Empowering Lay Leaders: Tending the Talents

Centered on Jesus’ model of leadership, Tending the Talents is designed to support parish and diocesan leaders in their unique role in ministry and to strengthen the talents God has given them so that they can be even more effective Catholic leaders. This formation curriculum complements the primary leadership skills and practices delivered in Good Leaders, Good Shepherds. It seeks to strengthen the overall quality of ministerial relationships and the ministries and priorities that are most important to the local parish and diocese.

Tending the Talents is a blended learning curriculum in which the experience is an integration of three types of learning: Online learning will help participants prepare for sessions as well as guide and support them in applying what they learned in previous sessions. The online dimension will accelerate the pace with which new knowledge is acquired and increase the retention and application of participants’ skills as Catholic leaders and disciples of Christ. Classroom sessions will be dynamic, interactive, and full of conversation and hope. Participants will join their peers in ministry to dive into leadership themes, share new insights and best practices, and apply new principles together. Leadership applications will support and guide participants in applying new learning within their parish or diocese. Participants and their pastors/directors will clarify visions, goals, and initiatives for their ministry and ensure that all efforts are aligned. These meetings will allow them to celebrate learning and reinforce a culture of Catholic leadership in their parish or diocese.