How do you know how well you are doing in your pastoral leadership role?  Do you have the "full picture"?  Once you have that feedback, how do you translate that into a personal development plan to build on your strengths and address areas of weakness?  Join us for this session which will provide information on Catholic Leadership 360 – a program developed jointly by NFPC, the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators and the National Leadership Roundtable Leadership Roundtable on Church Management.  Implemented by priests and lay leaders in three dioceses, this unique program assists priests to grow in the likeness of Jesus so that their ministry can more accurately reflect his life and communicate his message.  Participants receive comprehensive feedback, a confidential report, one-on-one coaching session and a framework for an individual development plan for continued growth.  You can participate as part of a cohort of priests or teams of priests and lay ministers.

Pastors often find themselves torn between two views of the pastoral council. On the one hand, they view it as a planning body in which parishioners study, reflect, and recommend their practical conclusions about major issues facing the parish.  On the other hand, people often view the council as a representative body in which parishioners bring lay concerns to the pastor and coordinate parish ministries.  Is the council a planning body led by the pastor or a democratic affirmation of lay leadership and participation? 

In this workshop, participants will learn why the Church affirms the planning-style of council, which serves the pastor's apostolate of leading the parish.  Official documents envision a pastor who consults his people in order to plan for the parish.  Parishioner-consultants study an aspect of the parish reality, reflect on it, and propose their conclusions to the pastor.  In this collaboration, the council succeeds when the pastor enacts its proposals with his staff or with other volunteers.

Workshop participants will learn how to engage councils in their true mission, planning some aspect of the parish's future, and thereby sharing in the pastor's apostolate.

In 1970, the National Opinion Research Center conducted a nationwide survey of Catholic priests.  Surveys designed to be replications were conducted by other researchers in 1985, 1993, 2001, and 2009. This workshop reports results from the most recent survey and compares them to previous findings in a number of different areas, including demographics of priests today, satisfaction with priestly life, collaboration in ministry, and problems faced in ministry and priestly life. 

This workshop will provide an overview on retirement for priests throughout the country including an overview of the recently formed organization, Laity in Support of Retired Priests (LSRP); information on current diocesan retirement plans; key issues; 2011objectives, strategies and methodologies and key initiatives.

Tom will review the mission and background of LSRP, the lack of pension/benefit guidelines and adequate retirement planning for diocesan priests.

Pastoral leadership rooted in spirituality with emphasis on vision, community engagement and commitment to transformation will be discussed. Implications for parish life and catechetical ministry will flow from these general themes.