St. Joseph Catholic Church at 2214 Manhattan Street, Erie, MI 48133 US - Parish Council

Overview of the Parish Pastoral Council

  The Parish pastoral Council is a consultative body to the Pastor and the coordinating and unifying structure of the Parish communion.  The Parish Pastoral Council is the means of achieving the full participation of the whole Parish in its mission by giving all a voice in supporting, guiding and directing the various aspects of Parish life.  It gathers together the visions, hopes and needs of the communion, reflects upon them until a consensus is reached, and translates this consensus into Parish planning through the establishment of goals and objectives.  The Council sees that these goals and objectives are implemented by the Parish Commissions and committees and are evaluated annually. 

Role of the Parish Pastoral Council

  The Parish Pastoral Council is to be sensitive to the movement of the Spirit among God's people, to work for a unified vision of general consensus among its members, and to help the whole Parish to meet the challenge of being a church in the modern world.

  The Parish Pastoral Council is meant to be neither a dictatorship, insensitive to the needs and concerns of the people, nor a democratic body, deciding by a plurality of one vote, the major direction of a Parish.

In summary, the Parish Pastoral Council, as a leader ship group, cannot be limited in its action to the present views of parishioners. Nor can it afford to become an elite group with little or no regard for the feelings and views of the parishioners. The basic characteristic of leadership in a Christian communion is not power but service. The Parish Pastoral Council serves to assist the growth and development of the parish as a people of faith.