Fostering Leadership Skills in Ministry: A Parish Handbook

As Christians, we aspire to live our lives with Jesus Christ as our model. This lifelong process of studying Jesus is especially important for leaders in the Christian community. Jesus' style of leadership was that of servant, consistently putting himself at the service of others.

Now parish leaders-pastors, pastoral administrators, parish-council members, pastoral ministers, principals, directors of religious education, and volunteer coordinators, whether salaried or volunteer-have a guide for developing and fostering a leadership style based on Jesus' qualities of listening and responding to others, creating a vision, being authentic and compassionate, forgiving others, empowering others, being a person of integrity, and being inclusive, especially of those who are alienated and marginalized.

Fostering Leadership Skills in Ministry offers practical suggestions and examples to help parish leaders Develop a real sense of community in the parish, Draft effective parish mission statements, Build effective small Christian communities, Implement an adult faith-formation program, Develop vibrant parish councils, Recruit, train, and support volunteers, Deal with and resolve conflict, Plan and facilitate productive parish meetings, Make effective group decisions, Deal with inevitable change and transition. Each chapter includes reflection questions and a list of additional resources.

This book challenges leaders to ask themselves, "Are we leading with soul? Do we have a conscious and purposeful dream? Are we always on a journey of the spirit?"

About the Author:
Jean Marie Hiesberger is a writer, speaker, consultant, and facilitator who has worked extensively withparish leaders