Before she became the business manager of a Catholic parish, Elaine Herald was the service director for a company that installed entertainment systems.

"It was totally different -- and almost the same," she said of the comparison between a cable company and the Catholic Church. In both she dealt with people and contracts and equipment -- but the expectations were different.

Ms. Herald, 57, the parish manager of St. Theresa in New Cumberland, Cumberland County, in the Diocese of Harrisburg, helped design a new online master's degree program for parish managers at Duquesne University. Classes begin this fall.

"It's a really solid program," she said. "Whoever comes out of that program will be able to come into a parish and feel at least somewhat confident that they have the tools to marry with the experience that will come along."

In an effort to free priests for pastoral duties, many dioceses urge parishes to hire lay managers for administration. They are different from the lay ministers or "parish life collaborators" who oversee pastoral care in a parish without a resident priest.

Although the Diocese of Pittsburgh just installed its first parish life collaborator last month, Duquesne's theology department has for many years offered a master's degree in pastoral ministry, to train laity for that role. But while the diocese has been urging parishes to hire business managers for at least 15 years, no degree program existed until a chance conversation between a priest and Dorothy Bassett, dean of Duquesne's School of Leadership and Professional Advancement.

The Rev. Timothy Hickey, Duquesne's director of mission and identity, was speaking of the growing shortage of priests, and how laity had to be prepared to assume professional leadership roles in parishes. She saw an opening for a new concentration in her school's master of science in community leadership degree. Soon they were consulting with pastors and parish managers to design the degree program.

Dr. Bassett was amazed when she read job descriptions from many parishes and dioceses.

"You would practically have to be Superman to take some of this stuff on," she said.

"They want someone with a background in human resources management, who knows both civil and canon law; someone with budget management experience who can work with boards and oversee a school and do cemetery management and construction project management. The scope was incredible," she said.

Salaries vary so widely, depending on the size of the parish and the willingness of some retired business people to accept token payment, that the Diocese of Pittsburgh has no recommended salary range, said Sister Pat Rogan, director of the diocesan Institute for Ministries. The typical full-time business manager here makes $30,000 to $50,000 she said, "but there may be some lower and some higher."

Although the Duquesne program began with Catholics in mind, everything but the canon law is applicable to other religious traditions. Those who do congregational management for other traditions are welcome to enroll, Dr. Bassett said.

Classes range from "Leadership Effectiveness" to parish fund raising to civil and canon law, to use of information technology in a modern parish. A class on community service explores how to organize social services, such as a food pantry.

All classes are online. Students interact with the professor and each other through threaded discussion groups. It is solely an online degree because Dr. Bassett expects current parish managers to enroll.

"Their schedules are so busy that to ask them to come in for a face-to-face class is unrealistic," she said.

The 36-credit degree would take two years to complete if a student took two classes per term year-round, she said.

Ms. Herald got her on-the-job training by consulting another parish manager in the Harrisburg diocese. Eventually a group of them began meeting monthly to swap advice.

There can be complicated legal issues involving contracts or workers' compensation, she said. They need to know to turn on the air conditioning for Christmas Eve, because the church will be packed to the point of overheating.

But the most important lessons are about dealing with people.

"We see people at their highest points, with weddings and baptisms; and at their lowest point, with funerals. Even though we're not doing the liturgy, we're in the background making sure that things run smoothly," she said.

"Working here is the best job I've ever had."

For more information see www.leadership.duq.edu/parish.