Webinars

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Spiritual Care | Skills for Leading | Synodal Leadership (2 Parts) | STELLAR Approach | Diverse Contexts

Practices for Spiritual Care of Your Team and You

Presenters: Elizabeth Becerra & Lori Dahlhoff, EdD
Air Date: April 22, 2026 - Session 2

Join in a dialogue about the importance of caring for the people involved in the Pathways Project and learn practices for spiritual care of the members of local teams and of yourself.

About the Presenters:

Elizabeth Becerra and Lori Dahlhoff are Facilitators for the Pathways toward a Thriving Parish project.
Read their bios at thrivingparishes.org/team.

Skills for Leading a Synodal Parish

Presenters: Jim Merhaut & Edwin Ferrera, DMin
Air Date: April 22, 2026 - Session 1

This webinar presents the essential skills for leading in a synodal style.

About the Presenters:

Edwin Ferrera and Jim Merhaut are Facilitators for the Pathways toward a Thriving Parish project.
Read their bios at thrivingparishes.org/team.

Synodal Leadership

Presenter: Emily Jendzejec, PhD
Air Date: April 15, 2026

PART 1

Building Teams and Developing Leaders

This webinar will explore how to build sustainable teams and develop your leaders.

PART 2

Strategizing and Sustaining Momentum

This session will reflect on how leaders can enable teams to discern strategic action plans and sustain momentum.

About the Presenter:

Emily Jendzejec, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Studies at the Loyola Institute for Ministry at Loyola University New Orleans. She teachers courses in Leadership, Pastoral Care, and Young Adult Ministry. Prior to her time at Loyola, she served as Executive Director of the Ignatian Spirituality Center. Dr. Jendzejec’s most recent research focuses on synodality, community organizing, and young adult ministry. Her scholarship draws on and connects Catholic traditions and history, Catholic social teaching, and lived experiences to equip and empower people to respond to the signs of the times as contemplatives in action.

Bringing a Pathways Plan to Life:
The STELLAR Implementation Approach

Presenter: Jim Merhaut
Air Date: February 11, 2026

When we are working through a planning process, we need to work the entire process to get impactful results. It’s not enough to envision a good idea. It’s also not enough to design a good idea. We also need to implement the good idea. Implementation skills are quite distinct from visioning and designing skills. This workshop will focus on sharpening our implementation skills by learning about and applying the STELLAR implementation model developed by Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva, the “Reinvention Guru” who has done multiple Ted Talks and has been featured in Forbes Magazine and the Harvard Business Review. We will apply her STELLAR model to church project implementation.

About the Presenter:

Jim Merhaut is an award-winning author, national motivational speaker, internationally-known leadership trainer, and ICF-Certified Coach. He holds a Master of Science degree in Education from Duquesne University with an emphasis in adult formation. Jim has authored and co-authored several books and published dozens of articles and essays on leadership and relationships. Jim is a Pathways Facilitator in the Pathways Project and the Coordinator of Consultants in NCCL’s Catholic Families Project. Jim’s website is coachingtoconnect.com.

Listening in Diverse Contexts and Cultures

Presenter: Darius Villalobos
Air Date: January 14, 2026

Listening is an important pastoral skill for any parish leader. But developing the skill of listening becomes essential when you are working across cultures. Cultural diversity can be ethnic and racial differences, but there are lots of cultural differences to consider when working in a parish. From urban, suburban, and rural realities to socioeconomic differences, to different liturgical norms, and many more characteristics, every parish has a unique culture. This webinar will explore the basics in understanding cultures, look at the differences in how cultures communicate, and will explore best practices to make sure that you can listen to all the members of your parish and to make sure everyone feels heard.

About the Presenter:

Darius A. Villalobos serves as a ministry consultant for local and national Catholic organizations with a special focus on intercultural ministry. He is a consultant to the Pathways Project and NCCL’s Catholic Families Project.

He has served on the staff of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) as the Senior Project Manager for Diversity and Inclusion; and in a variety of ministry roles including youth ministry, young adult ministry, and catechesis in the Archdiocese of Chicago. He is a graduate of DePaul University (B.A.) and Catholic Theological Union (MA intercultural ministry). He has served as a parish RCIA director, liturgical music minister, retreat director, catechist, and youth minister.