If someone were to ask you, a parish priest, “How do you practice synodality in your life and ministry?” you might initially struggle to answer, perhaps even to grasp the question.

For many of us “synodality” has not been a part of our pastoral lexicon until recently. Nevertheless, our theological training gives us an assist that perhaps the average layperson doesn’t have.

So, at least on the conceptual level, the term is probably not out of reach for us. Concretely, in pastoral practice, however, we might still be scratching our heads.

In this article I hope to describe some practical, lived and sometimes aspirational examples of synodality in parish life.

I was privileged to participate in the International Meeting of Parish Priests in the spring of last year as part of the Synod on Synodality. Before and since, I have tried to understand — from a practical standpoint — how synodality can have a positive impact on my life as a pastor and the life of my parish.

Any Meeting Can Be Synodal

Parishes already have several structures for synodal processes, the pastoral council being the most obvious. However, any meeting or gathering of Christians can become synodal. Virtually every gathering of the Church can be an opportunity to listen, discern and decide.

A few years ago at my parish, something that we all assumed would probably be a one-off meeting of the leaders of parish groups and ministries gradually evolved into quarterly “leadership synods.” Their shape and content evolved, and, as they did, we realized that these gatherings were like mini-synods.

As the pastoral council proposed goals, they saw in the quarterly gathering an opportunity to directly present the goals and plans to parish ministry leaders and get their prayerful feedback. These “table reports” would then be received and studied by the pastoral council.

Over the course of a Saturday morning, we dedicate time to music, a shared meal, prayer in common and conversations. We don’t rush the prayer portion, but see it as a time to experience both union with God and with one another. Presentations are made, as well as updates on the latest things happening in the parish. In this way, many more people came to feel like they were “in the know” regarding parish direction, goals and plans. We introduced and trained these leaders in new tools to facilitate communication and other parish processes.

One parishioner shared this: “It has been heartening to witness the metamorphosis of the faithful resultant from the Synods of Leadership. Their connection both with each other and the Holy Spirit becomes more evident each time we meet, as they listen to each other and the Holy Spirit, seeking to understand God’s will for our parish and community. We continue to see the fruit of the synods, as listening leads to understanding, which begets respect, appreciation and love for one another.”

Leaving Room for the Holy Spirit

Synodality, as I understand it, is not a fixed set of predetermined methods and structures. Instead, it might be seen as certain values that need to be incarnated in diverse pastoral situations. That incarnation is the work of the Holy Spirit rather than the fruit of anyone’s personal pastoral genius. If that is so, we should expect surprises.

With time I’m becoming more comfortable with the discomfort of not knowing what might happen next, with not having a fixed pastoral plan for the next five years. The “word” becomes “flesh” through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our parish may indeed have discerned a vision and goals, but their incarnation also needs regular and earnest discernment.

One reason we may be uncomfortable with synodality is because, on some level, we may be uncomfortable with inviting the Holy Spirit to get involved, and then letting him. Gratefully, the Church has a treasury of wisdom for and experience in discerning that still, small voice.

Furthermore, taking seriously the active role of the Holy Spirit in governance helps to avoid the unintentional creep into democracy. The pastor lacks the gift of infallibility, but that is just as true for the pastoral council or any other group. In this light, therefore, a mature communal discernment must be learned and practiced.

Communal Discernment

A key part of synodality is the practice of communal discernment, which is an enduring practice of the Church (see Acts 15).

In any form of communal discernment, patience is in tension with progress. The daily and weekly pace of typical parishes can run as fast as the surrounding culture, even if real change seems glacial. Quick decisions are valued. External markers of progress drive decision-making. Nevertheless, communal processes of discernment call for patience.

Communal discernment is possible and practical in everyday circumstances. It can take on many different forms and methods, but the “Conversations in the Spirit” model has been particularly highlighted during the Synod on Synodality. It is a method that can be used in many diverse settings.

During the time set aside for communal discernment, participants are challenged both to speak boldly what they believe the Spirit suggests to them and to listen deeply, even reverently, to that which is shared by others. Honest, humble and charitable dialogue should be the hallmarks of communal discernment.

A few years ago our parish started what we came to call the “Tactical Discernment Team.” As new goals and plans emerged, we realized that I, as the pastor, and our staff and volunteers need help discerning how to implement and incarnate them. Furthermore, I would look at my desk, covered with questions, proposals and problems and get overwhelmed. How do we engage the Holy Spirit in guiding day-to-day decisions as well? There is certainly a grace of the priesthood and of the pastoral office — but it’s not the gift of infallibility!

