St Francis of Assisi Manitowoc - Pastoral Associate

Position Title: Pastoral Associate
Department: Discipleship & Hospitality
Time: Full –Time/ 40 Hours/Week
Supervisor’s Title: Hospitality and Discipleship
Manager Approval Date: 3/17/2025

Job Summary:
Help provide pastoral care to parishioners, staff, and faithful of the Manitowoc area through:
1. Hospitality
2. Discipleship formation Opportunities
3. Pastoral Care
4. Social Ministry
5. Care Team co-coordinator
6. Administration

Duties and Responsibilities:
Hospitality
1. Emphasis on radical hospitality.
2. Visible presence at parish events, such as but not limited to, Masses, Weekend Masses, annual parish picnic, small groups, and annual meeting.
3. Facilitate effective public relations/communications within the parish and community.
4. Focus on empowerment and involvement of parish members in pastoral care ministries.
5. Assists the pastor and Hosp/Discipl. Manager in fostering a sense of community within the parish in which all members feel a sense of belonging to each other, the parish and the larger church;
6. Develop missionary discipleship pathways, moving away from an academic model to a lived discipleship model where the goal is active involvement in the community of faith, transforming people, families and communities.
7. Coordinate and support compelling adult formation experiences and events with all Bible studies, small group discipleship, prayer ministry, parish mission and stewardship

Discipleship Formational Opportunities:
1. Create, organize, and facilitate programming to promote discipleship.
2. Offer formational opportunities for parish ministries.
3. Oversee Order of Christian Initiation (OCIA) process, including recruitment, formation, and follow up of team members
4. Develop or assist with parish retreats and missions. Facilitate special opportunities in advent and lent for parishioners.
5. Foster, track, and facilitate discipleship training through adult faith formation opportunities, especially small faith communities.
6. Collaborate with the Coordinators of Religious Education, School Principals and Coordinator of Youth Ministry in assisting with ministry to adults, youth and children.
7. Assist in providing staff development, education and enrichment
8. Work collaboratively with the surrounding Catholic parishes to offer larger scale programming.
9. Work with the Ecumenical community of Manitowoc to promote ecumenical opportunities in prayer, service and outreach when needed.
10. Encourage, promote, and oversee formation of small discipleship groups / Quads.

Pastoral Care
1. Collaborate closely with the Discipleship Team Leader, the Pastor and with other members of the Parish Staff in the overall pastoral ministry of the parish.
2. Prepare funerals with families when needed. Conduct occasional Vigil Services and Committal Services, and funeral services at funeral homes. When needed, be present at funerals to help coordinate ministers. Meet with individuals who wish to pre-plan their funerals. Provide follow-up bereavement care to families who have lost loved ones.
3. Oversee the funeral choir, help members to see this as a ministry to the families, offer formational/practice sessions, and yearly recognition.
4. When necessary greet families prior to funerals
5. Assist with communion services, visits to hospitals, nursing homes, wake services, funerals, and parishioner homes for pastoral care of the sick and elderly as needed.
6. Invite persons visiting the parish or joining the parish to active participation in discipleship, in stewardship of prayer, service and sharing, and in other parish programs.
7. Facilitate and participate in Pastoral and Spiritual Care to the sick and homebound, hospital visitation, coordinate Holy Communion to homebound parishioners and nursing homes within the parish boundaries. Coordinate parish visitors to the homebound through the care team.
8. Develop/assist support groups for the widowed, grieving, separated and divorced, or makes referrals to outside groups to provide these services
9. Network with local community resources.
10. Help fulfill the pastoral needs of homebound, hospitalized, and nursing home patients
11. Oversee pastoral care of Parish Staff in collaboration with the Pastor and the Hospitality / Discipleship Manager.

Social Ministry
1. Assist persons in crisis connecting them with resources including Priests, Good Shepherd Fund, CARELINK, and local community resources.
2. Assist the parish in raising awareness in the Respect Life area. Be the staff contact person in this area.
3. Facilitate the Advent giving opportunity in the parish
4. Assist the Pastor in developing social consciousness among the staff and parishioners and respond to the needs of the poor and victimized, local, national, global issues.

Care Team co-coordinator
1. Shares the leadership of the Care team with the Parochial Vicar.
2. Coordinate the ministry of care program with Parochial Vicar, developing and supporting a team of lay volunteers to help reach and care for those in need.
3. Trains volunteers to assist with various programs and needs of individuals. (working on listening skills and bringing communion)
4. Assist in facilitating monthly follow up with Volunteers.

Administration
1. Participate in weekly pastoral and monthly team meetings.
2. Coordinate the Advent giving project, connecting with local organizations in need and provide a way for parishioners to give towards those needs.
3. Register new members to the parish and guide them to parish information, most prominently the three areas of stewardship.
4. Delegate appropriate tasks to other staff, and volunteers when possible.
5. Write Bulletin articles as assigned or needed.
6. Mentor future leaders for each of the groups that you are working with as well as other ministries. Encourage them to attend diocesan education/formation opportunities as well as any Diocesan program.
7. Complies with OSHA Safety and Health rules.
8. Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities & Professional Requirements:
K: Knowledge
1. Knowledge and acceptance of Catholic teaching and actively practicing Catholic faith.
2. Degree in pastoral ministry/theology/religious studies.
3. Pastoral and Catechetical documents of the Catholic Church.
4. Traditions of St. Francis of Assisi Parish and the Diocese of Green Bay.
5. Understanding and implementation of Stewardship principles.
6. Understanding of child and adult development and learning styles.

S: Skills
1. Pastoral approach
2. Verbal and written communication skills.
3. Team ministry with volunteers and staff
4. Administrative, organization and detail-orientation

A: Abilities
1. Think independently, work unsupervised, problem solve, and enthusiastically support the goals and objectives as set in place by the pastor and management team.
2. Collaborate with the pastor, other team members, and volunteers.
3. Provide pastoral care to parishioners.
5. Recruit, support, and review volunteers of all backgrounds and experience levels.
6. Communicate effectively the life and teachings of the Church.
7. Convey the joy and gratitude of the St. Francis of Assisi community.

ADA

Physical/Visual/Mental Demands:
Possess the ability to carry out the duties of a parish leader and respect persons of various backgrounds and experiences of the Catholic Church.

Typical Working Conditions:
Position requires an individual to work mainly inside the Church building and some in the community.

Nature of Supervision Received:
Position requires the ability to collaborate with supervisor, pastor, parish and committees to accomplish assigned tasks in a timely manner.

Judgment Exercised/Decisions Made:
Decisions are generally pastoral related. Recommends, develops and implements various catechetical efforts and simultaneously manages several volunteers. Able to multitask, maintain composure, and execute decisions in an efficient, effective manner.

Financial Responsibility:
Collaborate with the Business Manager and Accountant in providing input on budget for resources, equipment, and supplies. Spends allocated resources in a professional manner aware of the need to act as a good steward of what has been given and looks for ways to maximize use of and share what he/she has with others.

Supervision Exercised/Number of Employees Supervised:
1. Pastoral care as specified in parish organization chart.
2. Volunteers coordinating Joint Parish Mission experience, and all other pastoral care ministries.