4 New Year’s Resolutions Ideas For Catholic Leaders

Although Catholics begin the new year on the first day of Advent, New Year’s Day resolutions can be the perfect opportunity for parish leaders like you to re-evaluate the way you do ministry.

Your team spent hours planning, preparing, and ensuring that every detail was in place for Advent and Christmas. You’re seeing the fruits of your work and want nothing more than to keep the momentum going, but it’s time to plan for a new year that doesn’t include staff burnout before the year even begins.

To help your team prepare for another year of joyfully serving in ministry and leading your parish confidently into 2024, consider these four LEAD ideas for your New Year’s resolutions. 

Look To Heaven

In the busyness and demands of parish life, it can be easy to keep your head buried in your work instead of seeking the wisdom of God. If you find yourself spending less time in prayer, you run the risk of burnout. The fire within you suddenly stops burning and the joy of service disappears. The good news is that God has a plan for you and your parish. So as you lead your flock into the new year, keep your eyes fixed on heaven and trust in the Lord’s plan for you and your parish. 

Don’t let your role of helping others celebrate the Advent and Christmas seasons distract you from nurturing your own relationship with God. Resolve to start (and stick) to a routine that makes time for daily Mass, praying the rosary, or spending time with Jesus in Adoration. Learn to protect your time with God and your joy for ministry. 

Empower Each Other

What’s disheartening is that dysfunction exists in parishes, and is prevalent in parishes with leaders who feel alone in their ministry. But for leaders to thrive and see the Church grow into the future, everyone needs to be involved in the mission. Empowering each other to do ministry well is not only collaborative, it’s healthy! All you want for one another is to have joyful, healthy, lifelong vocations in ministry. 

Empowering other members on the team can look different in every parish. In some parishes it might mean celebrating wins or delegating tasks. For our parish customers, we know that they love the ability to empower their staff and ministry leaders by authorizing them to access parishioner profiles. Here’s what Chris Peterson from St. Michael Parish had to say about Pushpay’s LEAD App:

“One of my favorite features in ParishStaq is the LEAD App. Ministry often happens outside of the office… Perhaps I’m talking to a parishioner and they mention someone in need of prayer. On my app, I can look that person up, I can call them right away, or I can just text them and say, ‘I’m praying for you.’” 

What might empowering your team look like in your parish? 

Assess Your Tech and Tools

As your parish grows each year, you’ll need the right parish management tools to help you manage your teams, finances, and service.

Catholic Church tech is constantly evolving, potentially solving issues that have given you headaches for years. But the only way to know is to regularly assess your tech, to make sure you have the latest tools and best partner to empower your ministry, serve your community, and achieve your goals.

Start by asking your team:

• What are your goals in the next two years?
• What isn’t working right now—workflows, administrative tasks, processes?
• What workflows, technology solutions, and staff responsibilities are working really well? How can you build on those strengths?
• What do you need to improve your ministry and further extend your impact?
  

These questions will give you a clearer picture of how your parish is really doing and point you toward your next steps for continued ministry health and growth.

Write each of your current tech tools down next to the goals you have for the next few years. Now gauge how well each tool is helping you reach each goal. Be honest in this assessment—you could break it down with in-depth descriptions, come up with a points scale, or simply use color codes. The important thing is that you spot the patterns. You’ll quickly recognize which tools are supporting your goals, and where you might have room for improvement.

Do Less

This last resolution might seem counter productive, but it’s quite the opposite. When we say do less, we simply mean that the key to reducing burnout on your team is doing less for greater, more effective impact. Doing less would look different in every parish. For one parish it could mean eliminating events or meetings, while another parish evaluates the effectiveness of a group or activity that isn’t getting them the results they were hoping for. 

The Church is steeped in rich history and tradition, and at times, it’s hard for parish staff and leaders to let go of the things they’ve done for decades. Letting go might be easier said than done, but being a good steward of the gifts of your parish means removing the roadblocks that are in the way of bringing more people closer to Christ. 

Carve out time with each of your ministry leaders and have an honest conversation about performance and solutions. After evaluating your ministry together, create a new strategic plan and review effectiveness over a period of time. You might find that doing less is having a positive impact on the health of your parish and your team. 

We’re Here For You In 2024 And Beyond

Leaders inspire, encourage, and bring out the best in the people around them. Here at Pushpay, we want you to succeed and grow the Church, which is why we’re dedicated to innovating the best Catholic church tech for Catholic leaders like you. 

Now that you’ve learned about our LEAD resolutions ideas, take a tour of the app that our customers are raving about – Pushpay’s LEAD App. Discover why our customers are enjoying the way it makes their life in ministry easier. Cheers to healthy parish teams!