Owen Phelps
Renewing Your Parish Staff
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“There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force which really changes our lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. Read More
Four Ways to Address Declining Attendance
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In the face of major challenges, wise leaders know that their effectiveness depends on two things: an appropriate inner disposition and a solid plan of action. Lacking either is a recipe for failure. In the February 2023 issue of The Priest, Father Michael White addressed what is possibly the most pressing challenge in parishes today: Read More
Showing Concern for Parishioners
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When my friend Vic was alive, he would talk about coming to the United States from Lithuania via a German POW camp. He arrived in New York with a pregnant wife. Catholic Charities greeted them and provided train tickets to Chicago, “the second largest Lithuanian city in the world.” When they arrived in Chicago, they Read More
How to Build Better Meetings
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Back when food preparation was transitioning from a series of home chores to an industry, one bread company touted its brand as “building strong bodies eight great ways.” It was more hype than fact, but it gives us a fine framework for considering how to improve the quality of meetings because it’s helpful to think Read More
Time Management
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British publisher and writer Ernest Benn once said, “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.” If that’s true, the challenge of time management is a lot like politics. The problem starts with our description of the challenge. It isn’t about managing time at Read More
Tips for Leaders at Appointment Time
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When my granddaughter Anna returned from her first day of school, her mother was eager to quiz her. When she asked Anna if she made any friends, she replied “no.” My daughter was shocked. Anna was a social butterfly. “Why not?” my daughter wondered aloud. “Because no one would do what I told them to Read More
Father, Meet PAPI (the Process, Assessing, Prioritizing and Implementing Plan)
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“COVID shot holes through our parish’s bottom line and the pastor just crawled into a hole.” That’s the way a lay friend of mine recently described the toll taken on his parish by the COVID-19 pandemic. He continued: “He just stopped communicating. Staff and volunteer leaders waited weeks for email responses to their questions.” As Read More
A Priest in Full
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In Ash Wednesday’s Gospel, Jesus has some helpful guidance for how priests can experience Lent as an opportunity for sane spiritual growth rather than a draining, interminable fire drill. He tells his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your Read More