Revisioning the Parish Council Workgroups

For the last two years, the parish has been served very, very well by the initiatives of our four parish council work groups: Spiritual Growth, Enhanced Participation/Evangelization, Hospitality, and Communications. Their initiatives will continue to enliven our parish life for years to come.

It is time to revision the work groups of the parish council to correspond to the parish’s five ministry areas: Worship, Faith Formation, Pastoral Care/Social Outreach, Community Building/Evangelization, and Operations. This will provide effective oversight of these ministries as well as encouraging greater parishioner participation in these ministries.

• WORSHIP – The planning and the celebration of Sunday Eucharist, the celebration of all other sacraments, the development of various forms of prayer that enhance the spiritual growth of our parish life.

• FAITH FORMATION -- Faith formation is lifelong – beginning with our youngest parishioners and continuing for our most senior parishioners. Special emphasis is given to youth ministry, family-centered formation, and the celebration of the sacraments of Eucharist, Reconciliation, and Confirmation.

• PASTORAL CARE/SOCIAL OUTREACH -- This includes the outreach to the hospitalized, the homebound, and those desiring pastoral counseling and spiritual direction. Stephen Ministry services the pastoral care dimension of our parish life. Our social justice commitments, including tithing, would be a vibrant component of this ministry area.

• COMMUNITY BUILDING/EVANGELIZATION -- This area seeks to build into the fiber of our parish life a shared vision of pastoral planning. Oversight of the development of small Christian communities would continue to be a major initiative. The work of the former work groups of enhanced participation, communications, and hospitality would support this ministry component.

• OPERATIONS -- The upkeep of the physical side of our parish complex along with the work of the building and grounds committee would be part of this ministry area. The work of the Finance and the Stewardship Councils would find a home in this ministry area.

All the ministries of our parish life can be found in one of these five ministry areas. Our goal is to develop five work groups to correspond to these five ministry areas. Then the chair of each work group would then become a member of the parish council. The agenda of the parish council then would often emerge from the initiatives of the five work groups.