With two priests serving a family of seven parishes, how does leadership function in Holy Spirit Catholic Parishes? 

Bishop

Leadership within the Catholic Church is quite different from that of a corporation or government.  Jesus calls us all to a particular vocation. This call is embedded in the pastoral care in our church. The Pope is called by the Cardinals who elect him—praying that the Holy Spirit guide them in doing so.

The Pope calls men to be Bishops and sends them to take care of a task in the Church. Archbishop Lucas was called and sent to us. His roots are in St. Louis and his first mission as Bishop was in Springfield, IL. The Archbishop is responsible for the spiritual and material welfare of our whole Archdiocese. He asks for men and women to work with him in this task and seeks their advice and counsel.

Pastor

Archbishop Lucas has called and sent me to be the pastor of our 7 parishes and has given me the responsibility to watch over the spiritual and material welfare of our parishes. In the installation rites of the church there is a real gifting of the parishes to the pastor. In fact the decree that calls and sends is called the Decree of Possession.

Any committees or organizations in the parish have a life of their own and at the same time are responsible to the Pastor. This spells collaboration and cooperation. Any pastor is always looking for helpers who will work with him. Mutual respect is called for: the pastor seeking the counsel of the faithful and the faithful respecting the role of the pastor.

In our culture and society we understand organizations from the perspective of business. With that being the case some want to impose on the church this template which seeks to control the pastor as if he were simply an employee of the parish. This is what makes the role of pastor very difficult. If a pastor and a committee have an adversarial relationship, one that is devoid of cooperation, collaboration and respect for the roles, one that sees itself as powerful enough to force a pastor to do something, then it has moved into a realm of Board of Directors and no longer looks like the Church where the real Shepherd over the pastor is the Bishop. So often in our church, throughout its history, such fragmentation has let to splits in our Church. Look at all the various Christian Churches: some estimates say there are 45,000 denominations world wide. In all the changes we have experienced in our parishes there are some things that are constant. But when we chip away at those constants its just not good for us all, at all.

(Fr. Owen Korte, HSCP Bulletin 10/15/23)

Leadership Team

The leadership team is a small group of key leaders who help the pastor advance his vision for Holy Spirit Catholic Parishes. The pastor relies on this team to help him make and implement strategic decisions that will further the vision. The team ultimately shares responsibility for the success of a parish's mission with the pastor. The leadership team addresses practical, tactical questions related to structures, approaches to ministry, programming, use of resources, etc. that either further or hinder the realization of the vision. The team also assists the pastor with implementing its decisions. The Leadership Team is outlined by the Archdiocese of Omaha Pastoral Planning Template Guidelines, Appendix III. The leadership team meets with the pastor approximately biweekly.

Family Pastoral Council

Following the 2023 Journey of Faith pastoral planning, Holy Spirit Catholic Parishes falls under the Single Pastor Governance Model as outlined by the Archdiocese of Omaha Pastoral Planning Template Guidelines, Appendix II. This model was implemented to “ease the administrative workload and promote the mission at all parishes in the Family.” Holy Spirit Catholic Parishes therefore has a Family Pastoral Council with representation from all seven parishes and each of the three schools.

Parish Stewardship Councils

Every individual parish is required by Canon Law to have a finance council (Canon 537).  "The finance council assists in the administration of the temporal goods of the parish by offering counsel and guidance to the pastor." (Archdiocese of Omaha, Norms for Parish Finance Councils, p. 2.)

While a finance council is required by law, having a separate pastoral council is not required. In our seven parishes, the use of finance and pastoral councils have varied widely. For some parishes, finance and pastoral councils have functioned entirely independently. Other times pastoral councils spend much of their time discussing finances. To avoid the multiplication of meetings, HSCP has established a Stewardship Council for each of the seven parishes. This Stewardship Council will be a combination of Finance and Pastoral Councils, fulfilling the role of both and the requirement of Canon Law.

The purpose and organization of the parish stewardship council is explained further in the following document.