor overseeing multiple parishes, lay leadership. Pastoral leaders, ordained and lay, need to learn new skills and new leadership style to function effectively in this changing pastoral environment.

Shaping Catholic Parishes looks at these changes from the pastoral leader's point of view. Twenty-two priests, deacons, religious, and lay people share first-person accounts of their experiences serving as pastoral leaders in these new situations and new roles. Their inspiring and instructive stories deepen the reader's understanding of the unique challenges of twenty-first-century parishes today.