PSM: Catalysts & Collaborators in Social Ministry

7/30/2019 PSM: Catalysts & Collaborators in Social Ministry

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CATALYSTS &

COLLABORATORS IN

SOCIAL MINISTRYStrategies for Parish Partnerships & Parish Social Ministry in Catholic Charities


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements iv

Foreword by Rev. Larry J. Snyder vi

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

Chapter 2: What is Parish Social Ministry? 4

Chapter 3: Building Partnerships with Parishes 7

Chapter 4: Strategies or Parish Social Ministry Programs 19

Chapter 5: Moving Forward 29

Endnotes 33


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Acknowledgements

Te development and production o this report was made possible through the dedicated eortso many individuals. We especially want to recognize the ollowing or their eorts:

Rachel Lustig, director o parish social ministry, Catholic Charities USA, or her

leadership in instigating the project and writing the report.

Sister Brenda Hermann, MSB, or her leadership on the project and oversight o the

agency site visits, and Jean Beil, senior vice president o programs and services, Catholic

Charities USA, or providing guidance and insights on the project and report.

Members o the editorial board: Rich Fowler, Catholic Charities, Diocese o Stockton,

CA; Andy Zampini, Catholic Charities Inc., Diocese o Wilmington, DE; Kathy

Brown, Catholic Charities USA; Steve Bresnahan, Catholic Charities o the Diocese

o St. Cloud, MN; Kathleen Walsh, Catholic Charities o the Diocese o Raleigh,

NC; Robert Gorman, Catholic Social Services, Diocese o Houma-Tibodaux,

LA; Desmond Brown, Catholic Charities USA; ricia Hoyt, Catholic Charities

Community Services, Diocese o Phoenix, AZ; Esmeralda Cervantes, Queen o Peace,

Archdiocese o Galveston-Houston, X; Jane Stenson, Catholic Charities USA;

Mary Marshall, Catholic Charities, Archdiocese o New York, NY; Pat Macy, St. John

Vianney Parish, Diocese o Austin, X or their leadership and guidance during the

drating o this paper.

Te leadership and sta o our member agencies across the country, especially the

parish social ministry proessionals, who are working together with their diocesan

colleagues and parishes to be animators o social ministry in their dioceses.

Te leadership and sta o our member agencies who hosted site visits: Catholic

Charities, Diocese o Pittsburgh, PA; Catholic Charities o the Archdiocese o

Baltimore, MD; Catholic Charities o the Archdiocese o Galveston-Houston,

X; Catholic Charities, Archdiocese o Oklahoma City, OK; Catholic Charities

Community Services, Diocese o Phoenix, AZ; Catholic Charities o St. Paul and

Minneapolis, MN; Catholic Charities o the Diocese o Baton Rouge, LA; Catholic

Social Services, Diocese o Houma-Tibodaux, LA; Catholic Charities o the Diocese

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o Rockville Centre; Catholic Charities Inc., Diocese o Wilmington, DE; Catholic

Charities o Santa Clara County, CA.

Te Leadership eam o Catholic Charities USAs Parish Social Ministry Proessional

Interest Section or creating dialogue opportunities or Catholic Charities proessionals

and parish leaders as a part o this project.

Te United States Conerence o Catholic Bishopsespecially the department o

Justice, Peace, and Human Development, including the Catholic Campaign or

Human Development Catholic Relie Services, the Roundtable Association or

Diocesan Social Action Directors and JustFaith Ministries or their partnership and

leadership in social ministry.

CCUSA sta, consultants, and volunteers or their contributions: Christina Baldera,

Brian Stevens, roy Zeigler, and Stan Fitzgerald or participation in the project and

insights on the report; Anita Blumenthal or writing support; Ruth Liljenquist or

editing the report; and Jim Canavan and Sheena Crews or creative design.

Catholic Charities USA

Alexandria, Virginia 22314

(703) 549-1390

www.catholiccharitiesusa.org

Copyright 2008 by Catholic Charities USA

All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES USA | v


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Foreword by Rev. Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA

During my rst year at Catholic Charities USA, Pope Benedict XVI published his rst encyclical,Deus Caritas Est. With this encyclical, I elt that he gave a git especially to Catholic Charities. DeusCaritas Estis so relevant to our work that I am oten drawn to the vision and grounding that itprovides.

As I read through this report, Catalysts & Collaborators in Social Ministry, a passage rom DeusCaritas Est came to mind:

Love o neighbour, grounded in the love o God, is rst and oremost a responsibility or

each individual member o the aithul, but it is also a responsibility or the entire ecclesial

community at every level: rom the local community to the particular Church and to the

Church universal in its entirety. 1

As I read that passage, I couldnt help but wonder i Pope Benedict considered what it would

look like to have a diocesan entity like Catholic Charities, the parishes, and the individual aith-

ul all taking on the responsibility to act out our love o neighbor, grounded in the love o God.

I wondered i he considered how they would share this responsibility. Could their ministry

complement one another or would they grow disconnected? Would Catholic Charities increas-

ing specialization in the charitable work o the church unintentionally relieve the aithul o

their responsibility or could it call them to more active engagement in it?

Catholic Charities has struggled with these questions or decades. When we came together toproduce Te Cadre Studyand Vision 2000, we wrestled with these concerns and decided thatCatholic Charities should strive to complement the eorts o the parish and the individual

aithul in loving their neighbor and should call them to more active engagement and discern-

ment in ullling their responsibility. Tese two excerpts rom Te Cadre Studyand Vision 2000best summarize this commitment.

In Te Cadre Study, we committed to ten goals, eight o which speak to our engagement withparishes and the individual aithul. We committed:

o assist the Church and the Churches to respond more vigorously to the

Christian message o love and justice through action;

o acilitate in the Church the unolding o genuine social progress, which is the

development o a moral consciousness leading people to exercise a wider solidarity

and opening themselves reely to others and to God;

o discern and call attention to the social and historical dimensions o sin and to

develop a more conscious awareness o the need o Gospel-liberation rom them, and,

Would Catholic

Charities increasing

specialization in the

charitable work o the

church unintentionally

relieve the aithul o

their responsibility or

could it call themto more active en-

gagement in it?

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with the Church to respond to the need or participation in the ministry

o compassion and reconciliation;

o assist people in coming together to experience one another in joy and need and

to reect prayerully upon this experience as a medium through which God makes

Himsel available to all;

o assist the people o God, peoples o various religious, cultural, age, and ethnic

backgrounds, to live in unity by pushing consciousness o the need to the deepest

level possible;

o urge the Church and the Churches with their rich tradition o social thought

and teaching to a urther involvement in the construction o a just social order;

o convene orums on various levels o Church lie by which the people o God may

perceive the social, political, and economic contradictions about them, and thereby

be motivated to work toward change; and

o promote the growing sense o unity among Christian people and all o good

will through cooperation in social action and community development on the

international, national, regional, state and local levels. 2

Vision 2000made its commitment more succinctly:

In ullling its own servant role, Catholic Charities must help the Church at large to ul-

ll its service mission. Te services provided by Catholic Charities agencies were never

intended to exonerate the aithul o the responsibilities o Christian discipleship and theneed or a community o believers to be personally involved in caring or one another. I

increased proessionalization o our agencies has caused Catholic Charities to grow urther

apart rom the mainstream o our parishes, Vision 2000calls Catholic Charities agencies tobecome more ully integrated into local parish communities, providing stimulus or leader-

ship in nurturing aith, proclaiming justice, serving people and building community. 3

As I reect on these commitments made in Te Cadre Studyand Vision 2000, I see what a pro-ound and challenging vision we have given ourselves. We have made it our goal to become an

animator and collaborator o the work o the Gospel with and through the church community

in our dioceses.

I am proud o what we have done in pursuit o this vision. As I read through Catalysts & Col-laborators in Social Ministry, I got a better sense o the magnitude o our eorts to bring thisvision to lie. I was amazed to read how many agencies are involved in parish partnerships or

parish social ministry, and I was impressed by the creativity and mutuality o the strategies that

are being used. I was also pleased to see how agencies are working to provide ormation oppor-

tunities as they help parishes start or grow their social ministry eorts.

