An Exchange on Lay Leadership/Response from Peter J. Giammalvo, PhD/Response from John O. Mudd, JD

Health Progress, Mar/Apr 2006 by Davis, Mary D, Giammalvo, Peter J, Mudd, John O

This letter is in response to the "Lay Leadership" special section in the September-October 2005 issue of Health Progress.

I am a "first vocation" lay minister in Catholic health care, with 25 years of committed ministry. I felt extremely disheartened to read of the concern expressed by Peter J. Giammalvo, PhD ("A 'Second Generation' of Ministry Leaders," p. 15), and John O. Mudd, JD ("From CEO to Mission Leader," p. 25), that "second generation" lay leaders might be at a disadvantage since they would not be working side by side with vowed religious in Catholic leadership (vowed religious are technically laity) and may not "speak" mission in the same manner as did the leaders of the past. Such concerns belittle the past as much as they burden the future.

Giammalvo's article appears to resurrect the old divisions of "the sacred and the profane," with the vowed religious having taught the laity about mission, ministry, fidelity, and commitment to service. I believe it has been a mutual formation, with many vowed religious learning, sometimes in amazement, about the same from their lay co-workers. Mudd's desire to have tomorrow's lay leaders conversant with the language of ministry may need to consider how today's leaders definitely speak with their lives while articulating values in the language of business to continue and further the mission of Catholic health care.

The dedication of numerous lay leaders and employees in Catholic health care is the result of our own deep-seated response to a call to serve; for many of us, this stems from a "vow" as strong and confirmed as any religious has taken. The future of Catholic health care may take a varied form but will nonetheless be sustained as Catholics, other Christians, and lay leaders of other faith traditions respond to the call to serve, teach, lead, and heal as Jesus did.

Mary D. Davis

Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health Care

San Antonio

Response from Peter J. Giammalvo, PhD:

I would like to take this opportunity to ofter a brief response to Ms. Davis' letter. She raises excellent points and, for the most part, I agree with her. My intent in raising the issue of "first and second generation" lay leaders was not to minimize the historical and contemporary contributions of lay leaders to the ministry. I had hoped to raise a concern about something we may neglect in the formation and development of leaders tor the ministry.

Vowed religious (and yes, technically, they are laity) all experienced intense spiritual formation in preparation for and after taking vows. Those programs in the novitiate and afterwards, diverse as they may have been, did offer an inwardly reflective experience that animated their life and work.

My observation is that lay leaders who walked side by side with vowed religious experienced firsthand owe dimension of how spirituality informs and animates one's work. Our present challenge is to bring forward a unique lay spirituality that meets the criteria set out in Ms. Davis' letter: where "today's leaders definitely speak with their lives while articulating values in the language of business to continue and further the mission" and "the dedication of numerous lay leaders . . . is the result of [a] deep-seated response to a call to serve."

I am grateful for the clarity of thought that Ms. Davis has contributed to this dialogue.

Response from John O. Mudd, JD:

What Ms. Davis says is true. Many leaders in the mission and pastoral fields have transitioned from sponsoring congregations to the laity (recognizing, as she points out, that sisters are laity). I certainly did not intend to question the wonderful work of mission and pastoral leaders like Ms. Davis.

My point was different. In my experience, our executive leaders generally (with clear exceptions) have yet to make the transition to see themselves as mission leaders, fully comfortable in the language of mission. That is our next level of challenge.