2006 CHA MISSION LEADERS SURVEY 1

Health Progress, Jul/Aug 2006 by Talone, Sr Patricia A

A New Study Compares the Role's Strengths, Weaknesses with Those Seen in 1993

In this first of two articles on a recent survey of mission leaders in Catholic health care, Sr. Patricia describes the survey's results concerning organizational information and the mission leader's role in senior management. In the second article, which will be published in our September-October issue, Sr. Patricia will share results relating to education, qualifications, experience, and compensation.

Mary Kathryn Grant, PhD, writing in this journal in 1999, traced the evolution of the role of mission leader from "mentor to mascot to mainstream." She argued that because the mission leader position is so central to the purpose of Catholic health care, it should be recognized as a profession and integrated in the ministry's organizations.1

As Grant described it, the role's development has been analogous to that of the early Christian couple Prisca and Aquila (Acts 18, Rom 16:3, 1 Cor 16:19).2 This husband and wife were Jewish Christians who, having moved from Rome to Corinth, welcomed Paul into their hearts, home, and local church. They formed a deep spiritual friendship with the Apostle to the Gentiles as he lived with them in Corinth for 18 months. When Paul set sail for Ephesus, Prisca and Aquila packed up their belongings and their lives and accompanied him to carry the Good News, again setting up a church in their home. We recognize that they were not simply Paul's disciples because, in Romans 16, he calls them "fellow workers," noting that they "risked their lives" for him. Their commitment to the Gospel of Jesus was so strong that, when they met a newer Jewish convert named Apollos whose zeal apparently blurred the Gospel message, "they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26). They who had received the Word embraced it, sacrificed tor it, and labored mightily to ensure that its message continued to he advanced and not mitigated.

Contemporary mission leaders in Catholic health care are, like Prisca and Aquila, disciples of the Lord Jesus, leaders within the church, and workers in the vineyard. Today's mission leaders sacrifice their time and talent, working with, mentoring, and counseling others in order to further the reign of God, particularly among the sick and vulnerable.

A common goal across the Catholic health care ministry is the integration into daily operations-the nuts and bolts-of both the unique mission of each organization and the shared mission of Catholic health ministries, in order to further Christ's healing. We are partners in this healing ministry not because of St. Francis or St. Joseph or any of those other wonderful saints, founders, and foundresses, but because we want to continue the healing ministry of Jesus and because we believe that mission must be integrated throughout every aspect of health care organizations. As CHA, our own commitment is to support and enhance the professional role of the mission leader as vital to all levels of Catholic health care, at the same time acknowledging that this does not mean an individual mission leader has to do everything at every single level.

The role of the mission leader in a Catholic health care organization continues to change, as do the competencies and composition of those carrying out this calling. In January 2006, at the request of its Mission Leaders Committee, CHA conducted a survey of all mission leaders in our database-including individuals from systems, regions, and facilities representing long term care, acute care, and other health operations.

The committee hoped to garner information for multiple reasons, including strategic planning and ongoing development of the mission leader function. Clearly, the information is also important for recruiting and hiring mission leaders, evaluating the role of mission leaders, and benchmarking certain aspects of the role. CEOs, sponsors, board members, and mission leaders often contact CHA for help in ascertaining what they should be looking for in a mission leader and whether there is a ministry norm. Questions commonly asked are: "How much should we pay?" "Who should report to the mission leader?" and "Can we give them operational responsibility?" CHA hoped to be able to better answer these inquiries by gathering this data.

CHA last surveyed mission leaders in 1993, when the role was still relatively new. It had originated in the 1980s, but was still nascent; and people's preparation for the role varied greatly. Some who had the position were seasoned members of mission leadership within the ministry; others had come to the position from nursing, teaching, religious formation, or administration. Systems and sponsors recognized in these people certain characteristics that would enable them to transfer their skills to the newly developing mission leader role. The networking among mission leaders, both within systems and throughout the ministry, was fairly informal at that time. Competencies tor and even the expectations of the position were nor very well established. Today we believe that the role is much more acknowledged and respected throughout the ministry. Preparation tor it, although still varied, is much more formalized. Networking, both within and across systems and facilities, is much more regular and formal, constituting part of the ongoing formation of the mission leader.