We have made it our

goal to become an

animator and collabo-rator o the work o

the Gospel with and

through the church

community in our

dioceses.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES USA | vii


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At the same time, there is much room or improvement. Some agencies are struggling to get

started, while others have a limited vision or parish partnership, rather than one o collabora-

tion and animation. Some programs are having difculty incorporating standards o accredita-tion that other Catholic Charities programs are required to uphold. And others are challenged

by the need to educate and train new people drawn to the ministry.

When I was at Catholic Charities in St. Paul-Minneapolis, we were blessed with an established

parish social ministry program, but even then, we had our share o challenges. Our program

sta members, however, were able to connect with their peers across the country through Cath-

olic Charities USAs Parish Social Ministry Section and through the Roundtable Association o

Diocesan Social Action Directors to nd solutions to our problems. I this hadnt been the case,

I think we would have been intimidated by pursuing the ull vision o parish social ministry.

o help CCUSA member agencies meet the challenges they ace in parish social ministry, we

have produced this report, Catalysts & Collaborators in Social Ministry, which oers a collec-tion o eective strategies and valuable lessons, garnered rom the expertise and experience o

Catholic Charities directors and parish social ministry proessionals across the country. We have

analyzed their current programs, investigated how they developed and changed, and drawn

rom their successes and ailures to provide the Catholic Charities network with strategies and

resources or pursuing this critical component o our mission.

Whether your agency is starting to pursue the vision o parish partnerships and parish social

ministry or whether you are seeking to continually improve, Catalysts & Collaborators in Social

Ministrywill provide you with new and eective ideas. In addition, the Web page that accompa-nies this report will connect you to resources used by various agencies and provide you a orumor discussion with your colleagues. We hope that Catalysts & Collaborators in Social Ministry

will acilitate what Catholic Charities does best learning rom one another and growing to-

gether to usher orth the reign o God in our midst!

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CATHOLIC CHARITIES USA | 1

INTRODUCTION

How can we be a catalyst or social ministry in the church?

How can our agency be connected to the parishes in our diocese?

What is parish social ministry?

Who has been successul in creating parish partnerships and parish social ministry programs?

What strategies have worked in dioceses like ours?Can we use the resources that have worked in other dioceses?

What challenges should we be aware o?

Where do we start?

How do we know that we are successul?

Tese are the questions that sta members o Catholic Charities agencies have asked o us at

the Parish Social Ministry Of ce at Catholic Charities USA. In an eort to answer these ques-

tions in a comprehensive way, we undertook a major project to gather inormation about parish

social ministry programs throughout our network. In this process, we spoke with agency sta

members and other individuals across the country, people who act as catalysts and collaborators

in social ministry in their dioceses.

Catholic Charities has a long history o connecting with parishes and supporting their eorts

to live out the Gospel. Ater Te Cadre Study in 1972, these eorts were integrated with re-newed energy into the agency in the orm o parish partnerships, agreements between parishes

and Catholic Charities to work together on social ministry, and parish social ministry pro-


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grams, leadership development programs that strengthen parish social ministry.3 As a result,

some Catholic Charities agencies have been building parish partnerships and running parish

social ministry programs or more than 30 years. Because these partnerships and programs havegrown organically within their own dioceses, one might suspect that they are quite dierent.

Weve seen, however, that there are similarities between these eorts, and that similar strategies

have proven to be eective in dierent settings.

Catholic Charities agencies interested in creating or modiying parish partnerships and parish

social ministry programs dont need to start rom scratch. Over the last two years, Catholic

Charities USA has worked in conjunction with parish social ministry proessionals, agency

executive directors and parish-based social ministers to gather together a wealth o inormation

and expertise on parish social ministry. We have compiled this wealth in this report, which pro-

vides strategies, insights, valuable lessons, and resources to guide agency executives and sta as

they direct and coordinate parish partnerships and parish social ministry programs.

We hope to achieve our goals through Catalysts & Collaborators in Social Ministry. First, wehope to provide Catholic Charities executives and sta with ideas and strategies that they can

use to develop or improve their parish partnerships and parish social ministry programs. Sec-

ond, we hope that the Web page that accompanies this report (www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/

NetCommunity/PSMatCC) will become a orum or networking and sharing resources about

building parish partnerships and supporting parish social ministry. Tird, we hope that this

report will oster discussion about why Catholic Charities is called to be a catalyst and col-

laborator in social ministry with parishes and people o good will in the diocese. And ourth,

we hope that Catholic Charities agencies, parishes, and the aithul will continue to improvecollaborative eorts so that we as a church community can better recognize the ace o Christ in

those in need and express Gods love or more people on the margins o society.

Following this introduction, Chapter 2, What is Parish Social Ministry? gives a concise de-

scription o and reection on parish social ministry. At its core, parish social ministry is quite

simple. It is a way through which the community and individual believers exercise their aith

in an imperect world. Tis chapter explores how that exercise o aith is made compassionate,

intentional, and strategic in parish social ministry.

Chapter 3, Building Partnerships with Parishes, ocuses on developing or improving partner-

ships that create synergy in caring or poor and vulnerable people and working or justice. Itlays out a vision o partnership that recognizes the unique contributions o each partner and

highlights mutually respectul, eective ways or parishes and agencies to support the eorts

o the other. Secondly, the chapter identies ways to implement the partnership through the

creation o a plan and the implementation o strategies or building and institutionalizing the

relationships between partners. Chapter 3 also explores the challenges o building partnerships

and the lessons that have been learned over the years.

2 | PARISH SOCIAL MINISTRY REPORT

Because these

partnerships and

programs have grown

organically within their

own dioceses, one

might suspect that

they are quite dier-

ent. Weve seen, how-

ever, that there are

similarities between

these eorts, and

that similar strategies

have proven to be

eective in dierent

settings.


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Chapter 4, Strategies or Parish Social Ministry Programs ocuses on developing or improv-

ing parish social ministry programs that develop leadership in the parish to create intentional,

strategic, and compassionate parish social ministries. Tis chapter examines the responsibilitieso such parish social ministry programs, analyzes the strategies they use to accomplish them,

highlights the skills needed to run successul parish social ministry programs, and explores the

challenges and lessons learned that are unique to parish social ministry programs.

Chapter 5, Moving Forward identies the trends that will challenge parish partnerships and

parish social ministry programs in the near uture. Tis chapter reminds us that we have been

successul in dealing with challenges in the past by acing them, working together to overcome

them, and staying grounded in our mission.



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In urban neighborhoods, in suburban communities, and in rural areas, parishes serve as

anchors o hope and communities o caring, helping amilies meet their own needs and

reach out to others, and serve as centers o community lie and networks o assistance

Across our country, parishioners oer their time, their money, and their leadership to a

wide variety o eorts to meet needs and change structures. Parishes are deeply involved inmeeting their members needs, serving the hungry and homeless, welcoming the stranger

and immigrant, reaching out to troubled amilies, advocating or just public policies, orga-

nizing or saer and better communities, and working creatively or a more peaceul world.

Our communities and ministries have been greatly enriched and nourished by the aith

and wisdom o parishioners who experience injustice and all those who work or greater

justice. 5

In these phrases rom Communities o Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission o the Par-ish, the U.S. bishops powerully acknowledge and celebrate the actions that parishioners take toprotect the lie and dignity o all o our neighbors. Tese actions are expressions o aith in an

imperect world; they are examples o parish social ministry.

Parish social ministry is the action that the aith community takes to live out the Gospel we

proclaim and to grow in love with God and neighbor. Tis denition outlines the two critical

endeavors o parish social ministry. All parishes, regardless o size and resources, can use these

two endeavors to guide their parish social ministry eorts.

