Press Releases & Other News

CHURCH-FUTURE Jul-12-2004 
National leaders hold round table to brainstorm on future of church

By Jerry Filteau
Catholic News Service

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- About 175 Catholic leaders from across the country spent two days in Philadelphia July 9-10 brainstorming on the future of the U.S. church.

They discussed creative ways bishops and other church leaders can respond more effectively to rapid changes in the church and the accompanying challenges in areas such as finances, accountability and the development of future church leadership.

The group, called the Church in America Leadership Roundtable, was composed of bishops, business and academic leaders, professionals, philanthropists, nuns, priests, writers, editors, and heads of various Catholic institutions, organizations and diocesan offices. It met at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the nation's oldest and largest business school.

Participants were asked at the beginning to "think out of the box, be risk takers," said Geoffrey T. Boisi, chairman and co-founder of Mentor/National Mentoring Partnership and one of the chief organizers of the meeting.

He said the group was challenged to be "caring and daring, but using those institutional structures already there" and exploring ways to make them serve the church's mission more effectively.

The meeting was closed to media but eight participants, including two of the 12 bishops involved, met with reporters following the closing Mass July 10 to discuss what went on.

Bishop William B. Friend of Shreveport, La., said he was struck by "the very high degree of commitment, the love of the church and love of the Lord" evident in the gathering.

Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange, Calif., who attended the round table with his diocesan finance officer, Phil Ries, seconded Bishop Friend's remarks.

"I don't think I've ever been with a group like this before" in terms of the concentration of talent, experience and dedication the meeting brought together, he said.

Participants described much of the work as assessing strengths and weaknesses in the way church structures currently operate and exploring comparable structures in the secular world -- in corporations, nonprofit institutions, professions -- for ideas that might be translated into more effective ways for the church to operate.

Francis J. Butler, president of FADICA -- Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities -- cited as an example the conclusions from a breakout session on finances that he led. He said participants in that session recommended:

-- That every diocese comply with the church's national standards for financial accountability.

-- That dioceses have mechanisms to assure donors they are in compliance.

-- Financial transparency and annual audits in every parish and diocese.

-- Working with and strengthening the finance councils of parishes and dioceses.

-- Establishment of a financial planning process that makes sense to those affected by it.

-- Reviewing the effectiveness of church fund raising at every level.

There were eight such breakout sessions during the meeting, ranging from 65 to 90 minutes each.

Three addressed pastoral governance models and the role of the laity, first at the parish, then diocesan, then national level. Three addressed management of human resources, again at parish, diocesan and national levels. In the final two breakout sessions, on issues of managing financial resources, the first was devoted to parish and diocesan levels together and the second to the national level.

Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who was general secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in the 1990s, was part of a diverse panel at a luncheon session that explored how other countries and other religions approach issues of church governance and human resources.

Among those featured in the meeting's first panel presentation, on "Challenges and Opportunities in Governance and Accountability for Institutions in Transition," were Archbishop William J. Levada of San Francisco; Jesuit Father J. Donald Monan, former president of Boston College; Frederick W. Gluck, former managing partner of McKinsey & Co., an international management consulting firm, and retired vice president and director of the Bechtel Group; and Richard F. Syron, chairman and CEO of the giant mortgage finance corporation Freddie Mac.

Butler said Archbishop Levada in his presentation had described the round table as "a complement to the dialogue envisioned" by the Second Vatican Council.

Gluck told reporters that session brought "a pretty rich exchange" on things the church might do to address the challenges it faces with a changing mix of human resources.

Facing "increases in the number of laity delivering the services of the church," he said, participants discussed "different ways of integrating (laity into the institutional structures) and making the best use of their abilities."

Jesuit Father Thomas Reese, editor of America, a New York-based national Catholic magazine, said, "When I look at the talent gathered here, I'd hate to count the billable hours" if participants had to be paid for attending.

"There are lots of things the church can learn from contemporary management and use of human resources" in the corporate world, he said.

The leadership round table was a follow-up to a one-day meeting in Washington a year ago in which about 45 Catholic corporate, educational and other leaders met with a small group of bishops to discuss leadership challenges facing the U.S. church.

The Wharton meeting drew four times as many participants. Boisi said participants represented the full spectrum of views about the church as well as the full range of secular and church leadership backgrounds across the country.

He said the follow-up to the round table could take a number of forms, from developing leadership resources for parishes and dioceses to holding future national meetings, either of the kind held at Wharton or in a different format.

END

Please note: the Multi-Parish Cooperative Services Group (MPCSG) model was presented as an example of a successful case study of collaborative parish workings in today’s Parish.  Because MPCSG was invited too late to video tape their presentation, their paper was submitted and discussed during the Roundtable session.

Review the MPCSG Model.