Once the province of a handful of church outliers, the notion of operating by the kinds of "best practices" that define top businesses in the United States is gaining traction among a growing universe of dioceses, parishes and Catholic charities. More than 450 parishes in 58 dioceses, as well as 54 Catholic nonprofit organizations nationwide, are implementing a comprehensive tool called Catholic Standards for Excellence, which commits them to best practice policies and procedures in fiscal management, governance, human resources and fundraising.

Furthermore, an increasing number of Catholic colleges and universities are offering courses in church management. Catholic Standards for Excellence, for its part, has provided content for such courses at Fordham University, Villanova University, Loyola University in New Orleans, Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry, Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minn., Saint Mary's University in Minnesota and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. Catholic Standards for Excellence has also figured prominently in a training program called Toolbox for Pastoral Management, which has given scores of new pastors nationwide the skills and know-how they need to handle the complexities of church management in the 21st century.