Last Saturday, March 7th, nearly 70 of our parish leaders gathered for a Leadership Summit in the Parish Hall. The morning’s theme was “Inspire, Equip & Celebrate” and the response and engagement of our leaders from all areas of ministry was enthusiastic and substantive. As a “community within a community,” our leaders strengthened their bonds of friendship, support, and encouragement, leaving the gathering refueled to move parish renewal forward by supporting their ministers and working to raise up a next generation of leaders.
Parish Leaders Beth Letizia & Ed Katona graciously offered personal testimony on how courage and trust in God’s providence, as well as personal invitation by others, have impacted their journey of faith and leadership here at Notre Dame. Practical video content produced by Divine Renovation was also presented on creating a leadership pipeline within ministry. There were table exercises that focused on specific skills needed to persuasively recruit new ministers and to invite others to become part of a ministry community.
In keeping with the morning’s theme, we acknowledged and celebrated many recent “wins” of our leaders, including those who have effected a successful leadership transition in their ministry; those who have created a template for more effective team leadership; those who have stepped out of a comfort zone to take on a significant leadership role; those who have courageously handled "crucial conversations" for the sake of the health of the ministry; those who have been intentional about nurturing the discipleship journey of their ministers; and those who have persevered in reaching beyond the existing communities served by their ministries.
Our morning ended with reflective communal prayer, sometimes silent, through which we were moved to acknowledge the source of ALL our blessings. And for that and all of the above, we give thanks.
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What are they saying?
Event participants were asked to complete a brief survey following the event. Responses received thus far are overwhelmingly positive, most rating the event as Excellent or Very Good.
“For the parish to invest the time and energy into helping parishioners to be better leaders for others in the parish is impressive. As Father Paddy said during the program , I do not believe other parishes are as invested in the growth and continued renewal of their parishioners. I look forward to being more involved. I truly hope we can reach out in some way to missing youth portion of the parish.”
“The closing music and reflection was spot on PERFECT.”
“The Parish Hall this morning was Ground Zero for missionary discipleship at Notre Dame of Mt. Carmel. I was surrounded by those in our parish family who are driven by the Holy Spirit. It was truly an honor to be with all of them. Their energy and love inspired me, and I know that it did the same for others who were attending a leadership summit for the first time.”
“Breakfast was great! Great job acknowledging the many ministries we have. Videos were good especially the prayer service at the end.”
“I have attended a few others of these Leadership Summits- this one was dull and less interactive. Didn't really learn anything new. The witness talks, while inspiring - too long.”
“I was inspired to do more work on me as a person.”
“Please continue to include reflections like the one used by Maria! We need more humbling reminders of the presence of God in our gatherings.”
"I appreciated the focus on leadership development and succession in ministry. Too often folks are reluctant to say yes because they fear there won't be a way to exit with grace. I loved the personal stories from Beth and Ed and the leadership update from Cristina. I would have liked to have seen the 2nd video from Divine Renovation that promised to give a clear example the principles of low-entry leadership experiences."
“Everything was wonderful! I left feeling blessed and enthusiastic! Kudos to you for a wonderful and inspiring event!”
"The program flowed beautifully, starting with the delicious breakfast, the ice breaker, witness talks, (invitation to join ministry - role playing), and prayer and video led by Maria. It was one of the best I ever attended and a transforming experience! Great job by the whole staff!"
March 9, 2020Last Saturday, March 7th, nearly 70 of our parish leaders gathered for a Leadership Summit in the Parish Hall. The morning’s theme was “Inspire, Equip & Celebrate” and the response and engagement of our leaders from all areas of ministry was enthusiastic and substantive. As a “community within a community,” our leaders strengthened their bonds of friendship, support, and encouragement, leaving the gathering refueled to move parish renewal forward by supporting their ministers and working to raise up a next generation of leaders.