The Listening Parish: A Guidebook to Synodality Practices in a Faith Community

This practical guidebook for leading today's parish offers background on synodality and worksheet-based chapters to help you incorporate the approach into pastoring, leadership councils, meetings, planning, decision-making, staff roles, schools, just employment practices, building the parish assembly, and moving to the peripheries.

"Synodality is a style
it is a walk together, and it is what the Lord expects from the Church of the third millennium."
-Pope Francis, 11/29/19

"A synodal Church is a Church that listens, which realizes that listening is more than simply hearing. It is mutual listening in which everyone has something to learn. The faithful people, the college of bishops, the bishop of Rome all listening to each other, all listening to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth."
-Pope Francis, 10/17/15

Pope Francis has invited the universal Church to embrace an ancient approach and walk the path toward synodality. In fact, he calls for every parish to use synodality practices. But what would that look like in practice?Michael Papesh shares his decades of experience in ministry, parish, and diocesan leadership to explore how synodality practices can be applied to all aspects of parish leadership and enliven your community. Most chapters are two pages long for easy use in parish meetings. The digital "eResource" edition available direct from The Pastoral Center is licensed for use within a parish or diocesan office, allowing you to easily email or print one or more of these handouts for your leadership teams.

1. Introduction
2. Considering Synodality
3. The Synodal Path for the Parish
4. Church Structure
5. The Pastor
6. Council Basics
7. Council Meetings
8. Discernment Decision-Making
9. The Ministry Staff
10. Parishes with Schools
11. Just Employment Practices
12. Building a Parish Assembly
13. Moving Toward the Peripheries
14. A Sample Pastoral Planning Process
15. Parish Synodality in Practice