Comparing 'Secular' and 'Ministry' Leadership

Published in Deacon Digest, Volume 19, Number 3 (May/June 2002) by Deacon Ron Rojas

Touted as one of the largest in the diocese, the parish I'm currently assigned to in Florida has three priests, six deacons and eighty-two ministries to attend the needs of almost 4,500 families or 14,000 members. With such a large number experienced ministry leaders readily available and while completing a doctoral program in management, I was compelled to evaluate the differences between "secular" and "ministry" models of leadership. What I discovered left me in mixed state of confusion and astonishment. In asking around for the "principles of ministry leadership", the responses seemed heavily skewed towards the vocabulary and concepts of secular models of leadership. Response such as "re-engineering" the ministry, "dealing with our customers", ministry "performance indicators" and "empowerment", albeit creative and catchy, were being tossed around as if to fully express the perspectives of Catholic ministry service.

Although the direct application of secular leadership models to ministerial services may produce initial palpable benefits, the question of long-term intangible benefits needs to be further explored. Specific intangibles unique to Catholic ministry, such as building a true sense of community, growing within an ecclesiastical context, sacramental animation, and the inclusion of spirituality, are just some of the aspects clearly not addressed in secular leadership models yet paramount to managing a successful Catholic ministry. While secular models seek to optimize "organizational performance" through "process improvements", ministerial leadership must seek to "build nurturing communities" by focusing on "relational" more than "structural" activities. The assumptions of secular leadership emerge primarily from empirical observations made upon and for business organizations. The assumptions inherent to ministry leadership include Divine Providence, Church teachings and traditions, Sacred Scripture, and spiritual growth as unique components of its constituencies. The vocabulary and fundamental concepts used by secular models deliberately exclude realities within the core of Catholic ministry endeavors, such as faith, grace, forgiveness, prayer, discernment, divine providence, theology and God, and others. Finally, the parameters of secular leadership are about tangibles, such as efficiency, optimization, metrics and organization building. Ministry leadership is mostly about intangible life issues and faith-based community skills, which demand "techniques of the heart", a set of skills so evidently absent from secular models. Given this contradiction, why are parish and diocesan ministry leaders so eager and willing to blindly replicate secular leadership models, knowing that they exclude particulars so innate to our ways?

Most of the secular models of management and leadership actually do have "some" value when applied to ministry leadership situations, but their limitations must be publicly recognized. The concerns here presented are related primarily to the thoughtless application of secular leadership models in a sector for which there is neither empirical nor theoretical evidence supporting their effective use. Is there any formal evidence suggesting that secular concepts such as Re-engineering, empowerment, Situational Leadership, Transactional and Transformational Leadership or even Servant Leadership, to mention a few, are as effective in ministry service as they are in the business sectors? Intuitively, maybe, but a search in three academic databases proved to be a fruitless endeavor for obvious reasons: secular and ministry activities encompass different realms of human activity. Is there any doubt about where true empowerment in ministry service comes from? Are we content in dealing with our parishioners as "customers" when they are truly our brothers and sisters? Do our ministries need to be "re-engineered" as if the methods handed down by generations of Catholic leadership are all of a sudden deemed obsolete? Suffice it to say that the clear and proven models of Catholic ministry leadership have been poorly advertised, and that our parish leaders are misusing secular models to fill the void.

Unfortunately, even many of us (as deacons and deacon spouses) serving in highly visible ministries remain vulnerable to the dangers of misapplying secular leadership constructs. Prior to our formation it was assumed we were already role models of leadership in our communities, later leaving it up to us to later discover and correct the disparities. Yet as the theology, spirituality and general expectations of the diaconate continue evolving along the already defined lines of a distinct ordained service to the community, we will be further compelled to portray "in extremis" a model of leadership characterized by sacramental animation, ecclesiastical context, and community-building skills. This unique characterization of ministry leadership is in itself a model worthy of further study, formalization, and dissemination as part of a corrected educational development of ministry leadership. But its roots are firmly planted in Church life and its implications evoke the metaphor stated in Matthew 5,13 regarding the "salt of the world". Just as "salt" is able to enhance flavor and preserve foods, Catholic leadership development must be seen as a "ministry to ministry leadership" that enhances the Catholic "flavor" of parish ministry leadership while preserving Church life.

Perhaps it would be inaccurate to state that Catholic ministry leadership is in crisis, but it would be certainly be an error to assume that secular leadership models epitomize the ideal of ministry leadership expected to be portrayed by the diaconate or lay parish leaders. The key tenants of Catholic ministry leadership, such as sacramental animation, ecclesiastical context, and community-building skills, suggest that Ministry Leadership, rather than subordinate to secular leadership models, has the potential in its own right to become a contributing leadership model. It becomes imperative, therefore, that as deacons, we create awareness regarding the limitations of secular management and leadership models, and that we research, clarify and adopt tenants of leadership that exemplify and foster our own unique Catholic heritage.

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Deacon Ron Rojas has a doctorate degree in business management and is presently serving at St. Paul Catholic Church in Tampa, Florida. His email is ronrojas@aol.com