Parish Culture Essentials: Healthy Teamwork

July 21, 2025

Michael Jordan might not be Catholic (at least not yet), but he offers a powerful analogy for every Catholic pastor.

Jordan is widely recognized as the greatest basketball player of all time. He had the skill, drive, and intensity to take over any game. But early in his career, that wasn’t enough. He kept falling short in the playoffs. Why? Because his opponents had a strategy. They called it the Jordan Rules. Their entire game plan was built around isolating him, exhausting him, and forcing him to carry everything by himself. And it worked.

There’s a lesson here. When leaders don’t have a team, the opposition knows exactly how to wear them down.

Every Pastor Needs a Team

Pastors, your mission is far greater than a basketball championship. You are called to lead people to Jesus Christ – through preaching, discipleship, and the daily demands of parish life. It’s sacred work, but it’s also relentless. And it’s not just the pressure of a culture that resists the Gospel or the high expectations that come from within and all around you. Sometimes it’s the meeting that could have been an email. Sometimes it’s the email. Or the pressure to fix everything yourself because it feels easier than slowing down to delegate. It all adds up – quietly draining your energy and clarity. That’s not random. It’s a pattern. It’s a strategy that works when pastors try to carry the mission alone. 

But just like Jordan, everything changes when you stop carrying it alone.

Jordan’s breakthrough came when he got a great coach, a team he trusted, and a structure that made everyone better. Coach Phil Jackson brought clarity and the triangle offense, a system that created shared responsibility and freed Jordan to lead in a new way. He didn’t do less. He led differently. And the result was a team that became a dynasty.

Even Jesus didn’t carry His mission alone—He formed a small team, invested deeply in them, and sent them out together. The same dynamic holds true for parish life.

A Culture Worth Building

A healthy parish is not led by one person shouldering everything. It’s built on a culture of healthy teamwork – where trust is foundational, healthy conflict is embraced for the sake of the mission, roles match people’s strengths, and egos take a backseat to clarity and shared purpose. 

This isn’t just about Father getting a break. It’s about unleashing the Church for mission. When leadership is shared, and the culture is healthy, energy doesn’t just get preserved – it gets multiplied. The Gospel moves further, faster. Parishioners step into their gifts. Leaders stop burning out. And the whole parish begins to reflect what the Church is meant to be: a communion of people, each playing their part in the Body of Christ. 

That kind of culture can’t stop with the Parish Leadership Team. It must include ministry leaders, staff, and volunteers working together – not just in the same room, but in a shared mission. 

But teamwork doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through behavior – simple, consistent actions that strengthen relationships and build trust over time. The hard part isn’t understanding what to do. It’s practicing it together with humility and consistency. 

Teamwork is About Behavior

Many parishes say they “work together”, but few consistently practice the behaviors that define a real team. True teamwork is not about meeting frequency – it’s about trust, vulnerability, shared accountability, and mutual support. That kind of culture must be built patiently, prayerfully, and intentionally. 

True teamwork begins when a pastor chooses to lower his guard and be vulnerable with those around him. It starts with the courage to admit shortcomings, acknowledge areas of need, and invite others into the work. Many leaders feel the pressure to appear strong at all times, but that mindset makes authentic teamwork impossible. A healthy parish culture grows when leaders choose honesty over image and mutual reliance over self-sufficiency. Every parish leader must learn to lead with vulnerability and trust others enough to share the load.

When this happens, everything changes. Meetings get better. Staff dynamics improve. The mission advances faster. And most importantly, pastors lead with freedom, clarity, and joy because they’re not doing it alone. 

That’s not just smart leadership. That’s spiritual wisdom. 

So if you’ve been trying to carry it all alone, consider this your invitation – not to do less, but to lead differently. Like Jordan did. Like Jesus did. With a small, healthy team committed to the mission – and a parish culture built on trust and collaboration.

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