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New Paradigm for Parish Leadership and includes Laity and Clergy
We have started a new paradigm of parish leadership that is simply being named the “Parish Leadership Team.” The Parish Leadership Team (PLT) is a small group of deeply committed people who are co-responsible for achieving the common objectives of the parish organization. Along with the pastor/administrator they share the power and responsibility of leading.
To repeat, the PLT shares in the power and responsibility of the pastor/administrator in leading the parish! This is not a consultative body, as are the Parish Pastoral Council and Parish Finance Councils. This is to be an operative body – a team that will collectively discern, make decisions and ensure the decisions and actions are followed through in the parish organization. They will determine many of the strategic and operational on-the-ground decisions and actions. These are the things that in the past the pastor/administrator would do and decide on himself.
Why is this so important now? First, we just began to implement “On Mission for the Church Alive” with the vision of breathing new life into parish communities. There is no better time to create new models and structures for parish ministry! We need structures that empower the laity in leadership positions and hopefully enliven every member of the parish to live their call to be a baptized disciple! Second, we also continue to experience not only the horror and trauma of the abuse scandal and the crimes of sexual abuse of minors, but also the abuse of power within the church that permitted such brokenness and secrecy. We must admit the former structures are no longer working!
Who are the members of the PLT? They are:- Donna Gillespie
- Christine Jordanoff
- Holly Mohr
- Fr. Daniel
- Fr. Michael
Why were these people chosen and who choose them? They were discerned with/by me the pastor/administrator. I will shift into the ‘first person’ and speak for myself here J. First of all, my gifts and way of being as pastor/administrator are limited. I am limited by what God has given me and what he has not, limited by my upbringing and experience, limited because I am a white, male member of the clergy, none of which I apologize for, but have to acknowledge. These members of the PLT bring together a diversity of gifts, experience, and perspectives - male and female, clergy and laity, younger and older, and more. They each have rich experience inside and outside this parish grouping. They are open, honest, and willing to engage in healthy conflict and tension with me and one another, for the good of all.
What has the PLT been doing so far? The team began in February and we have been meeting almost every week for 2 hours. We are building trust and honesty within the team and with the Clergy Team. We have been working on and communicating a new organizational chart and parish structure that will be non-hierarchical and support the discipleship of every parishioner. We have been focusing on the merger process for our parish communities and working with the diocese to clarify a timeline for when this merger will happen. We have discussed parish finances and debt, as well as how to focus on and build engagement in Sunday masses, and more!
As with any new paradigm, this process will be “messy” and will take time and patience to fully implement. It will take extensive communication with the other leadership bodies, ministries, staff, and parish as a whole. It will take time for trust to be built, both within the PLT and with the parish as a whole.
For more information about the members of the Parish Leadership Team, see below:
Donna Gillespie began her career working for the church in 1985, as the parish secretary at Saint Adalbert Parish. She continued on when the seven parishes on the South Side (St. Adalbert, St. Casimir, St. John the Evangelist, St. Josaphat, St. Matthew, St. Michael and St. Peter’s) were merged in November of 1992, to form Prince of Peace Parish. She has served in the position of Office Manager at Prince of Peace Parish for over 15 years. Donna has been married to her husband Tom for 37 years, has one daughter, Erin, son-in-law, Mike and two grandchildren, Addi and Aiden. Her family are lifelong members of Saint Basil’s—now Holy Apostles Parish.
Christine Jordanoff has been a member of St. Mary of the Mount parish for 20 years. During that time, she has served as Cantor, Chair of the music director search committee, Facilitator of the Pastoral Council for two terms, Coordinator of Liturgical Ministries, and now joins the Parish Leadership Team. She is Professor Emerita at Duquesne University’s Mary Pappert School of Music where she previously was the Chair of Music Education and Director of Choral Activities. For 28 years, she was the artistic director of the Children’s Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh. She resides in Mt. Washington with her husband, Dr. Alan Hoover.
Holly Mohr has served as Director of Religious Education at Saint Mary of the Mount Parish for nearly seven years and has been a catechist and parishioner for 10+ years. Hollyhas worked to make faith formation a whole-person experience, focusing on renewing the way we look at prayer, mission and relationship with Christ and one another. She has been instrumental in bringing Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to Saint Mary of the Mount, as well as in shaping an intergenerational Children and Family Ministry, Young Adult Ministry, small group opportunities, and renewed sacramental preparation programs. Along with her husband, Eric, and two (soon to be three!) children, Hollylooks forward to collaborating with the people of Prince of Peace and Saint Mary of the Mount to help build an ever more life-giving community of discipleship.
Reverend Daniel T. Straughn, S.T.L., is the son of Wm. Patrick and Camilla “Peggy” (deceased) Straughn, and brother to Aimee (deceased), Beth Anne, David, Michael and Adam (deceased) Straughn. Father Daniel was born and brought up in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, and belonged to Saints Simon and Jude Parish. Father Daniel, the youngest child in the family, attended Saints Simon and Jude Grade School, Carlynton High School, and Penn State University, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with Economics and Philosophy along with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration in 1993. Father Daniel then worked for the State Legislature until he could not resist God’s call to formally discern the Priesthood. Father Daniel entered Saint Paul Seminary in 1998 and was assigned to continue discernment and formation for the Priesthood at the North American College in Rome, Italy. Father Daniel was ordained a Deacon on 4 October 2003 at The Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome and to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ on 26 June 2004 at Saint Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh. Since ordination Father Daniel has served the Diocese of Pittsburgh in parishes in Homewood, East Liberty/Shadyside, and the McKeesport area, as well as in specialized ministry as Priest Secretary and Master of Ceremonies to Bishop David Zubik. Most recently, from February 2011 to October 2018, Father Daniel served as the Pastor of Saint Mark Parish in Liberty, Port Vue and McKeesport area. Father Daniel is interested in walking with each of you – whatever your life situation may be – and sharing with you his experience, insight and hope in God’s relentless mercy and His mighty and tender love.
Reverend Michael J. Stumpf, is the son of Rose and Joseph Stumpf, and brother to Daniel and Curt. He was born and raised in a small country town outside of Butler, PA, called Herman, and was a member the Capuchin Parish, St. Mary of the Assumption. His schooling Includes six years at St. Mary Catholic Grade School, and then Butler Junior, Intermediate and Senior High Schools. After two years of college at California University of PA, Fr. Michael entered St. Paul’s Seminary, then transferred to Duquesne University where he received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Philosophy and Psychology. Fr. Michael received an M.A. in Scripture, and M.Div. from St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, PA. Fr. Michael was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 2001. He has served as the pastor of St. Mary of the Mount Parish for the past twelve years. He is also Chaplain of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, Chaplain to the Pittsburgh Catholic Deaf Community, as well as well as a Leadership Consultant for the Catholic Leadership Institute. His previous assignments have been as a Parochial Vicar at Assumption Parish in Bellevue, and St. Ann’s in Castle Shannon.