![]() The council reaches out to determine what are the issues that are impacting the lives of the parishioners. Pastoral council members, as the chief consulters to the pastor, represent the needs of all of the people of the parish. We decide things together - by the working together of those with the executive function and those with the Spirit, and they express that through the consultative processes in the Church. We can't decide things by a totally democratic vote nor can we decide things by a totally autocratic decision. We are a Church which comes from Christ, which is commissioned by Christ to carry on a mission, and which is hierarchically constituted by Christ to assure that the mission gets done. But it is also reflective of the fact that we are not a democratic institution which is determined by vote of the majority. It is touching onto the Spirit within all of God's People and seeking to draw from that the wisdom of what is needed in the Church. James Provost, Executive Coordinator of the Canon Law Society of America, provides the following explanation regarding the Church.Ĭonsultation is the wisdom function in the Church. A simple Webster's Dictionary definition would be: "asking the advice of." Rev. Consultation is not a new word to us since we are used to asking doctors, dentists and other professional persons for "second opinions." In the Church, though, it is a concept which has only recently appeared on the scene, and in this context, requires some attention. The pastoral council is a consultative body. They gather in a communion of shared responsibility in the work of the Church. On the positive side, a pastoral council is a living model of the parish as a worshipping community, so the council members come together as workers who live the liturgy, build up the Church and serve the Gospel. Furthermore, it is not an expansion of parish administration, nor a new linkage of existing parish organizations, And, finally, it is not the parish finance committee. It is not simply a "democratization" of the parish. A pastoral council, first of all is not a lay pressure group. Perhaps it may be helpful to start by dispelling some common misconceptions and by clarifying what a pastoral council is not. And we say why, with the recommendation of the revised Code of Canon law (1983), the council should be called "pastoral" rather than simply "parish." Now, let's take a look at "what" a pastoral council should be or should do. In the first segment of this series, we discussed the "WHY" of a parish council, tracing its rationale back to the call of the Second Vatican Council. Rite of Christian Initiation of Children.Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.
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