Editor's note: Presented here --- preceded by a letter from Cardinal Roger Mahony --- are portions of the full document, Serving Soulder to Shoulder: Parish Life Directors in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The full document will be distributed at Nov 18 gathering of Archdiocesan Synod delegates and key Archdiocesan Catholic Center leadership.

To the Bishops, Priests, Deacons,
Religious and Lay Leaders
of the Archdiocese:

At the conclusion of our Archdiocesan Synod in September 2003, we made a commitment to six Pastoral Initiatives. The second of these is concerned with Structures for Participation and Accountability. We affirmed that in order for us to be faithful to Christ's mission today, "The structures of Church life and governance must be renewed, and some new structures established?"

In accord with the vision of Church and ministry expressed in Gathered and Sent, our Archdiocesan Synod Documents; in the Pastoral Letter on Ministry, As I Have Done for You; as well as in my Pastoral Statement on Parish Leadership, As One Who Serves, we must continue to call forth and support the gifts of all the baptized. We all have a share in a common mission to proclaim and serve the coming Reign of God. Some are called to leadership in service of this mission. Many of these are not and will not be ordained.

In seeking to respond to the pastoral needs of our people, there will continue to be a need for ordained priests and deacons. We need more who give their lives to the Church as vowed Religious. But what is also of critical importance in the life of our Local Church is a form of parish leadership that is truly lay and truly leadership.

A Task Force headed by Bishop Gerald Wilkerson, together with Sister Carol Quinlivan, C.S.J., Director of the Office of Parish Life, has worked closely with laypersons and Religious who have the charism and the abilities for leadership as Parish Life Directors.

Serving Shoulder to Shoulder: Parish Life Directors in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a copy of which accompanies this letter, provides a description of the ministry of the PLD, attentive to some of the more practical implications of this ministry in our Local Church. Priests, deacons, Religious and lay leaders in this Archdiocese should be familiar not only with Gathered and Sent, As I Have Done for You, and As One Who Serves, but also with Serving Shoulder to Shoulder.

The title of the document expresses the understanding that the Parish Life Director, like all ministers in the Church, is a person from within the community of faith, hope, and love, and for the life of the Church and the wider world. These four documents provide a description of the vision of Church, mission, and ministry that is guiding, and will continue to guide, the life of our Local Church in the coming years.

Please join me in heartfelt support of this initiative so that we might be a more effective instrument of the Reign of God in our Local Church.

Assuring you of my prayers, and with every best wish, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ,

His Eminence
Cardinal Roger Mahony
Archbishop of Los Angeles
November 1, 2006
All Saints

VISION STATEMENT
In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a blessing in the face of a diminishing number of priestly and religious vocations has been a growing awareness of a more participatory exercise of ministry. This involves a fuller appreciation of the scriptural teaching that it is in the nature of the Body of Christ to be blessed with many gifts, ministries, and offices. As a Christian community of faith, all the baptized are called to share a common mission to proclaim and to serve the coming Reign of God.

Inspired by the vision of church and ministry expressed in our recent Synod documents Gathered and Sent, and in As I Have Done for You, a Pastoral Letter written by Cardinal Roger Mahony and the priests of the Archdiocese, the Church of Los Angeles must find new ways to realize its mission.

To this end, we are urged to envision a new way forward. Such a way forward calls for discerning parish leadership in the future based on charism, and drawing on the charisms of all who form the Christian community. This will entail reshaping ministerial structures to more effectively realize such a vision of mission and ministry.

Concretely, this means that in addition to the pastoral leadership currently exercised by priests, the gift of leadership may be exercised by deacons, vowed Religious or lay ministers who also possess this charism.

Those so gifted would also be called, named and sent to lead a local parish community in order that the Church may more effectively realize its mission of making manifest the magnitude of God's love in the Church and in the world.

Names and titles for such ministers are many and varied. What is essential is that these Parish Life Directors be called forth, encouraged, and supported by the Church of Los Angeles so that it might realize its mission of being an ever more effective instrument of the Reign of God in our own time and place.

PARISH LIFE DIRECTOR
The Parish Life Director is a professional minister who is appointed by the Archbishop and entrusted with the leadership of a parish without a resident pastor. In collaboration with a Priest Moderator appointed by the Archbishop, the Parish Life Director has the responsibility for providing for the overall day-to-day pastoral care and administration of a parish. Sacramental ministry reserved to the ordained is provided by those appointed by the Archbishop. Collaboratively, the Parish Life Director enables and empowers the community to be a sign of the reality of the Reign of God. The Parish Life Director is accountable to the Priest Moderator and to the Archbishop or his delegate, the Regional Bishop.

I. Qualifications
A. Personal Qualities:
---Person of faith, baptized, confirmed and in good standing in the Roman Catholic Church.
---General good health (physical, psychological, spiritual).