Parish social ministry

is the action that the

aith community takes

to live out the Gospel

we proclaim and to

grow in love with God

and neighbor.

WHAT IS PARISH SOCIAL MINISTRY?


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Living Out the Gospel We Proclaim

o live out the Gospel we proclaim, we must respond as best we can to the diversity o needs andinjustice that impact our world. In other words, we must be strategic. Needs may include emergen-

cies, chronic ailments, and loss. Injustice may be ound in the norms that govern societies, including

cultural standards, government laws and policies, and international agreements. Needs and injustice

impact people in the parish community and beyond, and they disproportionately impact those who

are poor or vulnerable.

As Catholics, parishioners are called to respond in two ways: as individuals and as part o a com-

munity. As individuals, parishioners make choices in their amily, work, citizen, and consumer

roles that have the potential to impact the lie and dignity o others. While these decisions may

be made outside o the parish, the community can play a vital role in helping parishioners evalu-

ate their choices in light o their aith and their pursuit o the common good.

Te parish community is also called to work together to live out the Gospel. In Communitieso Salt and Light, the U.S. bishops identiy our ways through which parishes can do this: char-ity, solidarity, community organizing, and advocacy. 6 When there are instances o need in the

community, parishes are called to act with charity through direct service or outreach. Across

the country, parishes are doing this through intake and reerral services, grie counseling, soup

kitchens, and much more. When there are instances o need that exceed the capacity o the par-

ish to respond, the parish can act with solidarity by raising awareness o the reality o people in

poverty and vulnerable situations and by supporting organizations that are poised to respond,

such as Catholic Charities and Catholic Relie Services. Parishes also show solidarity through

activities such as selling air trade coee, responding to natural disasters, and donating to orga-

nizations whose values they share.

When there are instances o injustice in the community, parishes can get involved in commu-

nity organizing, a strategy or building leadership among low- and moderate-income people so

that they can address their own needs. Parishes can partner with or join local organizations that

promote community organizing, come together to address their own needs, or contribute to the

work o the Catholic Campaign or Human Development. When instances o injustice impact

people beyond the community, parishes can get involved in advocacy. Te most common orm

is legislative advocacy. Parishes engage in this by participating in letter-writing campaigns or

by connecting with organizations that have grassroots eorts, such as Catholic Charities USAsCampaign to Reduce Poverty in America.

Growing in Love with God and Neighbor

Te second goal o parish social ministry is to help parishioners grow in love with God and

neighbor. Tis is not a goal o parish social ministry alone. Te three essential tasks o the

churchproclamation o the word, administration o the sacraments, and provision o ser-


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viceshelp parishioners develop a deeper relationship with God and neighbor. Tese tasks

reinorce one another and help to transorm the hearts and minds o the aithul and transorm

our world into the kingdom o God on earth, characterized by love, justice, reedom, and peaceor everyone. Trough parish social ministry, the parish can integrate the provision o services

into the lie o the church.

Parish social ministry reinorces the proclamation o the word by bringing Jesus call to lie.

In the Gospels, Jesus calls on everyone to care or poor, vulnerable, and suering people and

to work or justice and peace. Trough Catholic social teaching, the church makes this call

relevant in our day by evaluating social justice issues through Gospel principles. Parish social

ministry acilitates action on the word o God by providing opportunities to respond to Jesus

call. Tis helps to bring parishioners to a deeper understanding o the word o God.

Trough the sacramental lie o the church, the aithul come into contact with God in a deeper

way and commit to bringing orth the kingdom o God on earth. Te sacramental lie o the

parish reinorces parish social ministry by commissioning us to the Gospel through baptism and

conrmation, sustaining us through the contact with Gods healing love as experienced in the

sacrament o reconciliation, and uniting us to one another through the Eucharist. Parish social

ministry reinorces the administration o sacraments by providing opportunities or parishio-

ners to act on the mission they are charged with.

Parish social ministry helps the aithul to grow in love with God and neighbor by drawing

them to the side o the most vulnerable and asking them to be the presence o Gods love. As

Catholics, we must recognize that meeting immediate needs and correcting unjust systemsalone are insufcient to live out the Gospel that we proclaim. In Deus Caritas Est, Pope BenedictXVI reminds us that greater than the physical need o people is an interior desire or a sign o

love, o concern. 7 He encourages Catholics to go beyond ullling the physical needs o the

person to becoming a sign o Christs love to the person. A parish does this on its own when its

own parishioners or community members are impacted by need or injustice. When needs and

injustice are beyond its reach, however, the parish needs to support trusted organizations to be

the sign o Christs love on its behal.

Parish social ministry is not easy, and a parish cannot leave the aithul alone in the process o

becoming a sign o Christs love. It requires leadership, intentionality, and a commitment o

time, talent, and treasure rom the parish. In addition, parishes must provide reection on theword o God and Catholic social teaching, a supportive community, the encounter with God in

the sacraments, occasions to stretch beyond ones comort zone to protect the lie and dignity o

another, and opportunities to orm and discipline ones conscience and prayer. Tis is parish lie

at its best! Bringing together the social ministry, sacramental, and prophetic tasks o the church

into parish lie creates the power to transorm hearts, minds, and the world.


Parish social ministry

helps the aithul to

grow in love with God

and neighbor by draw-

ing them to the side

o the most vulner-

able and asking them

to be the presence o

Gods love.


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Trough economic boom or bust, one thing remains constantthere are more people expe-

riencing need and injustice than Catholic Charities can help. At the same time, the aithul,

parishes, and dioceses all have a responsibility to care or and stand with Christ in need in our

midst. With these two realities, the ollowing question inevitably arises: How can Catholic

Charities and parishes work together or greater eect and complement each others eorts?

Catholic Charities agencies and parishes are natural partners. First, their aith calls them to

it. Catholic Charities agencies and parishes share a aith tradition that, as the U.S. bishops

state, place[s] our service to the poor and vulnerable and our work or justice at the center o

Christian witness.8 Second, need exceeds capacity. Te reality o poverty and injustice in our

communities is greater than either the parish or agency can assume responsibility or alone. And

third, Catholic Charities agencies and parishes bring unique and complementary strengths to

the eort o caring or poor and vulnerable people and working or justice. For these reasons, it

makes sense or parishes and agencies to work together to have a greater positive impact on the

lives o people in need.

Parishes and Catholic Charities agencies have been working together or over a century. Tey

create partnerships that create synergy to care or poor and vulnerable people and work or jus-

tice. Over 85 percent o Catholic Charities agencies are engaged in eorts to build partnerships

with parishes. According to the 2007 CCUSA survey, o the 171 responding agencies, 155 are

involved in building partnerships with the parishes in their diocese, and they currently have

established active relationships with 44 percent o the parishes. 9

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS WITH PARISHES


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Tis chapter will assist Catholic Charities agencies interested in building partnerships o mutual

respect with parishes by providing a vision or a synergistic partnership and strategies to help

achieve that vision. o acilitate the creation o a vision or a parish-agency partnership in yourdiocese, we will outline what is possible by drawing rom the initiatives utilized in the Cath-

olic Charities network. By identiying existing partnership strategies, we hope that Catholic

Charities proessionals will be better able to identiy partnership opportunities in their diocese,

understand the potential o a partnership, and seek mutuality in it. We will then outline two

critical steps or implementing a partnership with parishes and review the challenges and lessons

learned in creating and sustaining parish-agency partnerships.

A Vision for Partnership

Te purpose o a parish-agency partnership is to create synergy by working together to care or

more poor and vulnerable people and better advocate or justice, while helping the aithul growin love with God and neighbor. o develop the most comprehensive vision, potential partners

must start with a clear understanding o the value o each others unique contribution to care

or poor and vulnerable people and work or justice.

Unique ContributionCatholic Charities agencies and parishes both have independent eorts that directly address

poverty, promote lie and dignity, and inspire the aithul to a deeper relationship with God.

Depending upon the agency, Catholic Charities is involved in service, advocacy, and convening.

