News

By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute After decades of reading what various experts – business leaders, HR specialists, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists and organizational behaviorists – have had to say about what people need and/or want from their work, the best description I have ever encountered fell into my hands this summer quite by accident. Or was it Providential? I’ll let you make the call. Let me settle for providing the details. One quiet summer morning, casually perusing the porch that runs along the length of our cabin overlooking a small, quiet lake, I noti...

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A Catholic Vision for Leading Like Jesus Encounter is scheduled Saturday, Oct. 19, at Immaculate Conception Parish in Hendersonville, NC. The Encounter, which is a rich mix of videos, live presentations and small and large group discussions, runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Dave Coe, a parish member and the program’s Facilitator, says the Encounter “will help you be the most effective leader you can possibly be, a Jesus-like leader -- a Servant, Steward and Shepherd -- in every facet of your life. In fact, no matter what good thing you hope to accomplish in your life, this one-day program will help you do it...

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By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute In the process of preparing for a small group discussion series in our parish this summer on Bishop Robert Barron’s new book Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis, my thoughts drifted back to a year ago when we held our first ever parish small group discussion and the text we used was The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium) by Pope Francis. This year’s discussion of Bishop Barron’s book went very well. It gave people an opportunity to share their heartbreak and anger over the clergy sexual abuse crisis – a...

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By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds huge differences between what Americans value today and what they valued in 1998, just 21 years ago. While “hard work” led the list of values in both 1998 and 2019, after that the disparities are striking. Today: 61% of Americans of all ages value patriotism – down nine percentage points from 1998; 50% value religion – down 12 percentage points from 1998; and, 43% value having children – down 16 percentage points from 1998. Age differences Perhaps even more striking w...

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“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” So began a brief talk by Dr. Owen Phelps at the first Benefactors Mass & Brunch for the Yeshua Catholic International Leadership Institute on Saturday, Aug. 10, at St. James Parish in Rockford, IL. His words echoed those of Dick Kunnert, a Yeshua board member, Senior Fellow and Master Facilitator who served as master of ceremonies at the brunch. Before the brunch Father Dave Beauvais, also a Yeshua board member, served as celebrant and homilist at the Mass. In addition to leading prayers for all of the Institute’s benefactors, he took the occasion to thank t...

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(Lord) when did we see you … in prison, and visit you? (Matt 25:39) Maybe it’s hard to picture a county jail as God’s vineyard. But a team of Lead Like Jesus Facilitators in Rockford, IL, will tell you that’s exactly what it is – and that it inevitably yields a rich bounty for the Lord. They should know. For the last nine years, they’ve been regularly facilitating Lead Like Jesus Encounters for Winnebago County Jail inmates. In all, they have led 86 Encounters that have reached more than 1500 incarcerated men. The team uses ecumenical materials from Lead Like Jesus, but the ...

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Whenever people interact, some conflict is inevitable. We can’t avoid it. In fact, trying to avoid all conflict can be a trap that impedes the development of healthy organizations – including parishes. When handled well, conflict can actually become an opportunity for greater parish growth and health. Thus, leaders need to see each conflict as an opportunity for improvement. It helps them to realize that there are two kinds of conflict -- task conflict and relationship conflict. Relationship conflict is the toxic version. But interestingly, it often arises because we don’t adequately address t...

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One of our friends and advocates, Father Mike Mendl, SDB, recently referred us to a concise article about three leadership styles: Dictator; Best friend; and, Ghost. The first two styles are self-explanatory. To learn more about the third, you’ll have to read the article – which we highly recommend. The author quickly outlines the pros and cons of each leadership style, giving the reader a handy guide to navigate each of the styles. Of course, it’s important to remember that these three styles of leadership don’t begin to cover the options a leader has in relating to his or her ...

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The Yeshua Institute’s first Benefactors Mass & Brunch, scheduled Saturday, Aug. 10, at St. James Parish in Rockford, IL, will feature Javis Mugagga, our Catholic Vision for Leading Like Jesus Master Facilitator from Uganda. Mugagga oversees Encounters and special programs for seminarians, high school and college students, and married couples. Most of the programs are in Kampala, but his outreach to seminarians covers all the archdioceses and dioceses in Uganda. Father David Beauvais, a member of the Yeshua Institute Board of Directors and a Master Facilitator, will be celebrant at the Mass, which begins at...

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‘Offering advice is a sign of good leadership, and asking for advice is a sign of intelligence. If the exchange goes well, both parties benefit.’ By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute By now we should all know that how we do things is at least as important as what we are doing. In fact, sometimes the how is more important than the what. That’s the case, according to Harvard researcher, when it comes to asking for advice – and giving it. Asking “Can I pick your brain?” is not the best way to get the process started. “The whole interaction is a subtle ...

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