As part of the research for a new book on innovation in Catholic schools (to be published by NCEA early 2025), I engaged some really great Catholic school leaders in podcast conversations and asked them to describe their best practices. The series begins today (Feb 26th) and I’ll drop one a week for the next 20 or so weeks. These spotlights will become part of the book, too. This week’s Catholic School Matters podcast features Jack Joyce of St. Labre Indian Catholic Schools. As the Director of Mission and Ministry, Joyce is attentive to the spiritual practices and history of the students, who ..read more

One of the challenges to building a collaborative community is our different definitions and expectations of community. Out of this curiosity, I read the Rule of St. Benedict and then Sr. Joan Chittister’s The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century. I was aware that St. Benedict was a monk in the 5th & 6th centuries, but I’m also aware that his treatise of religious community has been a topic of debate–whether it means withdrawing from contemporary society or a new approach to living in a polarized society? The starting point is welcoming. Benedict says, “All guests who pres ..read more

At last week’s principal meeting, the underlying theme was anxiety. Principals are nervous about enrollment, anxious about budgets and finances, worried about the Diocesan settlement and the implications for their enrollments and budgets. Sometimes the questions were direct (“How much will our parish have to pay?”) and other times they were implied (“Do you think any of our schools will have to close?”). Add to that the demands of accreditation, the typical burdens of student behavior and parent relations and it’s not surprising that anxiety was in the air. Then I read Maggie Jackson’s essay i ..read more

As part of the process for writing my 2020 book, Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic School Leadership, I collected online articles about controversies in Catholic school leadership. About 18 months later, I put those new stories together into a podcast and presentation. This year, I’ve decided to do a little more. I took my list of 25 Catholic school controversies ranging from the bizarre to the familiar and divided them into 5. Then I invited a former guest on to discuss. Once I did that, I realized that I needed to ask someone else to listen to the podcast to reflect on what th ..read more

As part of the process for writing my 2020 book, Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic School Leadership, I collected online articles about controversies in Catholic school leadership. About 18 months later, I put those new stories together into a podcast and presentation. This year, I’ve decided to do a little more. I took my list of 25 Catholic school controversies ranging from the bizarre to the familiar and divided them into 5. Then I invited a former guest on to discuss. Once I did that, I realized that I needed to ask someone else to listen to the podcast to reflect on what th ..read more

Leadership, I collected online articles about controversies in Catholic school leadership. About 18 months later, I put those new stories together into a podcast and presentation. This year, I’ve decided to do a little more. I took my list of 25 Catholic school controversies ranging from the bizarre to the familiar and divided them into 5. Then I invited a former guest on to discuss. Once I did that, I realized that I needed to ask someone else to listen to the podcast to reflect on what they just heard. Each one of these podcasts has two parts. The first is a long form conversation between a ..read more

As part of the process for writing my 2020 book, Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic School Leadership, I collected online articles about controversies in Catholic school leadership. About 18 months later, I put those new stories together into a podcast and presentation. This year, I’ve decided to do a little more. I took my list of 25 Catholic school controversies ranging from the bizarre to the familiar and divided them into 5. Then I invited a former guest on to discuss. Once I did that, I realized that I needed to ask someone else to listen to the podcast to reflect on what th ..read more

As part of the process for writing my 2020 book, Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic School Leadership, I collected online articles about controversies in Catholic school leadership. About 18 months later, I put those new stories together into a podcast and presentation. This year, I’ve decided to do a little more. First, I realize that one of the reasons people listen to podcasts is to learn how someone thinks. We listen for how they react to situations, how they frame (and re-frame) terrible things, and how they interpret recent events. A good podcast is like a good friend—someo ..read more

Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 I have taken solace in this passage from Hebrews since three witnesses to God’s presence in our world have passed away recently. Last week, Rich Clark passed away suddenly. I had finally gotten around to contacting Rich to come onto the podcast and had a great conversation with him on Friday, Sep 2nd. I told him before we started, “These usually go 20-30 minutes but ..read more

September 27, 2022 Chevrus HS in Portland, ME approved to participate in state funding as a result of Carson v. Makin Retrospective on Cardinal Ritter’s decision to integrate St. Louis Catholic schoola 75 years ago and the threats he received from Catholics September 20, 2022 Elementary school in Denver disinvites certain Catholic high schools “New Catholic policies across US create ‘culture of fear’ for LGBTQ students, advocates say” in NCR September 13, 2022 Court sides with Indiana Catholic high school in case of termination of gay teacher Australian bishops offer guidance to Catholic ..read more