Advice from a Catholic hospital chairman on how to boost your parish
Chris Lowney, chariman of one of America's largest healthcare systems, has just published a new book, Everyone Leads: How to Revitalize the Catholic Church. Witnessing first hand the Church's works of mercy in the healthcare field, wants to help dioceses do the same. To do so, he has written this book, and believes that its most powerful idea is its most basic: everyone leads. CHRIS LOWNEY Author, "Everyone Leads" "Everyone in the church must feel co-responsible, and this is a very strong idea. To be co-responsible for something means yes, I own this, somehow I have to care if this succeeds, somehow I have to be involved in its success, and not just watching.â? He adopted the concept of co-responsibility from Pope Benedict XVI, and explains that this type of involvement doesn't have to be radical. CHRIS LOWNEY Author, "Everyone Leads" "Many aspects are so simple, so basic, any one person, any parish, could implement them next week with no money or planning. Things like do we stand in the back of the church and welcome people, if we see someone sitting next to us who is new do we say nice to meet you, does the pastor say oh you are welcome, that you are a newcomer! Here is some information to learn more.â? He says that it isn't about coming up with completely new ideas, but instead mixing today's world with the founding roots of Christianity. CHRIS LOWNEY Author, "Everyone Leads" "I'm not saying we have to change ourselves as a Church, into something that's alien in our tradition. In a way, what I'm saying is to succeed in the 21st century we need to drink more deeply from our first century well, if you see what I'm saying. In other words, we have to recover some of our ideas, the spirit, the creativity, the proactiveness, of the early christian generations.â? For Lowney, it's about leadership, risk tasking, and not being afraid to fail. If people feel inspired to go out and make a change, then this, he says, is a wonderful outcome. JC RR -SV -PR Up:MB
