Moving with the times

Peter Kennedy | Bendigo Weekly | 30-Dec-2011 3.00PMN

«
»
This week marked the first anniversary of the sudden death of the sixth Bishop of Sandhurst, Bishop Joe Grech, a man whose charismatic faith and love for life won him great support and respect from both the young and old alike.
And while he was initially viewed by many to be an odd appointment back in 2001 when he replaced an ailing Bishop Noel Daly, Bishop Joe very quickly stamped his individuality, his faith and his personality upon the people of Sandhurst in a manner that would have impressed even his most ardent critics.
One year on, and Bishop Joe is still deeply missed. For many, the pain associated with the sudden loss of such a great and inspiring leader remains a raw and open wound.
The Catholic Church is an organisation beset with many problems, a circumstance that is not unusual in itself, but the fact that it has taken more than 12 months (so far) to find a replacement for the popular Maltese-born bishop is a symptom of just one of the issues impacting upon the church today.
The church can elect a pope more quickly than it can decide upon a new Bishop of Sandhurst.
As a nation, we can conduct an entire election campaign and install a new prime minister within a minimum of 33 days and a maximum of 68 days of nominations being called for.
Yet the Catholic Church remains steadfast in its internal and incredibly secretive selection processes, a circumstance that does little to engage or enthuse its followers, and a lot to confuse and even frustrate these very same people.
Life in the 21st century calls for things to move with far greater haste than the church may well be used to, but anyone or any organisation that fails to recognise the importance of the need to move with the times risks being left behind, or further alienated.
To most of us, it’s known as succession planning, and one needs to look no further than the Australian cricket team to see what can happen when there’s no real or workable plan in place to manage change at the top.
b.Entertained
Terry Mills commented on 30-Dec-2011 10:41 PM5 out of 5 stars
Let me congratulate Peter Kennedy on being appointed GM of Bendigo Publishing Pty Ltd. I'm sure that the organisation will benefit from this appointment. Yet why was the selection process so "incredibly secretive"? Surely, "in the 21st century", all readers
should have some say in this appointment. The circumstance surrounding this appointment "does little to engage or enthuse" the readers. "As a nation" of more than 20 million people, we can elect a leader "within a minimum of 33 days". Surely a few thousand
readers could elect a GM even more quickly. How was the GM chosen? Who were the candidates? What are the terms and conditions of this appointment? Get my point? Anyway, best wishes in the job Peter, and happy New Year.
dontgetit commented on 03-Jan-2012 03:46 PM5 out of 5 stars
Please explain???

Comment





Captcha Image