Catholic Charities makes proessional social services available to poor, vulnerable, and suer-

ing people in the community. Tese services help to alleviate temporary suering and acilitatepeoples transition to stability. Furthermore, Catholic Charities analyzes its experience o work-

ing with people in poverty through the lens o Catholic social teaching and uses this analysis

to advocate or the rights o low-income people in order to ensure that morality and the real-

ity o the most vulnerable are considered when policy decisions are made. Finally, the agency

convenes the community to identiy unmet needs and discuss the best solutions to achieve the

common good.

A parish cares or people and work or justice through its social ministry. Depending upon the

parish, its social ministry may include direct service, advocacy, solidarity, community organiz-

ing, and ormation, as discussed in the previous chapter. Because parishes cover a geographic

region within the diocese and are spread throughout the diocese (based on considerations likepopulation density and the number o Catholics), they are able to provide direct services to

people in locations convenient to their homes.



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Diagram I depicts the contributions that Catholic Charities and parishes make to ulfll the Catholic social missiono caring or poor and vulnerable people and working or justice. Catholic Charities contributes through service,

advocacy, and convening. The parish contributes through its social ministry.

Recognizing the value o each others unique contribution helps to build respect between Cath-

olic Charities and parishes and create a relationship o mutuality. It also acilitates the processo designing a partnership that will create synergy so that more people are cared or and the

prophetic voice or justice is amplied.

Supporting the Eorts o the OtherCatholic Charities agencies and parishes can support each others eorts whey they each recog-

nize the strategic advantage potential that each partner has. When one organization is better

at something or has access to resources, it utilizes that strategic advantage in the partnership.

Catholic Charities has strategic advantages in its ability to provide service to people who

live in the parish community, to acilitate a parishs engagement in advocacy, and to create a

orum or parishes to share insights about the reality o poverty in their community. Catholic

Charities can support parishes through each o these strategic advantages, as illustrated in the

examples below.

Catholic Charities helps to provide service to people who live in the parish by:

Providing unding to parishes to provide emergency services in areas where Catholic

Charities is unable to oer services;


Th

eCatho

licSocialMis

sio

n

Parish

Service

Advocacy

Convening

Direct Service

Solidarity

Advocacy

Community

Organizing

Formation

Diagram I: Unique Contribution to the Social Mission


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aking reerrals or people with needs greater than the parish is capable o meeting

or providing reerrals to other services in the community when Catholic Charities is

unable to meet their needs; and

Holding itsel accountable to the parish by providing services in the parish community

and reporting on the number o people served in the area to parish leadership.

Catholic Charities agencies acilitate a parishs engagement in advocacy by:

Creating a legislative network to disseminate action alerts and policy analysis rom

trusted organizations like Catholic Charities USA, the U.S. Conerence o Catholic

Bishops, or the state Catholic Conerence; and

Analyzing current social justice issues, especially those related to poverty, through the

principles o Catholic social teaching and disseminating this analysis.

Catholic Charities agencies create a orum or parishes to share insights into the reality o

poverty in their parish by:

Reserving positions on the board o trustees or parish leadership;

Convening pastors or parish leaders around issues o poverty; and

Inviting parishes to attend community convenings.

Tese are not the only strategic advantages that Catholic Charities can bring to the partnership.

Parish Social Ministry: A Vision and Resourcerecognizes that Catholic Charities can be a resource

to the parishs social ministry.

During their long history o ullling the Churchs social mission by providing services,

calling together people o good will and advocating or a just social order, Catholic Chari-

ties agencies gained a wealth o knowledge and expertise which is available to assist parishes

in pursuing the social mission o the Church.10

Tis expertise is channeled to the aithul through agency parish social ministry programs that

provide leadership development and ormation opportunities to strengthen the parishs capacity

to do social ministry. Pat Macy, a parish social minister rom St. John Vianney Catholic Parish

in the Diocese o Austin, explained how Catholic Charities has played a vital role in helping her

parishs social ministry, I dont need to be connected to Catholic Charities to do parish social

ministry. However, i I want to improve, to get better, to network, to be connected to conven-

ings, to have access to ormation and to learn how to integrate, I need Catholic Charities to

keep learning, to grow and to be challenged.11 o meet the needs that Ms. Macy identies,

Catholic Charities parish social ministry programs:

Promote ormation on the Catholic social mission (e.g., supporting the JustFaith

program in the diocese or giving presentations on Catholic social teaching);



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Donating goods and services or agency programs; and

Creating a unied voice on behal o the poor and vulnerable people in the community

by participating together with Catholic Charities legislative advocacy eorts.

Finally, parishes are located in communities throughout the diocese, and people are drawn to a

place o worship or the communal experience. Parishes, especially through their pastors, oten

know the struggles o the people in their aith community and in the geographic region o the

parish. Parishes can bring their insights about these struggles to the work o caring or the poor

and reducing poverty in the diocese.

Diagram II illustrates how Catholic Charities supports the social ministry eorts o the parish through service, advo-

cacy, convening, and a parish social ministry program. It also shows how the parish supports the service, advocacy

and convening work o Catholic Charities through its reach, support, and insight.

As this diagram illustrates, by working in partnership, Catholic Charities agencies and parishes

can create a synergy that makes it possible to care or more people in need, work or justice, andprovide opportunities or the aithul to grow in love with God and neighbor.

Implementing the Partnership

In 2003, Catholic Charities USA sat down with more than 100 pastors rom nine dioceses,

in what was called the Pastor Project, to uncover strategies or building and sustaining ruitul

relationships with pastors. We learned the ollowing:


Th

eCatho

licSocialMis

sio

n

Parish

Service

Advocacy

Convening

Direct Service

Solidarity

Advocacy

Community

Organizing

Formation

Service

Advocacy

Convening

Direct Service

Solidarity

Advocacy

Community

Organizing

Formation

Diagram II: Creating Synergy in

Our Shared Mission Through Partnership

(ELPINGTOPROVIDESERVICEs3UPPORTINGADVOCACYEFFORTS

#ONVENINGCOMMUNITYs2UNNINGAPARISHSOCIALMINISTRYPROGRAM

0ROVIDINGVOLUNTEERSPIRITUALANDFINANCIALSUPPORT

,ENDINGINSIGHTSABOUTTHECOMMUNITYs"EINGPRESENTACROSSTHEDIOCESE


21/42

Ultimately, the pastors who responded to the Pastor Project expressed a desire to have

Catholic Charities see them as partners in the mission o Jesus in the world. Because o

their lack o training in the social teaching o the Church and its implementation, pastorsexpressed a desire that Catholic Charities provide guidance and organizational support or

such a partnership.12

o engage parishes as partners in the ministry and to have an inrastructure that will support

the partnership, two things must occur: relationships must be built and a plan or collaboration

must be created.

Building RelationshipsTe purpose o relationship building is to give each partner the opportunity to learn about the

otherto become amiliar with its realities and prioritiesand to create a orum or commu-

nication and accountability over the course o the partnership. A good relationship will help

ensure that respect and mutuality are preserved in the partnership.

Te relationship needs to be organizational, that is, between the Catholic Charities agency and

the parish, as opposed to a relationship between a Catholic Charities program sta member and

an individual at the parish, even i that individual is the pastor. People come and go at agencies

and at parishes. Organizational relationships are oten reinorced by multiple representatives o

both organizations. One person may act as a liaison or each organization, but many people or

committees at both organizations participate in the partnership. o maintain this type o orga-

nizational relationship, the partners must create a systematic approach to building relationships.

Te most eective, albeit time-intensive, approach is to designate a liaison to build relation-

ships with the parishes in the diocese. Tis liaison uses the one-on-one meetinga community

organizing strategyto develop the relationship by listening to the concerns, priorities, and

successes o the parish and by sharing those o the agency. As the relationship develops, a liaison

rom the parish is designated to take responsibility or coordinating joint activities and acilitat-

ing communication between the two organizations. In most cases, the liaison or the parish will

not be the pastor, nor will the agency representative be the executive director. However, it is

important or both the Catholic Charities executive director and the pastor to be involved in

the partnership in some way.

