A Family of Parishes is best served when the pastor and key collaborators (clergy and lay staff) work together as a team. The Leadership principle states:

“Pastors, in collaboration with parochial vicars, deacons and lay ministers, according to their proper roles and charisms, share responsibility for pastoral leadership.”
While there are many groups of people who participate in leadership and governance of a parish or Family of Parishes (e.g. pastoral council, full staff, finance council, commissions, etc.), the leadership team has the greatest potential to effectively assist the pastor in implementing the mission of the parish.
Forming a unified Family Leadership Team (FLT) is one milestone of Phase 1 in the Leadership principle:
“Form a unified Family Pastoral Council, Family Leadership Team and staff, each rooted in prayer and supported by healthy teamwork.”
It will take time for your pastor to discern the members of your Family Leadership Team. In the short run (at the beginning of Phase 1 of the Pastoral Planning Pathway), it will be difficult for your Family to have a unified FLT for a variety of reasons:
- Staff doesn’t know one another yet.
- A new pastor is still settling in.
- Representing all parishes may be difficult.
- Key collaborators haven’t yet been identified or hired.
- Parishes are still operating mostly independently of one another (which is normal and healthy in the beginning).
To-do: Use the Family Leadership Team overview to consider short-term leadership models and how your FLT might form during Phase 1.