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St. Joseph Church has a reputation for exciting, participative liturgies. There are greeters when one walks into the Church. Ushers hand you a bulletin and help you to your seat. The choir has over thirty members. A large number of altar servers swells the entrance procession. Lectors are well trained and liturgical dance is used appropriately. More than a dozen Eucharistic ministers serve, and the pastor presides well. The liturgy is active and parishioners participate extensively.
In the past, however, the parish’s lay planners have gone a little overboard, in the pastor’s opinion. There was the “Pumpkin Mass” at Halloween, in which children dressed in trick-or-treat regalia gathered around the altar. There was the children’s Christmas vigil, to which Santa paid a visit and received communion before going on his rounds. And there was the “Bunny Mass” at Easter, in which children wore bunny ears as a sign of “new life.” The pastor felt that the liturgical planners were moving beyond the rubrics, and so he named a new Liturgy Team Director, Sam Villa.
Sam is a scholarly gentleman who had been a seminarian in his youth and who has had extensive experience as a lay master of ceremonies. He proved himself at St. Joseph by capably organizing and training the altar servers. He is well read and knows the official liturgy documents. He wants to share this wealth with the fifteen-member liturgy team, whom he respects for their enthusiasm but whose knowledge of the liturgy he regards as unsystematic at best. So, at the first liturgy team meeting of the year, Sam came in with a full agenda:
7:30 Welcome.
7:35 Opening Prayer (the Pastor).
7:40 Overview of the Principal Liturgies for the fall (see handout): Pumpkin Mass, All
Saints, Advent, Simbang Gabi.
8:10 Review of “Gather Faithfully Together: A Guide for Sunday Mass,” by Cardinal
Roger Mahony (see handout).
8:40 Recommendation to attend the “Liturgy 2000” Conference in October
8:50 Closing Comments and Prayer (the Pastor).
Sam’s goals were straightforward. He had given a lot of thought to the fall liturgies, and had assigned coordinators to most of them. His review of the liturgies was designed to inform the team members and bring them up to date. He had also studied the cardinal’s document in advance. By walking the members through it, he pointed out key ideas. Finally, he had arranged for two buses to go to Liturgy 2000, and enthusiastically talked it up to encourage members to attend. He wanted to inform, to provoke curiosity, and to raise enthusiasm—and he thought he did so.
After the meeting, team members are discouraged. They feel that Sam did not show any respect for their experience. He and the pastor, they say, did most of the talking. New members were not even introduced. Dolores Chavez put it well: “If all he wanted was to share information, why did he not just put it in a newsletter and mail it?”
Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (LEAD) Instrument
Developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard
Adapted for the Parish Ministry by Mark F. Fischer
Instructions
Assume that you are involved in each of the following twelve situations. Each situation has four alternative actions you might initiate. Read each item carefully. Think about what you would do in each circumstance. Then circle the letter of the alternative action choice which you think would most closely describe your behavior in the situation presented. Circle only one choice.
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The altar servers are not responding lately to your friendly conversation and obvious concern for their welfare; there has been absenteeism and sloppiness. Things seem to be getting worse.
You would:
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Emphasize the use of uniform procedures and the necessity for task accomplishment.
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Make yourself available for discussion but not push your involvement.
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Talk with followers and then set goals.
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Intentionally not intervene.
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The volunteer catechists whom you have been supervising are doing better; they have been covering the material and there have been no complaints from parents. Until now, you have been clarifying the lesson plans and the procedures each catechist is to use.
You would:
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Engage in friendly interaction, but continue to make sure that all members are aware of their responsibilities and expected standards of performance.
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Take no definite action.
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Do what you can to make the group feel important and involved.
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Emphasize the importance of deadlines and tasks.
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The peer ministers in your youth group have been bothered by absenteeism and misbehavior in the monthly meetings. But up til now, the peers have done well; you trust them and get along well with them.
You would:
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Work with the group and together engage in problem solving.
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Let the group work it out.