Te Catholic Charities liaison responsible or building relationships with the parishes will need to:

Be assertive in seeking out and nurturing relationships with pastors and parish leaders

in the diocese.

Be eective in one-on-one meetings, so that both participants create ellowship where

they can express their organizations concerns, strengths, and priorities in common

language and learn those o the other organization.



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Create or utilize a system to acilitate ollow up on the partnership.

Be knowledgeable in Catholic social teaching and Catholic Church structure.

Tis approach can be applied regionally, with multiple Catholic Charities liaisons taking re-

sponsibility or a region o the diocese. Te parish social ministry program o Catholic Chari-

ties o the Diocese o Rockville Centre has developed a regional liaison structure. (o learn

more, see the Spotlight on Rockville Centre at www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=1284).

A second approach to building relationships is to convene groups o parish leaders, which pro-

vides an opportunity or Catholic Charities parish social ministry sta to listen to their shared

concerns, priorities, and successes and to share those o Catholic Charities. Te agency may

convene the pastors as key stakeholders or ask that parishes designate a representative to attend

the parish convenings. Tis designee takes responsibility or representing the interests o the

parish and communicating the inormation gained at the convening with parish leadership.

Catholic Charities o the Diocese o Arlington takes this approach and convenes parish lead-

ers through its Parish Liaison Network. Tese convenings have a dual purpose: to engage the

parishes as key stakeholders in the conversation about the work o Catholic Charities and to

provide networking opportunities or the liaisons, who are oten the parish social ministry lead-

ers in their parishes.

Another relationship building strategy is or Catholic Charities to create a position (or positions)

on the board o directors or pastors or parish leaders who represent the interests o parishes and

acilitate communication with the parishes. Additionally, several agencies utilize a newsletter tokeep parishes inormed. While this is not an eective strategy on its own, it complements the

other strategies quite well.

Te advantage o these approaches is that they ocus on creating a win-win situation or both

the parish and the agency, and ultimately or the poor and vulnerable, by starting with a mutu-

ally benecial relationship. Furthermore, these approaches ensure that the program that is cre-

ated is based on both the priorities and the realities within the diocese.

Te challenge o relationship building is that it is never complete. It begins at the outset o the

partnership and continues indenitely. Strong relationships that aim at institutionalizing a part-

nership are necessary i the program is to weather changes. Tis is especially important because

people in the relationship change and new relationships are in constant need o nurturing.

Creating a Plano develop a plan or a parish-agency partnership, the partners must work rom a common

understanding. One o the criticisms outlined in ogether in the Work or Justicewas that pastorsound Catholic Charities initiatives irrelevant to the lives o their people. At the root o this



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problem was a disconnect between the vision o Catholic Charities and the vision o the parish.

Author Samuel Hose explains, Many Catholic Charities agency personnel take their vision

rom a broad view o Catholic social teaching. Pastors tend to build their visions upon the reali-ties o the lives o the people in their parishes. Between these two visions there oten lies a gul

o lack o connection and misunderstanding.13 Tat gul can only be overcome when eort is

given by both parties to understand the others vision and to develop a plan together rom that

understanding. Hose suggests the ollowing:

Start where [pastors] are. Te parish vision must come rom them. alk to them. Listen to them.

ry to learn what they see as important or the people o their parishes. All pastors have hearts

or charity and justice. Let the pastor tell you how he would like to see those things developing

within his parish community and start there in support o his vision.14

Ater starting with the vision o the pastor or parish, the partners should then consider the ol-

lowing in developing a plan:

Te agency mission. Does it articulate Catholic Charities role to be a catalyst in the

community or social ministry? Does it identiy a connection to the Church or

parishes?

Te vision o key players. Tis includes the vision o the bishop, pastors, executive

director, and board. What are their visions or the partnership? How do these visions

come together?

Te needs, resources, and capabilities o the parishes and Catholic Charities in the diocese. Have you thought creatively and comprehensively about the strategic advantages o

parishes and agencies? Have the right parish people been consulted to determine their

strategic advantages?

Te role o other diocesan ofces in social ministry. In some dioceses, there are several

ofces or organizations that support parishes in doing social ministry (e.g. Respect

Lie, St. Vincent de Paul, or the Catholic Campaign or Human Development)

and have an interest in getting support and engagement rom the parishes. Are they

potential partners? Can we all partner in meaningul ways that help advance the

Catholic social mission?Te input and capabilities o sta. I the person who will be responsible or

coordinating the partnership and/or directing the parish social ministry program is

already on sta, what are his or her perspectives and strengths?

Inrastructure to support the partnership. Catholic Charities agencies, parishes, and other

diocesan ofces may unction very dierently. What inrastructure (e.g. procedures,

opportunities and written agreements) will make it possible to partner in meaningul,

respectul ways?



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Seeking these answers will provide direction to the process o creating a plan or a unique par-

ish-agency partnership in your diocese. Dont underestimate the importance o seeking input

and buy-in rom parish leadership, clerical and lay, rom the beginning.

I building a ormal partnership between the parishes and the agencies is new, the two steps

o relationship building and creating the plan should happen simultaneously. In initial con-

versations, the Catholic Charities agency should expect to spend time listening to the current

initiatives and concerns o the parish related to its social mission and educating the parish on

its initiatives and priorities. At the same time, Catholic Charities should be very clear about

the process that they are going through to create a plan to ormalize a partnership between the

parishes and agency or to establish a parish social ministry program.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

Building partnerships with parishes is not without its challenges. Meaningul, eective collabo-

ration is difcult. Tere are ve main challenges to building parish-agency partnerships:

Resource limitations. While resource limitations are a reality or all Catholic Charities programs,the lack o adequate unding is a particular concern or parish partnerships. Te vast major-

ity o parish partnerships are nanced through unds that Catholic Charities receives rom

diocesan and church support. Tat contribution is precious because it is generally unrestricted

unding, and unrestricted unding is oten needed to supplement grants or other programs.

Furthermore, diocesan and church support accounts or only a small percentage o the total

agency budget, only our percent o total income in 2007.15

With so little unding availableor parish partnerships or parish social ministry programs, Catholic Charities agencies have

creatively responded by successully seeking unding rom Catholic oundations to support e-

orts like establishing a parish social ministry program, as is the case with Catholic Charities o

Little Rock, or through government grants made available through the Faith-Based Initiative to

provide services in partnership with parishes, as was the case with Catholic Charities o Central

New Mexico.

Number o parishes and geographic size o the diocese. No matter the size o the diocese, size isalways mentioned as a challenge. While Catholic Charities o Idaho garners sympathy, size isnt

the only challenge. Others include the number o parishes; the diversity among the parishes; the

combination o rural, urban, and suburban parishes; the terrain, and so orth. Te underlyingconcern is that building relationship takes time and a personal touch, and this is made more o

a challenge when parishes are numerous, spread out, and diverse. Te agencies who have made

the most headway in building partnerships have taken a number o years to do so, and they have

sought out the most receptive parishes rst in order to build momentum.

Organizational interest. Both parishes and agencies are predisposed to meeting their own orga-nizations needs, though the concerns that pull agencies and parishes away rom a partnership



25/42

o mutuality are oten legitimate. Parishes are responsible or the provision o sacraments, the

proclamation o the word o God, and the communal lie o the church in addition to parish

social ministry. Catholic Charities agencies are responsible to clients, unders, government andsocial work proessional standards, the bishop and a board o directors. rying to balance all o

these responsibilities can cause parishes and agencies to pull back on the partnership or to ocus

solely on how the other partner can help their eorts. Tis causes parishes and agencies to seek

quick alternatives to collaboration. Hose noticed the impact o organizational interest rom

both parishes and agencies:

Many pastors report only an indistinct understanding o what Catholic Charities does in

their dioceses. In addition, as with all diocesan ofces, pastors see Catholic Charities as

being there to support them in their work with parishes. However, as was reported almost

universally, pastors perceive diocesan and Catholic Charities ofces as seeking primarily

to bring them into conormity, support and participation in their programs programs

mostly devised and implemented without input rom or consultation with the very pastors

who are expected to buy into them.16

Tis comment accentuates the difculty o establishing partnerships o mutuality. Tey are

time-intensive and need to be built on relationships and shared vision. Only when these things

come together can the partnership support the organizational interest o both entities.

