Introduction
Introduction
Collaborative Leadership
Clear Path to Discipleship
Culture of Generosity
The Big Goal
“In six years, each parish in the Archdiocese of Omaha will be a Missional Community.”
– Archbishop Lucas, October 2020
The Lord continues to invite us to a deeper commitment to the Archdiocese vision: One Church: Encountering Jesus, Equipping Disciples, and Living Mercy. This is necessary because, “We are experiencing a diminishment. If we are going to move into the future, cooperating with grace, we need to know the world we are living in and be honest about what our current efforts are yielding as a harvest” (Archbishop Lucas). And so, we set a goal with three characteristics that are key for a missional community:
- Collaborative leadership
- Clear Path of Discipleship
- Culture of Generosity
A missional community is an outward looking group of disciples, under the care of a pastor, sent by Jesus to make disciples.
“We look at the word missional, and it means to be sent… So missional communities will be outward-looking…in a way that really allows the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of his death and resurrection to sort of burst out of the bounds of the parish, burst out of the organizational structures of the parish, to have an influence on the greater community around us.”
– Archbishop Lucas, EquipCast 35: Archbishop Lucas on The Big Goal
“We look at the word missional, and it means to be sent… So missional communities will be outward-looking…in a way that really allows the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of his death and resurrection to sort of burst out of the bounds of the parish, burst out of the organizational structures of the parish, to have an influence on the greater community around us.”
– Archbishop Lucas, EquipCast 35: Archbishop Lucas on The Big Goal
Collaborative Leadership
Collaborative leadership is a way of exercising authority in which the pastor invites and equips certain of the faithful to use their gifts in the service of leadership.
A pastor invites key individuals who are representative of his parish to a leadership team. They meet regularly, have a clear understanding of their purpose, and work toward a healthy team dynamic. This team can then help the pastor set and achieve goals around becoming a missional community.
- Forming a Leadership Team– the who, what, why, and how of forming a team
- Pope Francis and the Joy of the Gospel – a weekly study to vet potential members
- Death by Meeting summary – a guide for fun, energizing meetings
- The Stages of Group Development – a guide to growing a high performing team
A pastor, his leaders, and all people involved in parish ministry spend substantial time in prayer during meetings. This regular practice of inviting God into the work of the Church can then spread to other events and people. Types of prayer include personal, intercessory, and discernment around mission.
The parish has a simple, localized vision statement informed by the Archdiocesan vision. Parish leaders have clarity about its meaning and align their ministries to support the vision.
- Finding Your Vision – learn to articulate your vision for the future
- Developing a Vision - a short document to get you imagining
- Key Influencers - test your vision with key leaders
Parish leaders have common goals and regularly communicate about them. The most important messages are prioritized (those around mission and vision), and all parishioners understand the goals that are most important to the parish. Leaders have multiple modes of communicating these messages.
- Simon Sinek: Start with 'Why'- how to inspire change
- Managing Transition- how to help people through a change
- Foundations of Great Parish Communication - how to message well
- Overcommunicate Clarity by Patrick Lencioni
- Overcommunicate More Effectively
- Digital Church- EquipCast about navigating ministry online
Clear Path to Discipleship
A Clear Path of Discipleship is a simple, step-by-step strategy for forming disciples.
A pastor and his leadership team in conjunction with other leaders discern and build the Clear Path in their parish. They then work to communicate this path to all parishioners.
- How could a Clear Path help our parish?
- Foundations of the Clear Path (Workshop videos and resources)
- If you would like to begin mapping your Clear Path, contact the Parish Support Team.
Parish ministries with the explicit purpose of building relationships of trust with non-believers and then helping these people to take the next step in their relationship with Jesus.
A parish ministry with the explicit purpose of proclaiming the Gospel and fostering conversion and the desire to follow Jesus as a part of his Church.
- EquipCast 19: The Clear Path to Discipleship Step 2
- Alpha Nebraska – one type of conversion engine
Parish ministries with the explicit purpose of supporting disciples as they grow in the Christian life. These ministries can range from helping a disciple enter into the life of the parish community to building the good habits of a Christian life.
Parish ministries with the explicit purpose of equipping disciples to engage in the mission of evangelization. Parishioners are encouraged to identify their charisms and to build a personal apostolate, serving the people they are most uniquely suited to.
Each ministry has a clearly defined purpose and leaders know how their ministries fit into the Clear Path.
- Simon Sinek: Start with 'Why'- how to inspire change
- Managing Transition- how to help people through a change
- Overcommunicate Clarity by Patrick Lencioni
- Overcommunicate More Effectively
Culture of Generosity
A Culture of Generosity is a way of Christian living where we come to know that all we have is a gift from God and are invited to return those gifts with love to our Lord, our parish, and our community.
This webpage is a work in progress. We want to provide the best resources in a simple and actionable manner and will update the Culture of Generosity soon. In the meantime, if you have questions, please contact Tom Crowley.