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Act quickly and firmly to correct and redirect.
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Encourage the group to work on the problem and be supportive of their efforts.
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You have been working with the choir, and you believe that the choir is ready for a more sophisticated repertoire and a more flexible approach, such as the idea of graduated solemnity. They are good and hard-working singers, and they have grown in their understanding of music and liturgy.
You would:
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Allow group involvement in developing the change, but not be too directive.
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Announce changes and then implement with close supervision.
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Allow the group to formulate its own direction.
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Incorporate group recommendations, but you direct the change.
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The parish social justice committee has been skipping meetings and the parish food pantry is not being stocked. The committee members have become indifferent to their commitments. In the past, you have helped by defining the committee’s role and responsibilities. They need to be continually reminded to do their work.
You would:
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Allow the group to formulate its own direction.
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Incorporate the group recommendations, but see that objectives are met.
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Redefine roles and responsibilities and supervise carefully.
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Allow group involvement in determining roles and responsibilities, but not be too directive.
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The parish census has been efficiently planned and is about to begin when the coordinator gets sick and you are asked to take over. The coordinator exercised tight control. You want the census to be effectively run, but you also want to make it more humane.
You would:
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Do what you can to make the group feel important and involved.
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Emphasize the importance of deadlines and tasks.
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Intentionally not intervene.
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Get the group involved in decision making, but see that objectives are met.
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Up until now, the ushers have taken up a collection but you would like them to be ministers of hospitality as well, so that they would greet people and serve coffee after Mass. Some of the ushers have themselves recommended this, and they seem responsible and flexible.
You would:
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Define the change and supervise carefully.
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Participate with the group in developing the change, but allow members to organize the implementation.
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Be willing to make changes as recommended, but maintain control of implementation.
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Avoid confrontation; leave things alone.
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The pastor asks you to coordinate the parish fiesta. The fiesta committee has been meeting for some time, acting responsibly, and getting along well. You feel insecure about your lack of direction of the group.
You would:
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Leave the group alone.
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Discuss the situation with the group and then initiate necessary changes.
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Take steps to direct followers toward working in a well-defined manner.
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Be supportive in discussing the situation with the group, but not too directive.
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The pastor, recognizing your knowledge of the liturgy, has asked you to re-organize the liturgy committee and recommend ways to make Sunday worship accord more with Vatican II. The committee, up until now, has been suggesting choir music and making floral and decorating decisions. Most of the time, they just gossip with one another. But they are intelligent and committed.
You would:
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Let the group work out its problems.
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Incorporate group recommendations, but see that objectives are met.
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Redefine goals and supervise carefully.
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Allow group involvement in setting goals, but not push.
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You coordinate the ministers of the sick. You have been trying to get them to follow the standards in Pastoral Care of the Sick and in Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass. But the ministers do not seem to be responding.
You would:
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Allow group involvement in redefining standards, but not take control.
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Redefine standards and supervise carefully.
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Avoid confrontation by not applying pressure; leave the situation alone.
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Incorporate group recommendations, but see that new standards are met.
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The pastor has asked you to coordinate the Young Adult ministry. The previous coordinator, a young mother, had become less and less involved due to the demands of her new baby. Up until now, the core team of YA ministers has adequately handles the work, and they get along well.
You would:
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Take steps to direct followers toward working in a well-define manner.
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Involve followers in decision making and reinforce good contributions.
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Discuss past performance with the group and then examine the need for new practices.
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Continue to leave the group alone.
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The parish council has been developing a pastoral plan, and the pastor has asked you to work with them in completing a final draft. You have just learned, however, that the council has split in its opinion about the role of the Catholic school. Up until now, the group has been wonderfully productive, has kept the pastoral planning goal in sight, and has worked in harmony. The council members are all well-qualified.
You would:
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Try out your solution with followers and examine the need for new practices.
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Allow the group members to work it out themselves.
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Act quickly and firmly to correct and redirect.
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Participate in problem discussion while providing support for followers.
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