"With the growing shortage of priests in the United States, a significant number of parishes are being entrusted to religious, deacons, and lay pastoral leaders. Sometimes called parish life coordinators (PLCs), these men and women are bringing new life and purpose to parishes. Drawing on information gathered from focus groups of bishops and surveys of all identified PLCs in the United States conducted by CARA for the Emerging Models Project, this book explains how the PLC model works, shares best practices from parishes using the model, and offers practical implementation ideas that will help parishes without a priest serve the pastoral needs of their people"--From publisher description.