December 2000 Call to Action News

NACPA, NALM: Time for justice for church employees

“Priests are wonderful with their parishioners but when it comes to staff people they lose it,” said Mary Kessler of the National Association of Personnel Administrators (NACPA), in a focus session on justice for church employees. Seminaries are not teaching personnel administration, and Kessler believes they must. In the meantime, NACPA has resources to fill the gaps. Sample job descriptions, personnel policies, just compensation systems, due process and performance evaluation procedures help parishes achieve some justice for its staff. Many dioceses don't have a human resources office to advocate for workers. Kessler says NACPA is working to change that. Visit www.nacpa.org

Irene Dymkar is the new director of the National Association of Lay Ministry (NALM). An attorney with an M. Div., she is passionate about her job: “Lay ministers are the secret asset of the church and we’re not going to be secret for much longer.” She estimates there are between 200,000 and 300,000 lay ministers of all categories “Bishops will have to talk to us. We are part of the infrastructure of the Church.”

Dymkar feels collaborative relationships foster more respect than contracts. But lay ministers also need to be assertive: “Jesus said, ‘feed my sheep.’ He didn’t say, ‘Be a sheep.’” She advises lay ministers who feel alone to organize across parish lines. She also urges working with national organizations such as NALM and the National Federation of Priests’ Councils, who recently joined forces to produce a video on collaborative ministry. Check out www.nalm.org