Educators in the second chair

The following article, “Leading From the Second Chair: Christian Education Ministers as Servant Leaders,” was published by Patricia E. Clement in the March 07 issue of Catechetical Leader Magazine, the professional journal for the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership – the North American association for Catholic Education Ministers. Catholic Education Ministers refer to themselves as “Catechists” from the Greek word for “echo.” In the early Church, the ministry of faith formation was called catechetics, because the goal was to proclaim God’s Word until that Word “echoed” throughout the daily lives of the listeners. Any printed material used in the faith formation process became known as a catechism.

Winter is always a busy “between time” for parish catechetical leaders. We leap from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday, while chasing down the sacramental paperwork for Easter season celebrations. At the same time, we try to anticipate future needs as we prepare next year’s budget proposals. We have so many tasks at hand, that we are tempted to exchange our Christian Educator’s “hat”, for one labeled “Middle Management Bureaucrat.” Unfortunately, this is when our role as catechetical leader is most needed. What better time, then, to take a moment to refocus? Like St. Paul, we must keep our eyes on the goal.

Often, when I need a personal ministry evaluation, my best inspiration emerges from outside my Catholic educator’s box. In this instance, it came from a book entitled Leading from the Second Chair, a guide for associate pastors and Christian educators in Baptist congregations. The opening chapter contained three statements that relate directly to the role of the Catholic parish catechetical leader(1):

• A second chair leader is a person in a subordinate role whose influence with others adds value throughout the organization.
• Second chair leadership is unique because it is not strictly based on the power and authority of positional leadership.
• Those who thrive [as second chair leaders] find much of their success through influence and relationships. They bring a new perspective to the powerful concept of servant leadership.

Second Chair Leadership within the Church

Bookstores are filled with how-to guides for corporate leadership, but the concept of second-tier leadership is a relatively new area of study in the business world. In ministry, however, it is a very ancient relationship. Essentially, everyone in ministry is a second chair leader. Jesus is our first chair. He has the ultimate power. He provides the vision and the message. Whether we are a parish education director, a regional administrator, or even the pope, we all answer to a higher authority.

The Director of Religious Education as Second Chair Master Teacher

Perhaps you have heard the story about a king who sent messengers throughout his realm to find the most suitable person to adopt and train as his heir. One servant brought back a valiant knight, famous for defending righteous causes. Another servant returned with a brilliant engineer who had built roads that made it safe for travel and trade. A third servant came forward with a wise and respected judge who had helped to bring peace to the land. At last, a fourth servant arrived with a quiet, simply-dressed woman at his side. As this servant came forward to introduce her to the king, he proclaimed, “This woman is the teacher of the other three!”

As parish catechetical leaders, we serve in the second chair role of Master Teacher. This may in reality be a third or thirteenth position, with no real legal authority, but there is tremendous opportunity to influence the entire community. How much influence we have is largely dependent on how we embrace our call to second chair leadership. The key word is “Leadership”. Most Christian Educator job descriptions list management and programming responsibilities. It is an easy temptation to fall into a management role when authentic leadership is what is really needed. Like the woman in the fable, a great parish catechetical leader can affect every aspect of church life, including the top tiers of ministry. As the book suggests, second chair leadership is not based on power and authority, but on building influence and relationships. A skilled parish education minister can resource and inspire a parish council, the staff and even the pastor, if the foundations have been properly laid.

Parish Catechetical Leaders are Called to “Echo” the Vision

As second chair leaders, parish education directors are responsible for helping to carry out the parish vision, but we are not responsible for creating the vision – that is the role of the one holding the first chair. In corporate America, the first chair vision-caster would be the company CEO. For Christians, the first chair vision-caster is not the pastor, as some might assume, but the true First Chair – Jesus Christ.

We have come to understand that the word “catechesis” comes from the Greek word for “echo”. As the parish master catechist, we are responsible for echo-ing Jesus’ vision to the entire faith community. This suggests much more than serving as a master teacher of doctrine. To echo Jesus’ vision to a parish means to present the vision to the faithful, provide them with the training necessary to carry out the vision, and to lovingly challenge them when they get distracted and stray away from the vision. It more closely resembles the role of the ancient prophets, who repeated God’s covenant call and pointed the way when Israel needed to refocus and reaffirm the covenant.

What is Jesus’ Vision for Parish Ministry?

