Participants praise Church Management Institute

Published: 2006-07-26

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Several church leaders who attended a recent Church Management Institute in Villanova, Pa., praised the program and said it will help them do their work better. "I have essentially no background in organizational management," said Father Kevin Huber, vocation director and director of continuing education for clergy in the Diocese of Gary, Ind. "It gave me a better sense of the business aspect of parish administration," he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview. He added that he particularly appreciated a session on "the spirituality of stewardship" on the final day of the weeklong program. "What I really walked away with was a sense of mission and having people buy into the mission of the church -- not just the mission of the church, but the mission of Jesus. How can we help people to take ownership, to buy into that?" he said. The institute, held July 9-14 at Villanova University, was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Church Management of the university's business school. Economics professor Charles E. Zech, center director and a leading researcher on church finances, organized the program.

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