Aim: Better Church management

Washington (CNS) -- Three Catholic universities are working to give Church leaders the management and administration skills they need to complement their training in ministry:

* Villanova University in Pennsylvania ran a recent five-day Church Management Institute for 33 Church leaders, including diocesan chancellors, religious order superiors, and a variety of directors of personnel, finances or development in dioceses, parishes and religious orders.

* In September, Boston College will introduce a graduate program in Church management.

* The University of Notre Dame in Indiana has had a master's program in administration for leaders of religious orders since 1954, but it has enlarged the program and renamed the degree "master of nonprofit administration."

Managing

"Recent years have shown there is a need for training in Church management, especially in Catholic parishes, schools and dioceses," said Father William P. Leahy, SJ, president of Boston College.

"What we're really about is stewardship," said Charles E. Zech, an economics professor at Villanova's business school and director of its Center for the Study of Church Management.

Thomas Harvey, director of the Notre Dame program, said it is open to the broader nonprofit sector, but most of the students are in leadership positions in the Church.

Degrees

The Boston College program will offer two options: a master's degree in pastoral ministry with a concentration in Church management, or a double master's degree in business administration and in pastoral ministry.

Thomas Groome, director of Boston College's Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry, got the idea for a joint degree program when he attended a conference at which Catholic business and Church leaders discussed ways to improve Church practices in administration, finances and personnel matters.

"It was apparent that the business leaders did not fully understand the language of the Church, and the Church leaders did not fully understand the language of business," he said. "If we are to move beyond crisis to renewal, then it is essential that we train managers who are competent in both the theology and mission of the Church, and in the best practices of management."

Skills

Zech said that people in Church organizations often "rise through the ranks" to leadership positions.

Even though they may have a thorough knowledge of the parish or diocese or agency or institution they work for, "their expertise does not include management skills," he said.

Those skills include ethics, planning, program assessment, human resources and personnel evaluation, development and fundraising, financial reporting, dealing with advisory bodies, and how to bridge Church law and civil law.

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