Diering standard operating procedures. Te diering standard operating procedures o CatholicCharities agencies and o parishes can create challenges. Caring or each other and working

or justice are becoming increasingly proessionalized in Catholic Charities at a much asterrate than in parishes. Catholic Charities agencies are being held to increasingly tighter stan-

dards through improving social work practice and by meeting oundation, government, or

accreditation requirements. Catholic Charities agencies receive, on average, 65 percent o their

total income rom government revenue.17 Tis revenue comes with stipulations and require-

ments. In addition, oundation grants and accreditation standards are placing restrictions on

how Catholic Charities agencies unction. Parishes are also coming under increased scrutiny,

especially related to nancial management, but there continues to be more reedom or parishes

than Catholic Charities. Further, parishes are looking to make meaningul contributions to

the work o Catholic Charities, but as service delivery changes and as more agencies engage in

advocacy, short-term, well-respected volunteer opportunities like helping in a soup kitchen are

being replaced with long-term or complex opportunities like being a reugee sponsor amily ora legislative advocate. Getting parish volunteers or the second category requires more recruit-

ment and organization.

Multiple diocesan social ministry organizations. Tere are several diocesan ministries that derivetheir mission rom the Catholic social mission, e.g. Respect Lie, Peace & Justice, Catholic

Campaign or Human Development, Catholic Relie Services, and St. Vincent de Paul. Each o

these ministries needs support and engagement o parishioners or their programs. Tese min-



26/42

istries may be run by Catholic Charities or by other organizations, such as the chancery. When

the social ministry eorts are run by dierent organizations, competition or parish support and

engagement can occur.

Trough experience gained over decades, Catholic Charities agencies have learned the ollowing

valuable lessons or dealing with these challenges:

Keep grounded in the shared mission.

Manage expectations by committing to only what you can complete and be exible

enough to accommodate legitimate requests rom pastors or parishes.

Make a long-term commitmentrelationships are undamental to success and take

time and a personal touch to build.

Seek a relationship with pastors, even though they will probably not be the liaison to

the partnership.

Write up an agreement which lays out the expectations o the partnership to ensure

mutuality and accountability.

Collaborate at the diocesan level with organizations that have similar missions so

that eorts dont compete or parish time, talent, and treasure, but complement one

another and help the parish to pursue its parish social ministry vision.

When possible, separate the responsibility o building the relationship rom other

Catholic Charities unctions (e.g. running a parish social ministry program, recruiting

volunteers or Catholic Charities programs, raising money or Catholic Charities). It

is difcult to stay true to the mutuality o the partnership while being responsible to

specic program outcomes.

Every parish partnership or parish social ministry program is dierent, so these strategies need

to be adapted to t each situation.

In creating a parish partnership, it is important to remember that parishes are making a contri-

bution to caring or the poor and working or justice in their own right, and that these eorts

need respect and nurturing. Further, parishes have a vision or social ministry and this vision

will need to be taken into special consideration while developing a plan or the partnership.And last, when partnerships between Catholic Charities and parishes are strategic, respectul,

and systematic, they can be powerul agents or creating synergy that can protect the lie and

dignity o more people.



27/42


As we talked with parish social ministry proessionals across the country, we ound an abun-

dance o successul parish social ministry eorts. In the Houma-Tibodaux Diocese in Loui-

siana, parish disaster response teams are critical partners in hurricane disaster response and

recovery eorts. In New Hampshire, the Diocese o Manchester has kept hurricane victims in

the hearts and minds o parishioners by organizing volunteer group trips to help in the demoli-tion and reconstruction in the wake o the disaster. In the Archdiocese o Miami, parishioners,

enlivened by the JustFaith program, support the eorts o the tomato pickers o Immokalee,

who have carried out a successul national organizing campaign to gain better wages and work-

ing conditions or arm workers. In the Diocese o Rockville Centre, in New York, Catholic

Charities was able to turn to parishes when a police bust uncovered several human traf cking

victims in desperate need o solace. Parish social ministers rom across the state o exas came

together with Catholic Charities to take angel ood cakes to the state legislators with a simple

message, Be an angel, be mindul o those living in poverty. Some parishes with sophisticated

social ministry programs are providing in-take services to people in the community, while

others are hosting dif cult discussions and encouraging action on some o the most polarizing

social justice issues o our time: abortion, immigration, war, racism, and health care.

One thing that each o these parish eorts has in common is the support o a Catholic Chari-

ties parish social ministry program. In this chapter, we will ocus on what parish social ministry

programs do and how they do it. We begin by looking at the responsibilities o parish social

ministry programs. In the 2007 Catholic Charities Annual Survey, Catholic Charities agen-

STRATEGIES FOR PARISH SOCIAL MINISTRY PROGRAMS


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cies identied the responsibilities o their parish social ministry programs. Te ollowing dia-

gram is a list o those responsibilities and the number o parish social ministry programs that

do them.

Diagram III: Responsibilities o a Parish Social Ministry Program

Responsibilities Agencies

Build partnerships with parishes in your diocese 155

Promote ormation on the Catholic social mission 112

Raise awareness o parish social ministry (e.g., educating pastorsand parish leadership on what parish social ministry is and why it is

important)

109

Coordinate Catholic Campaign or Human Development eorts or

promote community organizing and economic development96

Build capacity or parish social ministry (e.g., training or consultation

on how to structure social ministry in the parish and engage the parish

community)

94

Facilitate networking between parish-based social ministry sta and

volunteers or best practices sharing and problem solving 94

Collaborate with the St. Vincent de Paul Society 94

Coordinate a reerrals line or social services, specifcally or people in

need who come to parishes93

Coordinate volunteer recruitment between Catholic Charities and parishes 88

Coordinate Catholic Relie Services eorts or promote global solidarity 7418

Managing these responsibilities can be very challenging or parish social ministry programs,

especially when they have additional responsibilities, such as running the Justice or Immigrants

campaign, or are responsible or managing several components o the parish-agency partner-

ship: recruiting volunteers or raising unds rom the parishes. It can also be quite challenging

when the sta members o parish social ministry programs are the directors o diocesan pro-



29/42

grams like the Catholic Campaign or Human Development or Catholic Relie Services. Each

o these programs brings unique responsibilities and makes the program accountable to other

constituencies.

Parish social ministry programs have ound ways to deal with these challenges by creating strat-

egies that enable them to accomplish several responsibilities through one approach. In our

analysis o agency PSM programs, we ound that there are our general strategies: education,

mobilization, consultation, and convening. In some dioceses, the agency ocuses on one strat-

egy, while in others, the agency melds multiple strategies within an overall program.

Education Strategy

Te education strategy ocuses on the ormation, training, and development o parish sta and

volunteers. A standardized curriculum is developed to educate parish sta and volunteers aboutthe Catholic aith traditions call to action on behal o the vulnerable, the structure or parish

social ministry within the parish, and the skills necessary or an eective social ministry. Ater

completing the curriculum, parish sta and volunteers are encouraged to become the leaders o

their parishs social ministry eorts.

Catholic Charities agencies utilizing the education strategy uses two principal approaches. In

a ormal approach, the parish social ministry program teaches a course open to all parishes. In

some cases, the course is oered in conjunction with a local university or college, and those

completing it become certied parish social ministers. In a more inormal approach, Catho-

lic Charities parish social ministry programs make available a course o study or small aith-sharing groups to utilize in a parish. For example, the Building Communities o Salt and Light

program developed by Peggy Prevoznik Heins has been used or this purpose. Tese courses

orm parish sta and volunteers on the oundational Catholic teaching that provides the basis

or parish social ministry and instruct participants on a vision or parish social ministry, a model

or organizing parish social ministry, and the skills needed to be a parish social ministry leader.

