Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to describe sources of resistance to change reported by parish clergy and religious, lay administrative and ministry parish staff, and non-staff lay parish leaders as a reason to resist change within a conservative, hierarchical, religious organization, when a Roman Catholic parish shifts from a top-down to a shared leadership model. Methodology. This study used descriptive and ex post facto research methods and included 196 participants from six Roman Catholic parishes implementing a shared leadership model, the Parish Assessment and Renewal (PAR) process. Participants responded to an eighteen-item questionnaire and used a Likert scale to indicate the degree to which statements represented reasons they may have resisted a change to shared leadership in their parishes. Statistical tests included the ANOVA, independent t-tests, and the Scheffe Parametric Test of Difference. Findings. Priests reported the highest number of resistance factors; vowed religious women rejected the greatest number of resistance factors; and lay leaders did not report any resistance factors with a mean score above 3.0. Loneliness was reported as one of the top two reasons to resist this change by role respondent groups; fear of failure was the most frequently rejected resistance factor. Males had higher mean scores in eleven of sixteen areas. Few significant differences were found between respondent groups. A significant difference was identified for the resistance factor boredom between priests and administrative staff and between priests and lay leaders, and for the resistance factor superiority between gender groups. Conclusions. Culture will continue to be a challenge to implementing changes to shared leadership in Roman Catholic parishes; gradualism and collaboration are essential for institutionalizing this change; issues of gender will continue influencing resistance to shared leadership; women religious could be a lever for this in Roman Catholic parishes. This study also had implications for other conservative, hierarchical organizations, particularly in the areas of culture and women in leadership roles. Recommendations. Development of learning communities comprised of PAR parishes is recommended. These learning communities should include broad representation from clergy, staff, and lay leaders. Learning communities should be explored for expansion to parishes using other models of pastoral councils.