"Am I really a catechetical leader?"

We hear this question a lot when we are talking to teachers, catechists, and even parish and diocesan directors about the Designed for Discipleship group coaching program. There seems to be the idea that there is an arrogance or pride in calling oneself a leader. And maybe to some degree, that's true. What is also true, however, is that no one who is not a real leader ever influences lasting sustainable change. They might be an incredible servant leader who never takes credit or who leads from a quiet place that no one sees, but they are still a leader. Leaders don't just wake up one morning as a leader (although sometimes they find themselves with a leadership related title overnight- especially in the church). A leader, particularly a catechetical leader, works to learn and grow as an individual that leads to the type of leadership that results in change. Usually, they do this working within existing systems and authority structures. People claim they aren't a leader because they don't see how they can make a difference. We hear this even from people who have been serving as paid staff or volunteering for years!

Let's look at this from a different angle.

• Do you believe we could be more effective in the way we use faith formation

and parish resources?

• Do you want to help more children and families live a life of friendship with

Jesus?

• Do you want to grow alongside other people who share your desire for a

truly discipleship-driven, evangelical catechesis?

If the answer to any of these is yes, you do not need to have leadership figured

out before you come to our group coaching program. That’s the point.

We didn’t create this program for people who already know exactly what they’re

doing. We created it because people in roles like yours were discouraged and

lonely. They were tired of being told what to do without much help figuring out

how to do it.

They cared deeply about the evangelization of young people, but they could see the holes in systems that weren’t really supporting it. They were tired of doing what has always been done and hoping that maybe this year it will be different. Wondering if maybe this curriculum or that program model will finally create change.

Discipleship-driven catechetical leadership is the destination. It isn’t the starting line.

The starting line is caring enough to know that something could be better and

being brave enough to take the first step.

We have a system and a plan to help you go from there. You just have to show up.

Seriously. We’ve had someone begin the cohort who wasn’t working in ministry

at all yet.

So if you have one toe on the fence, just one tiny seed of desire that things could look differently, I want you to do one thing. Send me an email. I'm not going to try to convince you that you are a leader already. I'm not going to tell you what to do next. I'm going to help you discover what might look different in a year when discipleship-driven leadership becomes a serious first priority goal in your parish, school, or diocese. Only then we will talk about if the Leadership Lab might be a good fit for you. If you are wondering about all of this catechetical leader stuff, send the email. Because on Friday, this year's cohorts will close and the choice will be made for you until next year. Imagine what might be different in a year, if you send that email and start a conversation today....