In the first article in this three-part series I stated the view that the most important communities in the Church are the Church' s worshipping communities. These are communities that gather regularly for worship, help one another in times of need, and support the work of evangelization. In the Catholic Church the worshipping community is typically a parish, but it may be a Basic Church Community, a local community of a religious order, or some other grouping.

 The reason that these communities are the most important in the Church, as compared to larger groupings such as dioceses or associations of churches, is that they offer their members the opportunity to know and love God through companionship with others. In my mind there is no question that we experience God most powerfully in those who know us well and love us as we are. The worshipping community, if it is not too large, provides the most favourable milieu for people to know one another well and love one another.

 Why is this? When we get to know another person well, we sooner or later become aware of some aspect of them that we dislike or they do something that deeply hurts us. In the normal course of human affairs, when this happens the relationship with the person will not grow closer, or it will be impaired, or be broken off. In a worshipping community, however, the act of participating in Christian worship together with the person moves us toward reconciliation with them. The smaller the worshipping community is, the more powerful the reconciling effect of worship. If one is a part of a small group meeting regularly for eucharist, where one cannot escape the sight and felt presence of the other person, where one touches them physically in the kiss of peace and speaks words of peace to them, one will find the relationship being healed. The only thing that can prevent healing from happening is if one or other of the parties withdraws from the worshipping community.

 The small worshipping community establishes a dynamic among its members whereby they grow to know one another better and better and in consequence have to forgive one another again and again in ways that stretch the limits of their magnanimity. The companionship of knowing another person  more and more and forgiving them again and again is the one and only engine of spiritual growth for human beings. Prayer, or devotion to a creed, or charitable works are of use only to the extent that they bring us to, and sustain us in, this kind of companionship.

 Given the importance of the worshipping community, it is clear that leadership in the worshipping community, without which no worshipping community can long survive, has to be of utmost concern for Christians. 

 In the first in this series of articles I defined leaders as “individuals who have the task of coordinating the activities of the members of the community so that the community as a whole can accomplish its purposes”.  I emphasized that the members of the community must freely make the community goals their own and freely accept direction from the leader whom they have chosen to coordinate their activity.

 This definition highlights what can be called the managerial or supervisory aspect of leadership. Many of the goals of a worshipping community can only be achieved through the co-ordinated activity of many individuals. Co-ordination of activity requires that there be at least one person who has the “big picture,” i.e., someone who understands what each worker has to do in order for the goal to be achieved. The supervisor has to make sure that each worker knows what their individual task is. The supervisor has to check that each worker is doing their assigned task, and if they are not, take steps to correct the situation. There is an inescapable disciplinary aspect to leadership because even though people may freely agree to do something, they do not always carry through. In accepting to work on a project under a supervisor, most workers will accept discipline as long as the supervisor is fair. (In my view it is the disciplinary aspect of leadership that is hardest and most likely to cause people to avoid or step down from leadership positions.)

 Besides supervising, a leader must inspire. In the conduct of a project there may come a time when those involved become tired or dispirited. They may lose sight of the goal. They may forget what it was that led them to offer themselves for the task in the first place. At this point a leader must remind them of the reason for the project and make that reason come alive for them again. The leader will ask them to look within themselves and see that in their hearts they still cherish the goal. The leader will demand that they be true to themselves and the commitment they made.

 I have spoken so far about leadership exercised in a given project. However, the worshipping community itself may be regarded as an ongoing project of its members, a project which is inclusive of all the activities that make up the life of the community. And so we should consider the role of the leader of the worshipping community. What do we expect of the leader of the community?

 First of all, the leader will be chosen in a manner determined by consensus of the whole community. The community may decide to meet and pray until there is unanimous agreement  about who shall lead. Or the community may decide to have nominations and an election, the  person getting the most votes being the leader. Or the community may decide to allow someone outside the community (e.g., the bishop) to choose the leader. The manner of selection matters not as long as it reflects a consensus of the whole community. 

 The leader of the community will have a comprehensive understanding of the community ”goals, values and aspirations--” the big picture. In consultation with the community the leader will develop a plan to achieve those goals, and obtain the approval of the community to implement the plan. The leader and the community will choose subleaders to lead the various components of the plan. The leader will co-ordinate, supervise and inspire these subleaders as they and their helpers carry out their assignments. When necessary, the leader will speak inspirationally to the whole community gathered together, encouraging people to persevere in their efforts.

 In the Church that is coming to birth in our time, who will lead our worshipping communities? In the Roman Catholic Church before Vatican Council II it was the parish priest who had this responsibility. Since the Council, parish councils have come to share in some of the leadership of the worshipping community. How much leadership they exercise has depended on how much power the parish priest delegated to them.

 In my view a council cannot be the most effective leader of a worshipping community. I believe that  human communities function best when one individual has the role of community leader, and exercises leadership with the advice and consent of  a council of community representatives. 

 Among all the other things a leader does, he or she is a symbol of the community itself, a human expression of the community' s identity and will. In the presence of this living symbol,  community members find a focus that draws forth their feelings about the community, and in talking to and about the leader, they are able to put words to what they feel. 

 When all this is taken into account, who should lead the worshipping community? Note that there is nothing in the definition of leadership that requires that the community leader celebrate sacraments. If a priest is understood as primarily someone who has the "power"  to celebrate sacraments, then it is quite conceivable for a priest to serve as a subleader with responsibility for celebrating sacraments. In that case the community leader could be a "layperson"  who happens to possess the qualities needed in a community leader. (In my view all Christians in virtue of their baptism have the "power"  to celebrate all the sacraments. If that is so, the distinction between priest and layperson, based on the priest’s having a power the layperson does not, vanishes.)

 In so far as the community leader is a symbol of the whole community, however, it is appropriate that he or she preside at or chair the community’s principal liturgical celebrations and business meetings.

 In my view the size of worshipping community that best nurtures spiritual growth is one that allows the members the time and opportunity to tell the story of their spiritual journeys to one another, to reflect together on the saving truths these stories reveal, to come to know one another more and more, forgive one another more and more, and offer each other help in times of need. It is obvious that this size will be much smaller than most of our present day parishes.

 At the same time there are things that we as Christians wish to do that call for larger organizations than a small worshipping community, for example, Christian education of children,  social and political action, theological research, ecumenical dialogue, large-scale evangelization, and, what is of crucial importance, the recruitment and training of leaders and candidates for leadership in worshipping communities. So there will always be a place for parish-sized, diocesan, regional, national and international communities, the members of which will find their main spiritual sustenance in the worshipping communities to which they belong.