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Office for Parish Service and Support > Parish Pastoral Planning > Parish Pastoral Councils >

Meetings and Relationships

FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS

Parish Pastoral Council meetings are convened by the Pastor at least six times a year. Extraordinary meetings can be held at the request of the Pastor. All meetings require a quorum of members consisting of the simple majority of members.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE

The Coordinating Committee is composed of the Pastor, who is the chairperson, the vice-chairperson and the secretary. It is responsible for formulating the Council’s agenda and dealing with Council matters between meetings.

The vice-chairperson and the secretary are members of the Council who have served preferably one year on the Council and who have a basic understanding and working knowledge of the Council process. They are chosen by the Council members and serve a two year term, unless their membership expires prior to completion of a two year term.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VICE-CHAIRPERSON
  1. Presides at meetings in the Pastor’s absence;
  2. Assists the Pastor in conducting the Council’s work;
  3. Serves on the Coordinating Committee which formulates the Council’s agenda;
  4. Carries out other duties as described in the parish guidelines.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY
  1. Records the minutes of the Parish Pastoral Council and Coordinating Committee meetings and sees that the minutes and the agenda are made available to the Council members;
  2. Maintains attendance and other records;
  3. Handles all Council correspondence;
  4. Serves on the Coordinating Committee which formulates the Council’s agenda;
  5. Carries out other duties assigned in the parish guidelines.
RELATIONSHIP WITH PARISH COMMITTEES

The Parish Pastoral Council cooperates with parish committees and parish organizations such as worship/spirituality, evangelization, education, parish life and human/social concerns, finances, etc. These are not Pastoral Council committees.

Parish staff members and parish committees are a resource to the Parish Pastoral Council. Parish committees through the Pastor and staff are linked to the Parish Pastoral Council.

To encourage unity and integration and to foster a close working relationship among all parish groups, the Parish Pastoral Council meets at least once a year with the leaders of parish committees and parish organizations.

RELATIONSHIP WITH PARISH FINANCE COUNCIL

The Parish Finance Council, mandated by the Code of Canon Law, is separate and distinct from the Parish Pastoral Council. Communication between the two Councils is, however, essential. In order to ensure the communication, a member of the Parish Finance Council serves on the Parish Pastoral Council as an ex officio member.

The Parish Finance Council shares with the Parish Pastoral Council information regarding the parish finances and temporalities on a regular basis. The Parish Finance Council assists the Pastor in implementing the pastoral plans suggested by the Parish Pastoral Council by making fiscally ;responsible recommendations.