How to form the Pastoral Council to do Pastoral Planning
The purpose of this toolkit is to assist pastors and parishioners toward an understanding of the Parish Pastoral Council and its primary role of pastoral planning.
Approach to Implementation
This toolkit consists of a two part power point presentation which is available to pastors upon request.
The first part of the session provides input about the scriptural and canonical underpinnings of parish pastoral councils, the history of pastoral councils sketched briefly since Vatican II, the roles of members and their qualifications as based on the diocesan Guidelines for Parish Pastoral Councils (November 2010).
The second part of the power point presentation gives a summary of the ministry and provides an introduction to the work of pastoral planning, the primary task of the council, with reference to the parish’s own Mission Statement.
The presentation and the accompanying handouts are provided by the staff of the Planning Office.
Roles and Responsibilities
Pastor, Pastoral Council, and potential new members are expected to participate in Information Night. A member of the Pastoral Planning Office staff will meet with the Pastor to plan and facilitate the Information Night, using the parish’s Mission Statement.
Training
This is an evening of leadership training in which potential members will learn about the Parish Pastoral Council (scriptural and Church foundation, history in the diocese, role of the members); and Pastoral Plan (tasks or the PPC, and processes) that support their work.
Expected Resources
The Planning Office will join the pastor in providing the training and the handouts (4a, 4b, 4c) for the evening.
