Parish priest as supervisor

One of the things not well understood about parish life, and this includes not only by the general public, but by parish employees, and the priests themselves, is the importance of the pastor as a supervisor.

I know enough to know how much I don't know!

Other people are far more expert in the field of employee supervision and motivation; nevertheless, a pastor has this role to play, and if he ignores it or neglects it, it will not only bring him tears, but tears to everyone. This failure comes back everywhere:

1) Employees who aren't effective and sometimes even destructive.

2) Other employees who are demoralized and scandalized by #1.

3) Parishioners who either have a vague, or more definite, sense that something is wrong and get frustrated and impatient for change.

4) A pastor who instead of responding in the right way, responds badly, or, for fear of doing the latter, avoids the problem. 

One of the realities of parish life is that not all priests are going to be good at this, and some will never get even to adequate. Maybe they are at fault for not working harder at it; but when priests are already working hard (despite the conviction of some that we are lazy and selfish), it's understandable that they would focus on their areas of strength and greater comfort, and put off learning to be a better supervisor to "someday."

Most parishioners will probably never know about the problems, or perhaps only get the slightest glimpse; and if the pastor is doing it well, while parishioners will benefit, they mostly will not connect the dots between the parish going well, and the pastor playing this part well. It will be hidden.

The beginning of this process is in hiring the right people the right way. But then, almost all pastors inherit a staff in place, and can go a long time between hiring decisions. I had the unique opportunity in coming to this family of parishes to do a lot of hiring. Thank God and his people here who helped me, and I think the hiring process worked out very well.

In this family of parishes, we reorganized three mostly independent parish staffs into an integrated one. The changes this worked in our parishes haven't completely rippled through, but there was a real burst of disruption early on. One reason things are going better than they might is precisely because we made really good decisions in planning the new staff arrangement, and in filling the positions. We have some bumps, but far fewer, I think, than there might have been.

Consider this: when I got here, the three parishes had about 25 employees, outside of those in the school. Pretty much all of them were mine to supervise. After rearranging things, I have eight people who report directly to me. This does not count the four other priests and the seven deacons; they don't "report" to me, but sustaining a collegial relationship with them has a lot of similarities; and it would be perhaps equally as neglected, as the employed team members would have been, without a change.

I am able to meet or confer over the phone with all those eight; I can do a lot better job for them, and that includes helping them do the exact same thing for the rest, who are getting more attention and feedback from their immediate supervisor.

Why am I talking about this? Two reasons.

First, people should know what being a pastor is like. You deserve to know what you're paying for.

Second, in the context of the Beacons of Light reorganization project, I think it bears some consideration of the hidden costs of resisting reorganizing things, as many are doing. They want their parishes to stand alone; they want the pastor, who is pastor in two, five or six other places, to keep things familiar. You have no idea the short- and long-term costs of this, and I don't mean just or even mainly for the pastor. Your beloved parish will pay a price.

Feel free to ask questions.