Pathways to Lay Leadership

We are committed to the Vatican II ideal that the Church is not simply the clergy, it is not simply the hierarchy, and it is not just the Vatican or the Chancery; the Church is the people of God. We all are the Church. Our Church can only be sustained if lay and ordained Catholics share a co-responsibility for the leadership, culture, and work of our Church.

• To that end, we seek to work with the Diocese of Pittsburgh to identify, develop, and promote pathways for lay leadership in the Church in Pittsburgh.
• We are working to help the lay faithful to understand, embrace, and act on their baptismal call to ecclesial and social co-responsibility for the mission of the Church in the world.

• How do we envision achieving this? Our first focus is at the individual and parish level:

  • Build awareness among the lay faithful that they are called, gifted, and sent.
  • Help individual Catholics to know, appreciate, and value their own unique giftedness.
  • Promote competent and effective involvement in approved roles for the lay faithful in the life and ministry of the parish and of the diocese, including pastoral and finance councils, lay ministries, Boards, etc.
  • Form and prepare the lay faithful for their various callings in life — as disciples of Christ, as married or single, and in their roles (family, community, work, Church positions) — enabling them to transform culture and evangelize.
  • Assist pastors in fostering lay faithful who are equipped to be co-responsible for the mission of the Church.
• We will seek to collaborate with the diocese to assess current lay roles, and the formation for them, to identify what is working and where improvements are needed.
• We will work at the parish and diocesan level to ensure that progress made in roles, formation, and structures is safeguarded from being dismantled or reversed by future leadership.