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THE ROLE OF THE
PARISH COUNCIL
Office of Pastoral Planning
Diocese of Portland
510 Ocean Avenue
Portland, ME 04103
What is the Parish Council?
| A Parish Council is
a group of people who together are representing the entire parish and
who plan and guide its growth. They are chosen by the parish to join
with the pastor in a special service of long-range planning, the setting
of parish priorities, and the implementation of programs through the Six
Commissions. The Role of the Parish Council cannot be understood apart
from the work to which the entire parish is called; and so this section
looks first at the role of the whole parish before it examines more
closely the role of the Parish Council. |
Called by God
| Sometimes Catholics
seem to feel that their relationship with the Church is a mechanical,
impersonal thing. They feel they belong to the Church in the same way
that they belong to the Jaycees, the School Booster Club, or the Library
Discussion Group. Their belonging can seem like a choice all their own,
like a decision to join any organization or group. But that is not
really the case. At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles, "You did
not choose me; no, I chose you." (John 15:16). The reality of the matter
is that God has called each one of us by name to be in his Church. This
is the call we received at our baptism. Though the role to which each is
called differs, the call to every one of us is no less personal, no less
real, than the one Jesus gave to the apostles when he went right up to
them and said, "Come, follow me." (Matthew 4:19). We need to keep in
mind that we have been individually called and chosen by God. Belonging
to the Church does not just mean being registered in a parish, but being
personally called by the Father. |
Called to Active Service
| What is the reason
for our call to be Catholics? After all, God's call to share in his own
life reaches out to all persons over the whole world. Through various
ways men and women of many different religions are able to learn about
God and to grow in the holiness that comes from having a relationship
with him. As Christians, however, we have been called through our
baptism not only to share in the life of God but also to carry on the
work of Jesus. We are called not only to holiness but also to a special
activity or service. That activity is more than doing good and avoiding
evil. Each of us is called to make God's presence felt in the world in
which he lives. The spiritual service of Christians must point out
something about God's love and concern for justice. In the Scriptures
the idea is illustrated by Jesus when someone asks him to reveal the
Father and he said in response, "When you see me, you see the Father.:
(John 14:9). To serve is not just to follow the laws of morality or to
carry out a worthwhile activity, but to have the Spirit that was
Christ's in our words and actions. Thus, when with the eyes of faith
others see this kind of activity, they will see a person and have a
sense of God's presence in that person. |
The Parish: Shared Responsibility
for Service
| Every one of us
Catholics, then, is called to a life of both personal holiness and
explicit service. We cannot just be holy. We must do Christ's work. The
service to which we are called may vary from time to time, within our
own lives and from one person to the next. Sometimes we may express it
through involvement in organized programs and at other times outside any
organized program. Together, however, all members of the parish share
the responsibility to carry on the work of Jesus in all its dimensions -
proclaiming the gospel, worship, social justice, and building Christian
community. The special gifts that God gives us to carry out our
individual services are always for the common good of the whole parish
ministry. The term "shared responsibility" refers to our common
responsibility as a parish to continue the mission or work of Jesus in
its fullness. Each Catholic, through his baptism and confirmation, has
personally been called by God to share in that responsibility.
The great variety of ways in which
Catholics can respond to their baptismal call creates a challenge for
the direction of the parish programs. There is a vast number of possible
parish programs; and there is a limited amount of resources available,
especially in terms of people's time and energy. Which areas of
involvement are more important? Which should be addressed at this time
and which require preparation now, so that they may come to fruition in
several years? How can the programs be carried out so that they involve
as many people as possible? How can such a variety of programs be
well-directed? The Parish Council is established to respond to these
questions. This structure allows coordinated planning and a sense of
vision to be brought to the parish programs. It also ensures the basic
unity of parish activities, so that the work of the parish is not
carried out by isolated individuals but is a shared responsibility of
persons working together as part of an organized whole. |
Membership of the Council
| The Parish Council
should be representative of the entire parish: pastoral staff,
religious, and laity. Its membership will vary according to the size and
needs of the parish and should reflect the overall make-up of the
community it serves. The total membership of the Council should be not
less than eight nor more than twenty.
General membership on the Council
should include:
- pastor and all priests,
permanent deacons, pastoral associates, and other persons in
full-time positions of leadership, such as the school principal,
director of religious education, youth minister, or director of
worship.
- lay people elected by the
parish. The majority of the Council should always be composed of lay
parishioners.
- special appointees.
Provisions should be made for a small number of persons appointed by
the Pastor (no more than three) in order to provide for an
unrepresented segment of the parish if there is such a need after an
election.
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Responsibilities
| The following are
the six major responsibilities of the Parish Council:
Priorities & Planning
- To determine the priorities and plan with vision for the future
Implementation -
To ensure that the programs and activities of the parish are carried out
by the Commissions
Involvement - To
involve everyone in the work of the parish
Shared Decision-Making
- To enable as many people as possible to contribute to the process of
decision-making in the parish
Cooperation with Diocese
- To cooperate with diocesan departments and through the Deanery Council
with other parishes and to carry out its work according to the
priorities of the Diocese and under its guidance.
Contribution to Diocese
- To contribute to the formulation of diocesan goals and
programs |
The Two Major Tasks
| These
responsibilities take form particularly in two major tasks. The first
and primary task of the Council is to plan. This is a task that the
Council works upon steadily throughout the year, because the Council is
the think-tank of the parish. It is the place where people dream about
the future of the parish, where new possibilities are sought and new
visions are proclaimed. The cycle of expressing a vision and gathering
ideas from the Commissions, then having it developed by a Commission,
responding to the Commission's presentation, and refining it
sufficiently before adoption - this is a cycle that the Council should
be involved in continuously for many different areas. As a think-tank,
the Council tries to bring the elements of vision, quality, and planning
to the change that the parish will inevitably undergo.
In addition to being a think-tank,
the Council is delegated by the Pastor to share some of his
administrative responsibilities that involve the implementation of
programs. The Council members clarify and determine parish priorities.
In May of each year they study the programs proposed by the parish
Commissions for the Pastoral Plan. |
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