That initial group committed to meeting every week for two to three hours for prayer, discernment and decision-making. It was a blessing and a challenge for all of us. For my part, I recognized a need to grow in humility and patient listening. I think we all realized a need to learn how to really listen in-depth. All of the lay participants were challenged to speak boldly and honestly in the presence of the pastor. As we do so, we are walking together and listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Listening

For priests and parishes to become more synodal, we need to dedicate ourselves to consciously honing our listening skills, whether that is in a one-on-one situation or in group settings. Here again, it’s necessary to have patience, and to see listening almost as a form of prayer — listening to the voice of God in the voices of others.

We discovered that listening could also be a tool for reconciliation within groups. We had a very positive experience with a parish organization that had become strongly divided internally. A division had erupted within its leadership and among its members. There had been anger, tears and feelings of broken trust. We agreed to meet with anyone from the group who wanted to share with us his or her feelings and concerns.

With each person we prayed, listened, took notes and asked him or her to continue praying for the unity of the organization. After all those meetings, we gathered together and spoke honestly about all that we had heard. Everyone felt the need to ask forgiveness and to start over again. The experience drove home for me the belief that people in conflict need to be heard before they can hear.

Cultivating Communion

The theme of the synod was “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.” Those last three words didn’t resonate with me right away. I didn’t see the connection. Since then, I have come to appreciate how they give the concept of synodality its incarnational thrust.

Communion highlights the importance of relationships among those meaningfully engaged in the life and mission of the parish. If a lived experience of mutual love isn’t the starting point for synodality, I think it is at least a fundamental pillar. Yet I have a gnawing doubt that many of those “meaningfully engaged” parishioners and staff have experienced something they would describe as mutual love, communion or unity. I think disunity and power struggles are a far more common parish experience. To the extent that this is the case, another important active principle for synodality is conversion — ongoing, humble conversion of all those same people, including the clergy.

For synodality to grow beyond being just another name for collective processes, I believe that parishes have to consciously, intentionally strive toward lived experiences of communion and all that communion brings with it. That means growing in honesty, courage, transparency and, most of all, love and mercy. Pastors have to be communal cardiologists rather than parochial engineers: We need to focus on relationship building and healing more than perfecting pastoral plans, processes and programs.

In my parish, at some point — quite organically — we started dedicating time at the beginning of various meetings to sharing experiences from the past week or so. Attendees shared joys and difficulties. This really helped our relationships improve and deepen. Together, we established a type of covenant to guide and guard the relationships of the members, both inside and outside the meetings.

As priests we spend more time in meetings than we’d like. However, were we to adopt communal discernment more widely, we could experience these meetings as occasions for profound spiritual engagement. We would no longer just be trying to “get things done” or “get everyone on board.” Instead, we would be experiencing Jesus in our midst, an experience of the Mystical Body come alive. We could come into those gatherings having already prayed about the items on the agenda and prepared to listen to each other reverentially. Being listeners as priests and laity together is a truly spiritual exercise and not merely a democratic process.

Participation and Mission

One of the limits we often encounter in parish life is a lack of “participation.” That is not primarily what is intended here. However, greater participation in programs and events would be a likely outcome.

Synodality envisions a wider participation in synodal processes, as has been seen by the efforts of the recent synod. It also calls for the gifts and charisms of the Church to be called forth to participate in the mission of the Church. The participation that is called for by synodality is that which organically arises from the charisms granted to the faithful, which need to be identified, called forth, empowered and guided.

I can look back and admit that while I wanted people to step up and take leadership roles, my own need for control often led to a lackluster outcome. What might have looked to me like guidance often looked to other parish leaders like dominance. When I did that, I often lost leaders and kept only the doers. I don’t know if I would call that clericalism on my part, but I can honestly say that I was not trusting the Holy Spirit or even listening to the Holy Spirit. Instead, I had my plans, and the faithful were just the workforce that I needed to get ’er done.

It could very well be that the ultimate reason many people are wrestling with synodality is that they conceive of a Church that is largely about serving its current members’ needs and haven’t discovered a well-developed stance toward mission and evangelization.

I am guilty as charged. Most of my experience over many years has been in parishes that were concerned with finding a way to meet all of the many and competing needs already present. The lived values were centered on finding resources for existing needs and programs and employing them with greater efficiency. Finding lost sheep was, at most, a hoped-for outcome of whatever we were already doing.

Finally, I think we need to be willing to try, and to fail. Embrace a courageous “trial and error” approach. If, after discernment, you’re still not sure if the Spirit is suggesting a given direction, perhaps you just try it and see. You can learn a lot from failure, and more humility never hurt anyone.

FATHER CLINT RESSLER is the pastor of St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal in Texas City, Texas. He was one of seven U.S. pastors invited to participate in the International Meeting of Parish Priests in Rome in 2024.