Guidelines
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WHAT IS PARISH?

THE PARISH IS... a people called by God. It is a people, empowered by the Spirit to make increasingly true and obvious their response to God through Christ. The parish tries to take shape in this context of faith and prayer, always open to the Spirit.(1)

A PASTORAL COUNCIL IS... a group of people chosen from and by the parish who provides the pastor with additional sets of eyes, ears, minds, and hearts concerned with the spiritual well-being of our parish family.

PHILOSOPHY

As in the early church, any significant activity done for the enhancement of the church is considered ministry. All work must be:

• done in the name of Jesus,
• done for the enhancement of the church,
• have a public dimension to it,
• accountable to the church,
• done in a context of ordered relationships.

MINISTRY

If parish council service was looked upon as a ministry then a new attitude would emerge. Bishop Kenneth Untener says,

"If parish council services were considered a ministry, the whole process (of elections) would be cast in a new light. A ministry is a gift from God, and candidates for ministry respond because they sense a call from God to use that gift - even when it is not something they particularly feel like doing." (2)

Those who serve on a council are expected to be accountable to the council, to the Lord, to the diocesan church, and to the whole parish community.

St. Timothy Parish is a community centered in Christ. Everyone experiences spiritual growth by meeting Christ in the Eucharist and the Word of God. Faith, hope, and love are a lived experience. As the Body of Christ, we continually celebrate and communicate our Catholicism as a witness to all. We are first a Church of worship that manifests itself as a Church of ministry.

We believe in God and with His guidance welcome our responsibility to a greater community. Let our words and actions serve as an example of Christian life by reaching out to meet the spiritual and physical needs of all.

The community of St. Timothy embraces and nourishes the ideals of Christian family. All members value life and rejoice in our uniqueness as part of the Body of Christ. We see St. Timothy Parish as an extension of our home and family.

All members grow spiritually, intellectually, and compassionately through all phases of their lives in St. Timothy's multi-faceted educational environment. We value our youth and are committed to their faith formation. Our example expresses true Christian values to the civic community. Everyone has the awareness that our faith guides our ministry with others.

The people of St. Timothy parish interact effectively in order to increase involvement in the parish. As mortar that binds us, we foster unity, purpose, and belonging. All members share the needs and wants of all age groups, by showing the joy of Christ in all our interactions.

We strive to maintain an economic environment that enables us to meet the physical, recreational, and spiritual needs of the people with a facility that serves a diverse parish.

WE RECOGNIZE THAT THE PEOPLE ARE THE CHURCH.

As Christians, each of us is called to participate in the life and activity of the Church and to share responsibility for its mission. Each year, St. Timothy's community will call forth people to serve on the Pastoral Council. The purpose of the pastoral council is to provide the pastor with additional sets of eyes, ears, minds, and hearts concerned with the spiritual well-being of our parish family. The council's primary responsibilities are as follows:

• Help the pastor recognize and satisfy the spiritual needs of the parish through observation, research, reflection, prayer and practical recommendations.
• Facilitate inter ministry communication and coordination.
• Facilitate communication between the pastor and all ministries.

Through listening, prayerful reflection, study and discussion, the pastoral council will make recommendations to meet the needs of our parish family. The pastoral council is a true sign of the Spirit's diverse gifts to the entire community as it unites us as a community of prayer and pastoral action. A pastoral council…

... IS PRAYERFUL. Pastoral council members believe in the power of prayer. They value private prayer for their own personal growth in holiness as well as group prayer for the growth in Christ's community of faith and love and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. The pastoral council spends time together in prayer for the purpose of drawing together in love and trust and in order to discern the will of God in our parish. The task of calling forth pastoral council members is a process of prayer, formation, and the deepening of people's relationship with the Lord as individuals and as a community of believers.

... IS PASTORAL.The job of the council is to consider matters that affect the lives of parishioners and to formulate, on behalf of the community, recommendations that give direction to parish life and activities. The pastoral council makes recommendations in order to move the parish to fulfill its mission.

... IS REPRESENTATIVE.The council represents to the Pastor the practical wisdom of God. Council members are called forth to merge their expertise, insights and experiences out of love and concern for those that they serve. Their challenge is to meet the needs of all divergent points of view and various backgrounds present within our parish family. All parishioners, by virtue of their baptism, share in the priesthood of the faithful and in the common possession of the Spirit. All Parishioners are called to serve.

