Pastoral council

[maryj]

I received a message from my pastor yesterday on my voice mail asking if I’d like to be on our parish pastoral council. I’m not exactly sure what the pastoral council does:blush: . Anybody on a pastoral council, that could tell me what a pastoral council does. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tedster]

Typically a pastoral council advises a Pastor on parish concerns. How much advice is subject to the individual pastor.

A pastor should generally fill out his Council with people who are from different sectors of life, men, women, professionals, blue collar, stay-at-home moms, etc. to give him a good feel for all concerns of the parish.

Being on a Pastoral Council allows you to help address concerns within the Parish, but with that responsibility comes some time and sacrifice. Parish members spend a lot of time in Pastoral Council members’ ears lobbying for their causes!

And do not think that because you are appointed to your Pastoral Council, that you can change the world either! Remember that you are only to advise the Pastor. The final decisions rest with him! (This is advice based upon my actual experience on a Pastoral Council).

All in all, if you are concerned about the direction of your parish, being a part of the Pastoral Council is a great way to be involved. Good Luck!

 

[JeffFerguson]

I received a message from my pastor yesterday on my voice mail asking if I’d like to be on our parish pastoral council. I’m not exactly sure what the pastoral council does:blush: . Anybody on a pastoral council, that could tell me what a pastoral council does. Thanks in advance.

Hi there!

I am nearly finishing up the first year in a three-year term on the Prish Council at my parish. At a high level, the Parish Council creates pastoral plans and coordinates a system of a committees. Parish Councils, for example, can discuss an idea for improving the parish with one of several possible outcomes, and provide a recommendation to the pastor, who makes the final call.

Here’s a more concrete example from our parish: our parish also has a school. The Athletic Department decided that a new flooring system was necessary to replace the aging floor at the gym. The Athletic Department raised money for the floor and was ready for installation. However, other groups wondered if that was the best use of money, considering that the parish is in a delicate financial situation at the moment. How would it look if the parish said, on one hand, “we are short on money”, and, on the other hand, came up with money for a new gym floor? Bad timing? Perhaps. What ended up happening is that the Parish Council discussed the situation and provided a recommendation to the pastor, who made the final call on the floor. The Parish Council advises the pastor on parish matters.

Each council member serves as a liaison to a committee – for example, the Buildings and Grounds Committee, the Liturgy Committee, or the Stewardship Committee (that’s just us – your parish mileage may vary). The liaison’s purpose is to communicate Council matters to the Committees, and to communicate Committee issues and feedback back to the Parish Council for recommendations for further action. The liaisons faciliate inter-committee communication between the Comittees, who may otherwise not talk to the Council, or two each other. Some parish issues may affect several Comittees, and those should all be addressed and communicated.

There’s a pretty good book on the subject by Mark F. Fischer called Pastoral Councils in Today’s Catholic Parish. If you can find a copy, flip through it. It’s not large and is a good reason.

Please consider taking advantage of this unique opportunity to serve your parish. Please come find me if you have any questions for me as a council member.

God bless,
Jeff Ferguson

 

[John_Lilburne]

From the Code of Canon Law:
“Can. 536 §1. If the diocesan bishop judges it opportune after he has heard the presbyteral council, a pastoral council is to be established in each parish, over which the pastor presides and in which the Christian faithful, together with those who share in pastoral care by virtue of their office in the parish, assist in fostering pastoral activity.
§2. A pastoral council possesses a consultative vote only and is governed by the norms established by the diocesan bishop.
Can. 537 In each parish there is to be a finance council which is governed, in addition to universal law, by norms issued by the diocesan bishop and in which the Christian faithful, selected according to these same norms, are to assist the pastor in the administration of the goods of the parish, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 532.”

“Can. 532 In all juridic affairs the pastor represents the parish according to the norm of law. He is to take care that the goods of the parish are administered according to the norm of cann. 1281-1288.”

The Code of Canon Law also describes a Diocesan Pastoral Council, which includes:
“Can. 514 §1. A pastoral council possesses only a consultative vote. It belongs to the diocesan bishop alone to convoke it according to the needs of the apostolate and to preside over it; it also belongs to him alone to make public what has been done in the council.”
There is more in canons 511-513, which can be looked up at vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM .

 

[maryj]

Thank you for your replys. So basically it’s a checks and balance system for the pastor of the parish. So let me ask this, have you ever changed your pastors decision on something that you were passionate about? I’m very involved in my parish already, and I have come to find that this pastor has very deffinate views on things. He is fair, and kind and generous but He is very strong on his own opinions, and so am I, I’m a little nervous that we will butt heads. Gonna pray about this one. Once again thank you for your reply’s.

 

[Orogeny]

Thank you for your replys. So basically it’s a checks and balance system for the pastor of the parish. So let me ask this, have you ever changed your pastors decision on something that you were passionate about? I’m very involved in my parish already, and I have come to find that this pastor has very deffinate views on things. He is fair, and kind and generous but He is very strong on his own opinions, and so am I, I’m a little nervous that we will butt heads. Gonna pray about this one. Once again thank you for your reply’s.

I think it is more than a checks and balances system. My pastor sounds like yours in that he definitely has strong ideas on how he would like to run the parish. As a council, we give him suggestions that he may or may not use in his decision making. Since we as a council come from varied backgrounds, he seems to appreciate our (name removed by moderator)ut. I can tell you that in at least one instance, he changed his approach to a problem based on our suggestions as a council.

I wouldn’t worry too much about butting heads with him. After all, he asked you to be on the council, so he values your opinion. My advice is to pray to the Holy Spirit about this and, if you feel moved to do so, accept his invitation to join the council.

In my parish, the council adds 4 people per year and that is based on a discernment process. I wasn’t going to attend the discernment meeting, but my pastor wrote me a letter asking me to participate, so I did. I fully expected that my role would be to help choose the new members, but to my surprise I was chosen to be on the council.

Peace

Tim

 

[John_Lilburne]

To reverse the question: “Have you ever said anything to your pastor about which you a 100% positive that it has had no effect on him and his decisions?”

 

[maryj]

To reverse the question: “Have you ever said anything to your pastor about which you a 100% positive that it has had no effect on him and his decisions?”

For sure Yes. I worked very closely with Him on two very large projects. One being a Capital campaign where we needed to raise 5.7 million dollars for a new school, and the other being a major remodel of a priest residence. He does respect my opinion, even though we differ on ways to get to the “conclusion”. I, of course always take his advice without trying to convince him otherwise,(well maybe not always) but I always accept his decisions, it is the respectful thing to do. I deffinately give my opinion when asked. it’s a three year term, and he seems to have this way of getting me to say yes without me even realizing he’s talking me into something. I shall pray about this. Thank you for your reply’s.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

When working in a staff support role, I was once advised that I could accomplish almost anything in that job; so long as I didn’t insist on getting credit for it. I find it also works well in parish support roles. Plant a few ideas; noursish them; and let the leader think it is his idea.

 

[maryj]

When working in a staff support role, I was once advised that I could accomplish almost anything in that job; so long as I didn’t insist on getting credit for it. I find it also works well in parish support roles. Plant a few ideas; noursish them; and let the leader think it is his idea.

Great advice. I use this with my kids!!!