Drawing from over thirty years of studying and helping to shape churches, dioceses, religious communities, and pastoral ministries nationwide, Thomas Sweetser, S.J., argues that contemporary parishes are "caught in a Church system that is not working." In The Parish as Covenant: A Call to Pastoral Partnership, he proposes a dual-focus system of parish leadership which creates a healthier, more collaborative environment for leaders, assistants, and parishioners, and helps ensure a successful transition when pastors and administrators are replaced.

The strongest parishes have pastors with a mission and goals that are supported and enhanced by their parishioners. A change in pastors threatens to upset a nicely balanced applecart. To make sure the essential mission of the parish keeps moving forward, outgoing and incoming pastors and parishioners need to manage the transition. This book offers a new method for transition that allows time for the parish and the outgoing pastor to grieve the loss, an interim period between pastors for the parishioners to reflect, and a time for the parishioners and the new pastor to discover what they can offer each other.