News
April 10 — Establishing a Parish Pastoral Council
It is my intention over the course of the spring to begin establishing a parish pastoral council. To this end I need your help to identify parishioners whom you think have the gifts for such a position and who are sufficiently interested in the life of the parish to make a positive contribution. So I thank you for your help in this endeavour.
It is my intention to have a pastoral council consisting of eight members of the parish community. These members will come from the names of those whom you feel might make suitable pastoral council members. Hopefully the names submitted will draw on a full cross-section of our community. However, if I feel that there is a significant section of the parishioners not represented (for example, if there were no seniors' names submitted) then I would approach someone in the parish from that group to be on the council.
Role of the Parish Pastoral Council
The Parish Pastoral Council is the coordinating and unifying body within the Parish Community. Its members gather together the thoughts and ideas of the community, work them together until some general agreement has been reached, and then translate this consensus into Parish goals. Finally, it sees that the Parish Community acts upon these goals.
The Parish Pastoral Council is not meant to be either a dictatorship, insensitive to the needs and concerns of the people, or a strictly democratic body, deciding by a plurality of one vote the major direction of a Parish. Nor is its model to be the efficient business organization. Rather, it is to be sensitive to the movement of the Spirit among God's people, to work for a unified vision or general agreement among its members, and to help the whole Parish to meet the challenge of being a Church in the modern world.
Parish Pastoral Councils serve in an advisory capacity to the Pastor and are to utilize the many and varied gifts of the Laity in service to the Church as it continues to carry out the Mission of Christ. Parish Pastoral Councils are not "task oriented". They are instead the Visionaries of the Parish.
By virtue of Baptism, the laity are empowered to participate in the Mission of the Church and in the Pastoral activity of the Parish. They are a community of believers striving to experience more fully the Kingdom of God in a particular time/place. One of the ways Laity can exercise that call is through the ministry of the Parish Pastoral Council.
Responsibilities of a Parish Pastoral Council Member
- Meet one evening per month from September to June
- Participate in a one day (probably a Saturday) planning session once per year
- Actively participate at the council's meetings
Qualifications for a Parish Pastoral Council Member
The person must be:
- a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish
- a regular participant at Sunday mass
- someone who strikes you as having leadership ability
- willing to express their opinion and to work with others in a collaborative manner.
- a visionary person who is willing to think things through more than someone who just wants to "get at it and get it done".
Process of Selection
The process that will be used to develop our parish pastoral council will be based on gifts, prayer and discernment all of which are central to the workings of a Christian community. With the help of all the parishioners, those parishioners who seem to have the gifts or talents to be a parish pastoral council member will be identified. These people will then be approached by the pastor to see if they are willing to consider this position.
(Print this form and tear along line)
Nomination Form
The deadline for returns is Sunday April 24th
Please complete and return to any of the priests in the parish, the parish office or put it in the collection basket on Sunday. No forms will be accepted after the 24th. Thank you for your assistance in identifying parishioners whom you think would make a suitable candidate for our parish pastoral council. Please note that there is no need to check with the parishioner before submitting their name. They will be called and asked if they are willing to consider the position.
Based on what I know of this/these person (or persons) I believe they have the gifts required to be a member of our parish pastoral council:
(Please feel free to nominate one person or more if you feel that there are several people who should be considered for the council)
Name:
- ________________________________________
- ________________________________________
- ________________________________________