B. Professional Qualities:
---Master's degree in Theology, Pastoral Studies or otherwise qualified in the judgment of the Archbishop.
---Liturgically-based spirituality centered on the prayer life of the Church; a deep ecclesial spirituality; a strong sense of service and discipleship; recent studies in sacramental rites.
---Leadership skills; the ability to:
---initiate
---organize
---work collaboratively
---facilitate
---delegate
---enable lay leadership
---Commitment to professional growth.

C. Pastoral Competencies:
---Service in parish pastoral ministry, preferably as a Pastoral Associate, for at least three years.
---Supervision and evaluation of the staff; a willingness to be evaluated by appropriate means.
---Planning for liturgical and sacramental rites.
---Facilitation of various parish ministries such as religious education, marriage preparation, RCIA, bereavement.
---Experience in developing and overseeing a budget.

II. Responsibilities
A. To assure pastoral leadership of the faith community:
---Collaborate with the parish leaders and staff in developing a plan for the implementation of the mission of the community.
---Direct planning, implementation, and evaluation of parish programs, goals, and objectives.
---Oversee the formation, training, and support of faith community leaders who provide leadership in or manage key areas of the life of the community.
---Establish and/or maintain both a Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council.

B. To assure the liturgical life of the faith community:
---Work closely with the Priest and Deacon Ministers and Liturgy Committee to ensure prayerful liturgies and a positive relationship among the clergy, faith community, and staff.
---Participate in the planning and evaluation of the Sunday Eucharistic celebration as well as other special group or seasonal liturgies.
---Preside at and train others to preside at liturgical celebrations consistent with liturgical law and in conformity with norms of the Local Church.
---Provide for the recruitment, training, and coordination of lay liturgical ministers.
---Preach when pastorally and canonically appropriate, and as authorized by the Archbishop.
---Preside at Funeral Vigil services and celebrate the Liturgy of the Word and Final Commendation according to the Rite of Funerals in accord with liturgical law.
---Carry out other liturgical responsibilities as designated by the Archbishop.

C. To assure pastoral presence to members of the faith community:
---To see that pastoral leaders are available and present to parishioners at important moments in their lives.
---Provide training and support for ministers to people who are sick, homebound, in hospitals or nursing homes.
---To see that spiritual direction, counseling, and/or psychological resources and support are available to individuals and to families.
---Facilitate opportunities for social gatherings for the faith community.

D. To assure the education and ongoing spiritual development of the members of the faith community:
---Oversee and support the work of the Principal of any parish school in providing quality Catholic education for its students; collaborate with the work of the School Board.
---Oversee and support the work of any Directors of Faith Formation and Youth Ministry in providing for quality faith formation and religious education at all age levels.
---Facilitate parish evangelization efforts.

E. To assure a faith community response to the Gospel imperative for social justice in the local community:
---Develop a growth in awareness of national and global realities and of possible Gospel response.
---Facilitate the community's ability to respond to those who lack basic living requirements.

F. To provide for organizational management in order to promote the mission of the parish:
---To oversee the annual budgeting process as well as the management of the budget.
---To oversee the selection, supervision, and evaluation of all administrative staff.
---To ensure that all annual reports and records (financial, personnel, historical, and sacramental) required by the Archdiocese are completed in a timely manner.
---To oversee the maintenance of the buildings, grounds, and other plant operations.
---To collaborate in developing a capital and operational budget and a plan for maintaining the physical plant.

G. To participate in deanery and archdiocesan gatherings

CONCLUSION
The Synod of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles affirmed that "Within the Church, all relationships are to be built on mutuality, reciprocity and interdependence." Serving Shoulder to Shoulder offers a description of the role of the Parish Life Director whose ministry of leadership is to be exercised in such a way as to foster mutuality, reciprocity and interdependence in the life of parish.

Serving Shoulder to Shoulder is the result of the efforts of a Task Force which was headed by Bishop Gerald Wilkerson and included Monsignor Craig Cox, Monsignor Timothy Dyer, Deacon David Estrada, Father Leon Hutton, Monsignor James Loughnane, Sister Edith Prendergast, R.S.C., Sister Carol Quinlivan, C.S.J., Sister Susan Slater, S.H.C.J., Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson, and Bishop Gabino Zavala. The document was brought through its final stages of preparation by Sister Carol Quinlivan, C.S.J., Director of the Office of Parish Life. All are aware of the fact that some elements in this document will require adaptation, nuance and, indeed, change as we move forward together. The resources of the Office of Parish Life are available for the practical implementation of what has been described here.

Let us pray for God's blessing and the Spirit's assistance in this initiative, so that together we might be faithful to Christ's mission.