A unique approach to leadership development and coaching that incorporates successful leadership practices used in the secular business world and connects them with Catholic spirituality.
Designed for Church leaders: bishops, priests, deacons, members of parish or diocesan staff, parish council members, seminarians - anyone involved in decision-making processes within the Church.
Gifted in the Spirit:
Catholic Leadership Development Institute
Seminaries form ordained leaders but often lack sufficient time for learning practical leadership, management, and administrative training. Often priests and deacons are unprepared for parish managerial duties—especially where schools, outreach, and multiple ministries exist. Clergy are often burden with administrative tasks like budgeting, personnel, facilities, compliance, fundraising, volunteer development, and strategic planning, which takes them away from those activites which attracted them to ministry in the first place. As a result, priests become stressed, suffer from burnout and some even leave their vocation.
What We Hear
When discerning a call to the priesthood, many priests shared that their primary motivation centered on their desire to bring Christ to others and share God’s love through the celebration of sacraments, preaching the Gospel, and bringing comfort to sick and suffering.
“I am tired of being a business manager, a CFO, a human resources officer and a building manager. Being an administrator and manager isn’t why I became a priest.”
“Our parish planted 40 trees and we hadn’t had rain in a while. Guess who was out watering trees? Me.”
“There are so many tasks that need my time. I am disappointed that I can’t give ample time to parish activities that need my attention.”
What We Offer
Often with the right team of dedicated parish staff and committed parishioners, various responsibilites can be shared within the community to help alleviate some of the burdens of the priest in the areas of leadership, management and administration.
Gifted in the Spirit: Catholic Leadership Development Institute provides practical, faith-rooted training for ordained leaders and parish teams to build administrative skills, leadership habits, and strategic practices that sustain parish life while protecting the priest’s primary pastoral role.
Leadership development skills: decision-making, conflict resolution, team building, delegation, and volunteer management so clergy can lead rather than merely manage.
Parish-wide capacity building: lay leadership formation and staff development so administrative responsibilities are shared appropriately.