If the parish catechetical leader is responsible for faithfully echo-ing the “company vision,” we must first clearly understand it and embrace it for ourselves. We need a clear vision statement or short job description that is easy to articulate and simple to use as an evaluation tool along the journey. Fortunately, we have a divinely inspired vision statement from the very first parish!

Look to Acts, chapter 2. Date: Pentecost – the Holy Spirit has come. Peter preaches to the gathered crowd. 3,000 people hear the Good News, respond to Jesus as their Savior, and are baptized. Instant congregation of 3,000! What did they do next?

“They devoted themselves to
the TEACHING of the apostles,
and to the COMMUNAL LIFE,
to the BREAKING of the BREAD and to the PRAYERS…
those who believed SHARED ALL THINGS in common.”
Acts 2:42-44

This was Jesus’ vision statement for the first parish. A call to conversion followed by 4 foundations for supporting that conversion. Today’s church documents all articulate the same vision in a variety of ways:

• Evangelization –we call each other to a personal faith & relationship with Jesus.
• Word – we grow in our understanding of that faith through life-long learning.
• Community – we support our faith in a parish that welcomes all believers.
• Worship – we celebrate that faith through prayer, sacraments and the Eucharist.
• Service – we live our faith by serving God’s people at home and beyond.

Parish Educator as More than Minister of the Word

As the master catechist for a faith community, we are responsible for echo-ing Jesus’ entire vision for congregational ministry, not just the sections related to education.

• We echo the vision to the pastor by providing the resources and assistance he needs to fulfill his first chair role of calling God’s people to faith and establishing Jesus’ vision as the parish vision.
• We echo the vision to the staff by providing the tools and the challenge needed to regularly evaluate how the congregation is remaining faithful to Jesus’ vision.
• We echo the vision to the pastoral council and parish leadership by providing the training they need to translate Jesus’ vision into action.
• And lastly, we echo the vision to the entire parish community by providing life-long faith formation for our common role as disciples on the journey.

This is the role of the catechetical leader! We strive to keep Jesus’ vision as our beacon, in spite of the distractions caused by the daily management needs that the role requires. We fulfill this role as a second chair leader, supporting the pastor in his first chair role, as well as the other second chair leaders in their ministries. And we do this, not by issuing edicts to be obeyed, but by building relationships and influencing others through mutual trust and cooperation. I believe it is no accident that the phrase “mutual respect and close collaboration” appears dozens of times throughout the new U.S. Bishops’ document “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord.” Those who survive and thrive as second chair leaders, do indeed find their success through this style of leadership. They create a new chapter in the concept of servant leadership.

A Note to First Chair Leaders

Jim Collins, a management expert, has done extensive research on corporate leadership. In his book, “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap – and Others Don’t”(2). He concludes that there are basically two styles of first chair leaders. The successful first chair leader is the corporate CEO who embraces the company vision, makes it his own, and then empowers a team of second chair leaders to carry out that vision. This process broadens the leadership base and leads to continued growth and success. On the other hand, the unsuccessful first chair leader operates as “a genius with a thousand helpers.” This leader identifies him/herself as the source of the corporate vision and creates a team of assistants for completing tasks. Since this leader is the direct source of the corporate vision, the leader’s ego is attached to the vision. This makes it extremely difficult for the first chair leader to trust anyone in the second tier positions to carry out the vision or to function as responsible leaders. Collins’ research concludes that this style of first chair leadership usually fails to have any long-term sustained success. This helps explain, to some extent, the rise and fall in parishes that occasionally takes place when there is a change in pastor. For a congregation to succeed and grow, second chair leadership must be established, trusted and allowed to lead. And we all must remember who we ultimately look to as our first chair vision-caster: Jesus Christ.

Dr. Patricia Clement is a catechetical leader from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. For over 25 years, she has worked with teams in parishes, schools and campus ministry to discover creative ways to incorporate faith formation into every aspect of church life. She is currently serving as the parish DRE for St. James parish in Hopewell, VA. You can reach her at st.jameschristianformation@verizon.net. Article copyright (c) Patrician E. Clement. All rights reserved.

(1) Bonem, M., and Patterson, R. Leading from the Second Chair. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pub., 2005. ISBN 0-7879-7739-X.
(2) Collins, J.C. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap – and Others Don’t. New York: HarperBusiness, 2001