Former official leads church group

Former Lexington town manager Richard White said he is biding his time as interim director of Voice of the Faithful until another community hires him as its town manager.

White became director on Oct. 1 but said he would not seek a permanent position with the Newton-based group.

''I'm doing it now to keep busy and to provide structure and assistance to their association," he said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

Voice of the Faithful, according to spokeswoman Suzanne Morse, is a lay group established by Catholics in response to the clergy's sexual abuse scandal. Its goal is to support victims and survivors of abuse, support priests of integrity, and shape structural change within the church. The organization has about 30,000 members in the United States and 39 other countries, in 207 parishes throughout the world.

''This is an arrangement of convenience for the two of us," White said. ''I'm available. I have skills that are very attractive to them. It's interesting. It allows me to manage on a different level. Neither they nor I have an awful lot of encumbrances as it relates to an employment relationship."

Voice of the Faithful president Jim Post said he was introduced to White by mutual friends. He said the former town manager's experience fits perfectly with the organization's goals. Most important is shaping reforms to ''advance the role of laity in the life of the church, and the governance and guidance of the church," said Post.

White is ''doing a lot of listening about what's working and how it can be improved, and helping us really chart a course for the future," Post said.

The temporary job allows White, a Catholic, to take time off to interview for positions that are likely to be out of state. Finding a position outside Massachusetts is a real possibility, he said, because ''options in this state are not as strong. But there are some."

White is taking over for Steve Krueger, who stepped down Sept. 30. Krueger was the founding director and, over his two-year tenure, helped build the organization and communication among the worldwide chapters.

White said he joins the group with the understanding that ''I will help them as long as I can. I'm looking at all my options."

Voice of the Faithful will start a national search for a permanent executive director, Morse said. Krueger was paid $48,000 a year, but Post would not say how much White is making.

White resigned as Lexington town manager in August, amid a contentious relationship with the Board of Selectmen.

His settlement with the town provided him with a onetime check of $2,500, $75,000 in salary for the next six months, and insurance benefits. According to Dawn McKenna, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen, White's job with Voice of the Faithful will not affect these provisions.

Under the settlement, if White does not find employment within six months, he will get another six months with the same benefits. Attorney Robert Sullivan of Sullivan Weinstein & McQuay, which represented Lexington in negotiating the settlement, said he would not try to predict whether White's new job affects these provisions.

Speaking of his resignation and new job, White said, ''When you go through transitions like I'm going through, you have the flexibility to look at things you wouldn't normally look at."