Parish
Pastoral Council
Leading the parish in
discernment and
expression of its mission
Donna L. Ciangio, OP
Church Leadership Consultation
West Caldwell, NJ
What is a
Parish Pastoral Council?
Jesus
must be
the
focus
of
the
parish’s
life
Areas of Consideration
 Parish Pastoral Councils in
the Diocese of Las Cruces
 Mission
 Function of the Council
 Responsibilities of the
Council
 Vision
 Types of Council Groups
 What are you going to do
next?
Parish Pastoral
Councils
in the
Diocese
of
Las Cruces
Canon Law
After the diocesan bishop has
listened to the presbyteral
council and if he judges it
opportune, a pastoral
council is to be established
in each parish;
The pastor presides over it,
and through it the Christian
faithful along with those who
share in the pastoral care of
the parish in virtue of their
office give help in fostering
pastoral activity.
Canon 536. 1
Diocese of
Las Cruces
It is the policy
of the Diocese of Las Cruces
that each parish
shall establish and maintain
a Parish Pastoral Council
(Canon 536).
Diocesan Pastoral Manual
Section Policy 01-02
Mission
The Church
The Parish
Are to be reflecting on what
the Spirit has been saying to
the People of God
We are a people on a
pilgrimage are moving
toward an intended goal with
an intended purpose.
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Discipleship and Mission
For it is possible
to be a disciple,
to give a loving
response to
Christ's invitation
to come follow him,
only if we have truly met Jesus
and responded to him in a
personal way.
Pastoral Activity
Mission of the Parish
To help people understand
that Jesus
is truly present
to them here and now,
walking
the path
of
discipleship
along
with
them.
Creating
a School
of Discipleship
What is MISSION?
• Missio Dei - the activity
of God
• Trinitarian: Father, Son,
and Spirit at work in
the world
• Father, Son, and Spirit
sending the CHURCH
into the world
• Participating in the sending
of God
• Our mission has no life of its own
– only through God who sends us
Bosch, Transfoming Mission, p.390
Mission
• God is a missionary God
• Mission is seen as a movement
by God into the world
• God calls and gathers
“disciples - missionaries”
• A church does not have a
mission, a mission has a church!
The Essential Elements
of Parish Mission
Evangelization
 Worship
 Word
 Community
 Service
 Leadership
 Stewardship
Evangelization
Encompasses the ways in which
the parish intentionally spreads
the Gospel.
Worship
Is the expression of the
sacramental and prayer life of
parishioners. Includes Sunday
Eucharist and other ritual forms of
sacred celebration.
Word
Proclaims, explains, informs, and
forms parishioners of all ages in
the Scriptures and tradition of the
Church.
Community
draws parishioners together
with Jesus Christ and each
other in mutual support, activity,
ministry, and celebration
marked by including and
welcoming all.
Service
extends the resources of the
parish to the needs of others parish, local community, global
community - and demonstrates
a commitment to works of
compassion and justice.
Leadership
calls forth gifts of visioning,
planning, empowering, and
evaluating
for the service of the
community.
Stewardship
Challenges all parishioners to
share their time, talent, and
treasure for the fulfillment of
the parish mission.
Each moment spent, each
gift shared, each
contribution made in
service to the parish
and to all whom

we meet, is a real
participation in and
extension of
the mission
of Jesus.
*From New Wine, New Wineskins Program of Diocese of Greensburg, PA.
It is only when it is fully
understood, that one's
participation in the life of
the parish can be
transferred from a
perfunctory fulfillment of
a task and responsibility
into an exciting,
challenging and spiritfilled adventure that truly
makes Jesus alive and
present in our day.
Gospel values must be
the ultimate norm
and criterion by which decisions
are made and against which its
results are evaluated
All pastoral leaders must
constantly reflect on and
emphasize how all of the
parish's worship, faithformation, ministries,
and social services are related
to the mission of Jesus
Discussion
• How central is your parish
mission statement to
everything you do in the
parish?
• How have you determined
what your mission is?
• How do you review
and evaluate your
accomplishments in building
the kingdom?
Function
of the
Council
Praying Community
The role of the council is
ministerial not merely
functional
Must be prayerful
Faith sharing
Grow as a community
• Any pastoral planning process
must be a prayerful process. The
process itself must lead people
to holiness.
• Pastoral planning must be
viewed as a means to holiness.
• The process must be designed
with prayer and reflection as a
constitutive element.
• Too often in pastoral meetings,
prayer is treated as something
ad hoc and perfunctory. If
planning is truly pastoral, prayer,
scripture reflection and faith
sharing, are integral to the
method.
Practical
Using creative imagination
Listening to the Holy Spirit
 Coordinate Parish
Activities
 Policy Review and
Recommendation
 Problem Solving
 Sounding Board for Pastor
 Work with finance council so that
the mission has the resources to
accomplish the work of Christ
Pastoral
Using creative imagination
Listening to the Holy Spirit
What does our parish
want and need?