Te JustFaith program is a variation o this inormal approach. It ocuses primarily on orming

participants by helping them evaluate reality through the lens o Catholic social teaching.

Te advantage o utilizing the education strategy is that it oers a consistent model o parish so-

cial ministry within the diocese, which promotes a common understanding and acilitates com-

munication, coordination, and growth throughout the diocese. Te courses oered through thediocese provide parish social ministers with an intense level o training, connect them with peers

across the diocese, and give them resources or the uture. Te accreditation given or complet-

ing the course adds a level o proessionalization that garners respect or the ministry. Also, the

small group approaches have the advantage o uniting a group o people within the parish who

have a common understanding o parish social ministry and a shared experience. It is rom these

groups that the leaders o parish social ministry oten emerge.



30/42

Tere are two disadvantages o the education strategy. Te course requires a large amount o

time and resources to train relatively ew people in the diocese, and the small groups dont al-

ways get sufcient direction needed to organize a parish social ministry.

See the Spotlight on Galveston-Houston or a vibrant example o the education strategy at www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=1280.

Mobilization Strategy

Te mobilization strategy ocuses on channeling the Catholic voice into addressing social is-

sues and advocating or justice. Te strategys rst step is to educate the laity in Catholic social

teaching and help people to understand how it relates to current social justice issues. Te mo-

bilization strategy acilitates opportunities or collective action and provides instruction on how

to advocate. Tis process amplies the churchs position on important issues in the legislativeprocess or in community organizing.

Te principal ways that Catholic Charities parish social ministry programs mobilize parishio-

ners are by:

Creating a legislative network consisting o leaders throughout the diocese. At times,

these networks will promote creation o afnity groups that ocus on mobilizing

around a particular issue.

Coordinating events or parishioners to learn about and discuss how Catholic social

teaching relates to current events and social justice issues.

Hosting a lobby day, during which parishioners learn about issues relevant to the

church and then visit legislative representatives to discuss those issues.

Te advantage o this approach is that it engages the laity in social change by ocusing on the

development o skills that individuals need in the public sphere. Signicant attention can be

given to helping people understand the implications o action and inaction, developing advo-

cacy skills, and preparing or conict.

Te disadvantage o this approach is that it does not help develop a complete picture o social

ministry in the parish community. It does not help a parish organize to meet the needs o peoplethrough direct service or global solidarity. Tis strategy is good to use when there is other sup-

port or charitable work or i parishes are doing a good job creating these eorts on their own.

Further, orms o social ministry that engage people in social action, like legislative advocacy

or community organizing, tend to engage ewer people in the work because o their political

nature and the advocacy skills they require.



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For an example o the eective use o the mobilization strategy, see Spotlight on St. Paul-Minne-apolisat www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=1283.

Consultation Strategy

Te consultation strategy ocuses on providing assistance and resources to individual parishes

or a parish cluster to develop social ministry. Te result is a parish social ministry that is tailored

to the parishs priorities and unique situation. ypically, the parish requests the assistance o the

agencys parish social ministry sta members, who then meet with the pastor, parish council, or

parish social ministry committee. During this meeting, or series o meetings, the parish social

ministry sta members listen to the concerns, needs, and resources o the parish and then help

parish leadership create a parish social ministry that reects those concerns, needs, and resourc-

es. Te PSM sta also connects the parish leadership to resources that can be used to help theparish meet its social ministry goals.

Te consultation strategy is common where there are ew parish social ministry program sta

members or where there is a wide range o diversity among the parishes in the diocese. Te

consulting process requires that the parish social ministry program sta provide a clear and

concise picture o parish social ministry, depict its purpose and centrality, acilitate a process

to design a parish social ministry eort, and connect parishioners with inormation, programs,

and resources that can help them meet their goals.

Te advantage o this approach is that the parish determines its own priorities and structure,

which leads to greater ownership o the eort.

Te disadvantage o this approach is that there is no consistent model o parish social ministry

within the diocese. A consistent model would promote common understanding, communica-

tion, coordination, and growth throughout the diocese.

For an example o the consultation strategy at work, see Spotlight on Wilmington at www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=1282.

Convening Strategy

Te convening strategy ocuses on bringing together the social ministry leaders in the diocese

who are both parish and diocesan sta and volunteers. Te parish leaders come together to:

Develop skills or parish social ministry,

Learn about resources available to them,

Network and share best practices with other parish leaders and the diocesan social

ministry sta who are able to support their ministry,



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Do social analysis on current events and social justice issues and learn how to create an

environment or the parish community to have a similar dialogue, and

Create a community o support and prayer.

Te parishioners are sent back to their parishes better equipped and rejuvenated to be social

ministry leaders. Te convening strategy can be very eective as a collaborative eort between

several diocesan social ministry ofces. Diocesan leaders can create an opportunity to discuss

with parish leaders their organizational initiatives and invite people to evaluate, join, and recruit

or them. Te diocesan leaders also gain a better understanding o the needs and capabilities o

the parish social ministry eorts in the diocese.

Parish social ministry leaders can be convened in numerous ways. Some dioceses sponsor social

ministry gatherings, which are targeted at parish social ministry leaders and people who areinterested in learning more about parish social ministry. Tese gatherings oten strive to meet

all o the purposes listed above.

Te Catholic Charities USA Parish Social Ministry Regional raining program subsidizes such

gatherings or Catholic Charities agencies that work together with neighboring dioceses to

sponsor a training o this type on the regional level. Diocesan leaders have ound that consis-

tency in these gatherings can be very helpul, and so many are holding these gatherings on an

annual basis. For example, Catholic Charities in the Diocese o Wilmington conducts an an-

nual social concerns and networking day.

Such gatherings can stand alone or work in conjunction with smaller meetings that are heldmore requently and ocus on one or two o the purposes. For example, the topic o one gather-

ing might be Faithul Citizenship, while the topic o another might be dealing with emergency

services as the weather turns colder and heating bills become a concern. Generally, these smaller

meetings target a smaller audience, e.g. the parish social ministry leader o each parish in a spe-

cic diocese or deanery.

Te convening strategy has three principal advantages. First, it helps to build a community

through which people support and assist one another in the ministry. Second, the parish social

ministry program director at Catholic Charities can rely on the expertise o the group or o an

expert who is brought in to help meet the challenges o parish social ministry. Tird, it acilitates

collaboration between diocesan social ministry ofces.

Te disadvantage o this approach is that the convening becomes more eective only when

there are multiple opportunities to come together; skill development is reinorced, community

building is strengthened, and steep learning curves level as the group continues to come to-

gether. Tis is a challenge because many social ministry leaders are volunteers and are not able

to attend as many unctions as sta.



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For examples o multiple convening activities, see Spotlight on renton at www.catholiccharitie-susa.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=1281.

Multiple Strategies

Most o the Catholic Charities agencies we visited used several strategies in their parish social

ministry program. In that way, the program provides multiple opportunities or the parishes

to engage in parish social ministry. Furthermore, modeling several strategies at the agency level

may encourage parishes to pursue multiple strategies.


INTRODUCTION


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Te ollowing diagram summarizes and analyzes the strategies used by parish social ministry

programs.

