Effective Leadership for Pastoral Communication
Date
1998-02
Authors
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Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
The traditional models of leadership have been found wanting in their ability
to make sense of and deal with the challenges facing people in the contemporary
world. People are looking for models of leadership that can embody the values of
respect for people, empowerment and liberation. The central role of leadership
demands certain qualities (skills) on the part of leaders. If thinking clearly about
people is at the heart of leadership then we are inevitably going to think about how
to develop the talents and potential that people have. A major function of leadership
is turning the people around us into leaders. Realistically for example in relation to
clergy and religious, there simply are not enough bodies on the ground to do all the
work that needs to be done. The only way the work of the Church can be effectively
progressing is to make training of new leaders a central role of leadership. Priests have
to see themselves at all levels, as in the business of leading leaders who in turn will
lead others to, and so on. This is probably one of the least understood and practiced
aspects of leadership. One of the central challenges of leadership is to make itself
redundant. The role of the parish priest, for example then becomes, among other
things, the turning of lay people into leaders of the parish.
This essay aims at presenting how leadership can be in a pastoral situation. The
first chapter explains what leadership is all about with its qualities and characteristics.
This is a broad understanding of general Christian leadership - the second chapter then
emphasizes on leadership as seen by the church of the second Vatican Council.
Here the church leadership is divided into three parts - lay leadership, priestly
leadership and religious leadership, each with its own responsibility according to the state of life chosen. Chapter three gives an ideal vision of a parish; what basic things
should take place at a parish setting, a few of them being evangelization, catechesis,
prayer and liturgy. Social development too, is another way of living life to the fullest
as we build God's kingdom. The last chapter is about the training of parish leaders.
This training shows how collaborative ministry could be. If priests do not train their
leaders it means that there is no collaborative ministry, because effective leadership
for pastoral communication involves the priest and all Christians around him, but for
Christians to be effective they need to receive enough training, given or organized by
the parish priest.
Description
Keywords
Leadership, Leader, Characteristics of Leadership, Qualities and Types leaders, Leadership in the Ecclesiology of the Vatican II, Leadership Training, Parish Leaders