STEP ONE: EDUCATION

Questions & Answers: Parish Pastoral Council

 

What is a Parish Pastoral Council (PPC)?

A Parish Pastoral Council is a way for the Church to consult and involve the laity in the Parish. A “representative body” (its members mirroring the parish in terms of age, ethnicity, gender, etc.), the Parish Pastoral Council in many parishes nourishes a spiritual vision of the Church in the modern world.

 

What is the difference between a PPC and our Ministry Council?

St. Andrew Church currently has a Ministry Council.  This is a “body of ministry Coordinators” - the collective gathering of heads of ministries that provides month to month planning and coordination of ministry efforts, overseeing such details as facilities scheduling, event balancing, and the like. The Ministry Council serves a role for coordinating, collaborating, and communicating, doing the vital work of seeing that the many apostolates of St. Andrew Parish work well together.

 

So what does a PPC do?

The Parish Pastoral Council, through prayer and reflection, has the role of investigating the pastoral reality, discerning how well the Parish is living Christ’s Mission, and recommending goals to address areas for improvement. Its three basic responsibilities are therefore to:

• discern the depth of lived faith in the Parish faith community
• research the needs of and find ideas to build up the faith community
• recommend policies, procedures, and programs

 

How does a PPC do that, practically?

The Parish Pastoral Council is to prepare and regularly review a Parish Mission Statement. It defines parish goals, setting broad strategies for implementing those goals and conducting a parish needs assessment in the areas of prayer, liturgy, evangelization, stewardship, and Catholic education for children, youth, and adults.

 

Who should be on the PPC?

Today the nomination process begins. As you prayerfully consider who you might nominate, begin with this: a Councilor should be first and foremost a person of prayer, deeply committed to the Church, who can attend monthly PPC meetings dedicated to guiding the Parish into the future.

 

How do we organize the PPC?

All parishioners are invited to nominate. Among the nominations, about 20 Nominees will become Candidates for election of 6 Councilors by the parishioners. The Priests and Pastoral Staff will recommend another 6 Councilors to be appointed by the Pastor making sure appropriately balanced representation of the whole Parish is maintained year to year. Four Councilors will serve for one (1) year; four Councilors will serve for two (2) years; and four Councilors will serve for three (3) years.

 

Can you sum all this up?!

The Parish Pastoral Council is the visionary group of the Parish. Its purpose is to guide our Parish in creating and staying true to our Parish Mission Statement.