Diagram IV: Analysis o Parish Social Ministry Program Strategies

Strategy Purpose Advantage Disadvantage

Education Forms and trains

leaders in Catholic

social teaching and

a standard model o

parish social ministry

Oers a consistent

model o parish social

ministry in the diocese

Requires a lot o

time and resources

to train a ew people

and may result in

participants not

getting sufcient

direction

Mobilization Channels the Catholicvoice to address social

issues and advocate

or justice

Engages the laityin social change by

ocusing on developing

skills and social

analysis

Neglects the directservice and global

solidarity unctions o


Consultation Facilitates the process

o a parish or parish

cluster as they develop


Results in a program

that meets the parishs

own priorities and

structure

Produces no

consistent model o


within the diocese

Convening Brings togetherthe social ministry

leaders or training,

spiritual development,

networking, and

community building

Builds community andacilitates collaboration

Can provide leaderswith insufcient

direction without

ongoing support

Multiple

Strategies

Utilizes multiple

approaches to

ocus on dierent

responsibilities

Builds community and

acilitates collaboration

Can cause a program

to overreach by

pursuing too many

strategies

Parish Social Ministry Program StaffSkills and Knowledge

Despite high expectations or building relationships and implementing program strategies, ew

programs have many parish social ministry sta. Catholic Charities agencies have a mean av-

erage o 4.6 PSM sta members and a median average o one sta person doing parish social



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ministry per agency. Tere are a ew programs with several sta; they are some o the networks

most sophisticated and longest running programs.

Given this reality, it is critical that each sta member have the skills and knowledge necessary

to build and maintain partnerships with parishes. It is also critical that they have the additional

skills required by the dierent program strategies. Te ollowing are designed to spark ideas or

Catholic Charities agencies looking to ll parish social ministry program positions.

All parish social ministry program sta need:

Extensive knowledge o parish social ministry and the ability to promote and articulate

its vision and theology in language that can be understood by multiple audiences.

Knowledge o Catholic social teaching and Catholic Church structure.

Te ability to build partnerships within the agency, diocese, and community to

support parish social ministry.

Because each o the parish social ministry program strategies requires a dierent set o addi-

tional skills, an agency must consider rst which type o strategies it will pursue or dene the

specic role o the parish social ministry program sta person.

Agency PSM programs using the Education Strategy should look or sta members

that can:

Create, modiy, commission, and/or update curriculum or parish social ministry

pertinent to the diocesan reality.

In the case o a course, coordinate recruitment, speakers, integration o learning styles,

and logistics o training.

In case o a small group process, coordinate recruitment, distribution, and acilitator

training and assistance.

Agency PSM programs using the Mobilization Strategy should look or sta members

that have:

Extensive knowledge o the legislative process and Catholic Church teaching on

social issues.Knowledge o partner organizations that do legislative analysis and are supported by

your local ordinary, e.g. Catholic Charities USA, the U.S. Conerence o Catholic

Bishops.



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Agency PSM programs using the Consultation Strategy should look or sta members that can:

Market training opportunities and best practices and resources.

Assess the parish situation and support a process wherein the parish recognizes the

most eective strategies it can take to promote parish social ministry.

Agency PSM programs using the Convening Strategy should look or sta members that can:

Organize events that engage parish social ministers and assist in their work.

rain parish social ministers on skill development and Catholic social teaching

Challenges and Lessons Learned

Just as there are challenges in building partnerships with parishes, as addressed in the previouschapter, there are challenges in running parish social ministry programs. First, there isnt broad-

based understanding or acceptance o Catholic Charities role to be a catalyst o social ministry

in the diocese. Some Catholic Charities executives, boards, and employees nd it difcult to

understand why Catholic Charities is involved in a program that works with parishes rather than

doing social service or advocacy. Others think the purpose o the parish social ministry program

is to acilitate the partnership between parishes and agencies. Secondly, parish social ministry

programs are leadership development programs. As such, they train parishes to develop their own

priorities or parish social ministry, priorities that may not match those o the agency. Finally,

with many responsibilities and limited sta and resources, parish social ministry programs run

the risk o stretching too ar to be eective.

Catholic Charities agencies have learned the ollowing valuable lessons or dealing with these

challenges:

Ground the program in Catholic identity and teach employees, volunteers, and the

board about the Catholic aith tradition to explain that caring or one another and

working or justice are primarily a responsibility o the individual aithul. As a part o

the church, Catholic Charities needs to support parishes and individuals in their eort

to live out this mission, rather than to take on the responsibility or them or to act on

the mission in isolation rom them.Reinorce the importance o keeping a parish-agency partnership based on mutuality

to the Catholic Charities sta person responsible or building the relationship and

evaluate the person on outcomes that reinorce mutuality.

Educate parishes on issues o importance to the church and acilitate opportunities or

parishes to make a meaningul impact in those areas.

Prioritize the parish social ministry program responsibilities and utilize ewer strategies

that help the program meet the most important responsibilities most eectively.

28 | PSM REPORT


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Catholic Charities will always be needed as a catalyst and collaborator in social ministry in the

local church. Te challenge or us will be to collaborate with people o good will and the par-

ish in ways that recognize the unique contribution o each partner and that complement one

another. Catholic Charities must continue to take care that it doesnt unintentionally relieve

the aithul o their baptismal responsibility to stand with Christ in need. We will need to seekconnections with one another continually and to reect on our shared mission to live out the

Gospel in continually changing circumstances. As we move orward, parish partnerships and

parish social ministry programs can continue to be successul i we ace the challenges that come

our way, rely on one another or help, and stay grounded in our mission.

wo important trends are already beginning to impact Catholic Charities and parishes as they

work together. Te rst trend relates to the sweeping changes in leadership and membership

taking place today in the Catholic Church in the United States. Te number o priests and

religious is decreasing, even as the number o Catholics is increasing. Since 1965, the number

o priests has decreased by 31 percent.19 Te number o religious is decreasing at even a more

rapid rate. And there is no sign that this trend will slow. In act, there were less than hal the

number o priestly ordinations in 2008 as there was in 1965.20 During this same period, the

Catholic population has grown 41 percent.21 Tis signicant growth can be explained in large

part by immigration. Tus, as the Catholic population grows, it is diversiying. Te impact o

this trend is already being elt by most dioceses, with parish clustering and multi-parish pastor-

ing becoming commonplace. Dioceses are adjusting to meet the sacramental needs o diverse

populations by, or example, oering the sacraments in multiple languages each week.

As we move orward,

parish partnerships

and parish social

ministry programs

can continue to be

successul i we ace

the challenges that

come our way, rely on

one another or help,

and stay grounded in

our mission.

MOVING FORWARD


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How these sweeping changes in leadership and membership will aect the relationships be-

tween parishes and agencies is as yet unknown. We do know that the eects o these changes

have been experienced within Catholic Charities or some time. With a declining number opriest and religious leaders, it has been more difcult to nd leaders with the same level o theo-

logical ormation. Tat being said, ormation is not enough. A leader must also be trained or

the role. Furthermore, in light o a diverse Catholic population and a young adult population

that isnt as connected to the church, the leader must also create a welcoming space in which

dierent ideas may be shared and in which people may develop.

Securing ormed, trained, and welcoming leaders is a challenge that all church organizations

share. Catholic Charities agencies, though, have decades o experience in empowering lay min-

isters to the work o the church. Tese leaders have taken on proessional positions o authority

and leadership and are leading some o the most diverse organizations in the church. With this

experience, Catholic Charities has something extremely valuable to bring to the conversation

about what it means to have the laity take on leadership roles within the church.

Catholic Charities does not, however, have broad experience with all o the implications o the

change in leadership and membership in the church. Few parish partnerships and parish social

ministry programs have experience with parish clusters, parish lie coordinators, and multi-

parish pastors. Progress has been slow in engaging minorities in leadership positions in parish

social ministry and motivating youth and young adults in a way that inspires commitment to

the aith. Tese are challenges that we will need to work on together.

Te second trend relates to outcome measurements or parish social ministry. Parish partner-ships and parish social ministry programs are increasingly being held to outcome based peror-

mance measurement requirements. Gone are the days when people donated without asking or

results. oday, people invest their donations in an idea or a program that they believe will bring

about the results that they want. Ten they want evidence that these programs really work.

Measuring the perormance o programs by assessing outcomes is not new to Catholic Chari-

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PSM: Catalysts & Collaborators in Social Ministry

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