KENYA: New Book on Catholic Church Management Highlights Servant Leadership, Professionalism
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
In a newly edited book launched on Tuesday, September 7, Catholic leaders in Africa have been asked to act professionally and practice servant leadership as they govern institutions so as to emulate Christ who came to serve and not to be served.
During the televised event, Fr. Lennoxie Lusabe editor of the book titled A Concise Guide to Catholic Church Management: the African Edition narrates that “there are different types of leadership but in the Church we follow Christ who was a servant leader.”
“In world history, we see styles of leadership such as authoritarianism where people want power and to control. Unfortunately, that is the trend but we have to remind ourselves that we follow Jesus Christ whom we share in his mission to take us back to the Father through leading by example,” Fr. Lusabe a member of the Congregation of the Mission (CM) underscored adding, “we don’t want leaders who are hungry for power but servants who lead the people.”
The book edited to fit the African context was initially written by a group of American scholars of the Vincentian Center for Church and Society, St. John’s University in New York, and is “meant to assist managers within the Church to fulfil their responsibilities with competence and accountability.”
Expounding on the fundamentals of leadership as per the book, Fr. Lusabe who lectures at Tangaza University College (TUC), Nairobi, disclosed that “a leader is one who listens attentively, giving room for dialogue.”
He added, “A leader should have time to reflect and act on the feedback from people” and at the same time “Be open to learning and growth, since we all grow in learning.”
According to Fr. Lusabe who is in-charge of ongoing formation in his Congregation, the book which focuses on parishes does not only target parish priests and other Church leaders as audience but also, “leaders in the secular sphere and anybody interested in being a good leader since servant leadership is not just limited to the Church.”
Speaking during the same launch on Tuesday, the guest speaker Sr. Agnes Njeri Mburu Acting TUC’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Designate in-charge of Academics and Student Life recalls the genesis of having a concise guide on Church management issues in the African context.
“Way back in 2017, we were running professional programs on leadership for Religious women and realized a gap. Since many diocesan priests asked for the same, we incorporated them for the yearly trainings,” Sr. Njeri a member of Sisters of St. Joseph of Mombasa (SSJ) recounts.
She narrates further, “The priests realized that the content of the teachings was okay but did not fit the African context since most of the examples were for American parishes. That is how we asked for permission to edit the book that was being used into the African perspective.”
Sr. Njeri who is former TUC’s Director for the Centre for Leadership and Management (CLM) emphasized the relevance of the book saying, “Nowadays, people follow leaders not because of what they say but what they do. So, one can influence without saying anything and that’s why we are calling on leaders to be servants so that when others see a leader walking the talk, they can follow.”
She continued highlighting the significance of empowering the priests and other Church leaders saying, “We are in a very professional and digital world hence the need for priests to upgrade from the theology they learnt and know other elements of leadership so as to run parishes professionally and lead by example.”
The book that has addressed some topics including servant leadership, fundamentals of management, time management, communication, how to conduct meetings, parish service quality, assessing parishioners’ satisfaction, evaluating performance, the human resource, legal principles and pastoral issues, among others, has been published by Paulines Publications Africa.
According to Sr. Olga Massango representative of the editorial team of Paulines Publications, “The book provides an overview of leadership and Church management theory and presents specific management skills to complement already acquired theological knowledge, pastoral abilities, and specialized competencies to all pastoral agents.”
Sr. Olga herself a member of the Daughters of St. Paul (FSP) disclosed that the Paulines publish books “which promote the dignity of human person and appease the cultural human values.”
