Sunday, November 24, 2013

Essential Characteristics of Parish Pastoral Councils

The Parish Pastoral Council is both a process and a structure which enables parishioners to accept and share more fully the task of continuing the Church’s work in the parish community, to help in calling forth and affirming the various gifts required, and to meet the Pastoral needs of God’s people.

The Parish Pastoral Council works to promote unity in diversity – keeping the parish together by enabling people to think, pray, work, and play together. At the same time that it unites, it respects the diversity of the community by encouraging each person to bring forth his/her special competence in ministry and service to others.

  • A Parish Pastoral Council is prayerful. 
  • A Parish Pastoral Council is pastoral. 
  • A Parish Pastoral Council is representative. 
  • A Parish Pastoral Council is discerning. 
  • A Parish Pastoral Council is prophetic. 
  • A Parish Pastoral Council is enabling. 
  • A Parish Pastoral Council is collaborative. 

A Parish Pastoral Council is prayerful:

Its members are to be persons of prayer; that is, they see the value of private prayer for their own personal growth in holiness as well as the value of community prayer for growth in Christ’s community of faith and love. The Council thus spends time together in prayer and retreat experiences for the purpose of drawing together in love and trust, to heal divisions, and for the discernment of God’s will for the parish community.

A Parish Pastoral Council is pastoral:

It strives to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit among God’s people in the parish for the purpose of investigating and weighing matters that bear on Pastoral activities affecting the lives of parishioners, and to formulate on behalf of the parish, practical conclusions regarding them.

A Parish Pastoral Council is representative:

It is a representative body rather than a body of representatives: each councilor ministers to the entire parish community. Thus, the Council represents in a holistic sense all areas of parish life: old and young, men and women, laity, clergy, and religious, people with divergent viewpoints and ethnic/cultural backgrounds. Ideally, all work together in an atmosphere and spirit of trust and openness, merging their expertise, insights, and experiences to further the mission of Jesus among all people.

The priests of the parish and sufficient number of lay persons, with their respective gifts and talents, are to be members of the Council. Any members of religious congregations ministering to the parish may also be appropriately represented. Deacons may serve on the council, at the appointment of their Pastor, as ex-officio members only.

A Parish Pastoral Council is discerning:

Its members bring together the needs and the hopes of the parishioners and of the entire community in which they live. Through a prayerful consensus/discernment process, it merges the insights, the diverse experiences, the expertise, and the faith of the councilors in order to provide vision and direction for the parish community. That vision finds expression in the priorities established and the broad policies adopted.

A Parish Pastoral Council is prophetic:

As a result of experiencing the fullness of God’s Word, it brings a broader, more challenging vision to parish life. It strives to move outward to deal with some of the bigger issues within the church and in the world, seeking to be a credible sign of concern for justice, peace, reconciliation, and love. It bears witness to all that the reign of God is already unfolding. It is a group of people who are not afraid to challenge and take risks, who support, affirm, and share their convictions of faith with one another as they strive to build more trusting relationships in the continual process of building up the Body of Christ.

A Parish Pastoral Council is enabling:

It strives to recognize and acknowledge the giftedness in God’s people and to enable each person’s unique giftedness to surface, to be shared and organized for the up-building of the community of faith, and finally to be celebrated.

A Parish Pastoral Council is collaborative:

Its members are to be visionary and concerned with appropriate sharing. The Parish Pastoral Council, as a community of stewards, is responsible for leading the parish in ensuring that the resources of the parish are used not only for the parish community to which they belong, but for the common good of all the members of the Church. They act as ambassadors for the policy of the Pastor and the local parish community.

Source:
Archdiocese of Santa Fe: Parish Pastoral Council Handbook

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