Church Executive LEADERSHIP TRAINING OPTIONS FOR PASTORS | Page 10

Villanova School of Business Master
of Science in Church Management
Building Capacity for Leadership
“The popular myth says that leaders are born, not made.” Not so, according to the
Very Reverend John P. Bambrick, V.F., pastor of St. Aloysius Church in Jackson, NJ,
and a graduate of Villanova School of Business’ Master of Science in Church
Management (MSCM) program.
“The MSCM program quickly dispels this notion effectively making
leaders for the Church of the 21st Century,” Bambrick says.
For the past decade, the Villanova School of Business has been offering
a Master of Science in Church Management to church leaders, both busy
pastors and laity. This unique program aims to build leadership capacity
and practical management skills for the leaders of the church of the
future. While classes might focus largely on practical subjects — such
as pastoral planning, financial reporting and human resources — each
course is imbued with the theology necessary for the proper stewardship
of the church.
According to Matthew Manion, the program’s faculty director, some
people are surprised that a church management program would be housed
in a business school; however, he asserts, it’s important that church leaders
receive practical management skills similar to an MBA program while
grounding those skills in theology and ethics.
“In an MBA course, you learn about Wall Street,” Manion explains.
“That’s not helpful to a church leader, but some of the practical lessons
you would learn in a business program are important for church leaders
to learn.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, agrees that sound
business practices are crucial to the success of the Church. “The Church
is not a business, but the Church needs to use sound business principles
of stewardship, accountability, and responsibility in shepherding the
resources of God’s people entrusted to us.”
For the past four years, the Archdiocese of New York has had a
partnership with the MSCM program at Villanova, in order to better
prepare pastors and laity to manage the finances and temporal matters of
the church. “One thing we’ve heard over and over from both priests and
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CHURCH EXECUTIVE • L E A D E R S H I P T R A I N I N G O P T I O N S F O R P A S T O R S
parishioners was the need to help support our pastors in managing our
parishes by developing stronger business practices,” says Dolan.
Of course, it can be difficult for busy church leaders to take time out
of their schedules to attend classes. Villanova’s MSCM program helps
accommodate this by offering its program almost completely online.
Except for a one-week residency on the beautiful and scenic Villanova
campus, classes are taken online and can be completed in just two years.
Students are able to log in and communicate with their classmates during
live, synchronous class sessions. However, they are also able to access the
class at their convenience to catch up on course materials, pre-recorded
lectures and archived live sessions. The program is built — with flexibility
in mind — for busy church leaders.
The first course focuses specifically on leadership for religious
organizations, and is team-taught by professors in business, ethics and
theology. It is designed to be clear from the very start that this unique
program teaches practical business management skills with a strong
foundation of theology and ethics.
Other courses in the MSCM curriculum also aim to build capacity in
church leaders. Throughout the program students will study human
resources, civil law, financial reporting, church technology, stewardship
and development, and strategic planning.
“The MSCM program provides church workers with a ‘tool box’ filled
with leadership techniques and tools to navigate the increasingly complex
realities of emerging church work,” says Bambrick.
The MSCM program hopes to develop church leaders of the future,
grounded in theology and possessing the tools necessary to strengthen
the church in a changing world.
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