 Addressing Major Pastoral
Concerns
 Assessing Current
Ministries
 Planning for new or needed
ministries
 Promoting Stewardship
 Evangelization
 Addressing Spiritual Needs
of the Parish
Planning
Planning for New Ministries
 Visioning
 Mission development
 Long Range Planning
Discussion
• How does your council pray
and build community?
• What are some examples of
how your council has
planned practically and
pastorally?
Pastors
• Pastors are to listen more widely
to the entire People of God. (45)
• The pastoral planning process
provides a forum for a high
degree of lay participation in
advising the pastor on the goals
of the parish
• It also brings out and utilizes the
gifts and talents of the Pastoral
Council for the benefit of the
parish community.
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Examples:
 Utilizing the parish mission
statement
 Helping parish ministries to
develop their own mission
statement and yearly goals
 Simple parish survey to
know what is needed
 Helping people know their
gifts
 Help develop new or needed
ministries e.g., welcome
packet; welcome event;
“This is OLC”
Planning means…
• To prayerfully consider how God
is calling the parish to fulfill its
mission in this particular time
and place.
• To serve as a vehicle of
dialogue, communication,
coordination, and cooperation
with all the parish ministries and
committees.
• To gather data through a survey
or an annual parish assembly.
• To use the process of consensus
in coming to agreement on
recommended courses of action.
• To empower the implementation
of parish goals and objectives
with the various parish
ministries and commissions.
Pastoral Planning
Where are we now?
Identify your MISSION
Where do we want to be?
What is the VISION?
Parish and Diocesan
How do we get there?
Bridging the gap between
MISSION and VISION
and needs ASSESSMENT
Discussion
• What is your style of prayer
and community building?
• Is it successful?
• How often have you done
needs assessment?
• Has that helped in your
planning?
Responsibilities
of the
Council
ROLE
OF THE
PPC
1. Prayer and faith sharing
2. Participates in pastoral
planning, supports and
implements
3. Determines basic policy
(values)
4. Serves as advisory board for
pastor and pastoral staff
5. Works with finance council to
assure goal orientation of
budget
6. Develops the parish mission
statement
7. To annually develop and
evaluate progress toward
agreed parish goals and
objectives and update the plan.
8. To communicate to the parish
at large the decisions and
thinking of the council.
9. To attend to the prayer and
continuing education necessary
for council action and the
spiritual development of
members.
10. The staff acts as a resource
and attends council meetings
as needed.
New Model
FROM
TO
 Parish Pastoral
Council
A body of leaders  A leadership
body
Coordinating
 Articulating the
Ministries
Mission
Crisis Management  Pastoral
planning
Doing Activities  Empowerment and
Oversight
Business
 Prayer and
and politics
discernment
Competition
 Collaboration
Voting
 Consensus
Parish Council
Discussion
• How does your council see
it’s role?
• Practical?
• Pastoral
• What would you like it to be?
Vision
Vision
Where there
is no vision
the people
perish. Proverbs 29:18
Without prophecy –
the people become demoralized.
New American Bible
Where there is no vision –
the people get out of hand.
New Jerusalem Bible
What is
your
Vision
of
Pastoral Leadership?
First, think about your
parish…
A church’s vision
generally grows
from the
VISION
of the
PASTOR
PARISH STAFF
and
COUNCILS
The Pastor, Parish Staff and
Council
vision grows
from the
VISION
OF
THE GOSPEL,
Church Teaching
and articulated by the bishop,
the diocesan pastoral council
and other collaborative
bodies
THE PASTOR
needs to be clear
about his vision
in the light of the larger
Mission of Jesus Christ,
the Church’s Vision,
and the
diocesan vision and goals
What is Your Vision of Your Ministry?
at
Your Parish
Mission
Statement
The process of writing
a mission statement
involves reflecting on
a series of questions:
Questions
What things are
important to us about ministry?
What are our values?
What are our goals?
What do we feel we have to
give?
What are the qualities of
character we would like to
emulate?
What legacy do we want to
leave?
What is the Holy Spirit
saying to us?
Evaluate
You need to review, reflect on and
evaluate your mission statement
each year…
Have a retreat planning day or day
of reflection - give some ample
time to review and evaluation of
all you have accomplished
during the pastoral year.
(Ministries should review this also)
For example:
Do we feel that we have lived up
to this mission statement?
How has Jesus been a part of
our mission, vision and ministry
this year?
Essential Elements
Prayer
Mission

Support
Participation
Reflection
Learning
Types of Groups
and
Councils
Go forth
and bear fruit
that will last
If we have truly
contemplated
the face of
Christ,
our pastoral
planning will
necessarily be
inspired by the
"new commandment"
which Jesus gave us:
Love one another,
as I have loved you
John 13:34
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What are you going to do next:
Meet between now and __________
Decide what you most need
For example;
Start a Parish Pastoral Council
Mission statement
• Start working on your mission
statement and create a draft
• Brainstorm and finish up by July
PPC Membership
• Make sure the right people are
“added”
Discernment Retreat
• To assess needs
• To plan
Discussion
• How has this presentation
and discussion been helpful
to you?
• What are the steps you need
to take to make the PPC
strong?