… IS DISCERNING. The council gathers to discern what the spirit is calling the parish to be and do, in the light of the Gospel. To discern means, "to come to full knowledge." The council meets to discern the will of God for the parish. The process involves calling upon the Spirit to be present, being open to the broadest possible input from the community, and providing the opportunity for prayer and reflection while problem-solving and making recommendations. Discernment gathers the community in prayer, lifting its needs to God, asking for an openness to God's will for us, and God's presence in our midst and our ministry.

... IS PROPHETIC. What will our parish be like in five years? In ten years? The council sets the direction for the parish community, challenging it to grow in response to the gospel. The council makes recommendations to move the parish forward. The council is a change agent of the Holy Spirit - a visionary group, interpreting the path the parish is to follow on its faith journey.

... IS ENABLING. The council recognizes and acknowledges the giftedness in all God's people. As such, the Council has a responsibility to enable each person's unique talents to be shared in the parish life by promoting, guiding and coordinating ministry activity so that the spontaneous zeal of those who engage in this work may be safe guarded and fostered. 4

Members are spiritual leaders- providing a good example of Christian living. Their parish vision must be formed by prayerful reflection. Only through such vision will council members best serve the community. Council members need to pray both individually and collectively, about their decisions for the parish. Prayer at the council meetings and special days of reflection or retreat needs to be viewed as an important responsibility of every council member.

Members are servant leaders- offering their gifts to the community not from sense of power and control but rather from an attitude of shared responsibility. This attitude leads them to seek the will of God in the parish through open hearts and minds. Council members share with the clergy the responsibility of making known the gospel and witnessing to it in their community.

Members are approachable- known by parishioners and both accessible and available to them. Their visibility is the key to building parish awareness and good communications. Names, phone numbers, and pictures will be published in parish publications.

Members are good listeners- seeking the input of parishioners regarding their concerns in order to establish the direction of the parish. If parishioners know their voices are heard and acted upon, they will more willingly offer their views to council members and some will then offer their gifts to the parish. Dialogue establishes credibility and confidence in the council and its work. A member is a person who is open to a variety of viewpoints and who can represent those viewpoints to the council. This kind of openness leads to discernment of the wisest direction for the parish.

Members are change agents- fulfilling their visionary role in the parish through willing and active participation in the process of discernment and planning. All members need the attitude that things can always be improved. The status quo needs to be challenged and then affirmed or changed. Council members need to be aware of the teachings, traditions and experience of both the local and universal Church in order to refine the parish mission. Council members must be willing to deal with difficult issues in a Christian manner. Together they need to see clearly the consequences of their decisions. While respecting past traditions, members look to the future. They need the ability to discern where change is appropriate and have the courage to recommend changes to make the vision a reality.

Members are enablers- making opportunities available to all parishioners to become involved in the life of the community. Members encourage others to participate in parish life by fostering a welcoming attitude throughout the parish by their own example as well as by ensuring that programs and services offered by the parish are open to all parishioners. Parishioners who offer their time and talent to the parish need to be welcomed, nurtured and affirmed.

Members have the spirit of collaboration- The Church is much broader than one organization or one parish. It is the people of God working together, drawing on the gifts of one another to make the most effective use of the community's resources.

The first essential characteristic of a pastoral council is that it be a prayerful group. To many people the concept of a prayerful group is the rather narrow view that the pastoral council must simply be a group of people that prays together. In fact, the concept is broader - including the idea that as a prayerful group the pastoral council's major function is to discern the will of God for the parish community - quite an awesome and humbling responsibility leading to another essential characteristic.

The pastoral council is discerning, meaning that the group is open to the power of the Holy Spirit. If pastoral council meetings occur in the context of prayer and openness to the Holy Spirit, the idea of working for the common good will prevail. However, in order for this openness to happen individual opinions and prejudices must be set aside. Council members must openly listen to one another and to other parishioners when making "prayerful decisions."

Communal prayer at parish council meetings is vital. It sets the tone for the meeting and places people in the proper frame of mind. Many people come to meetings after a long day at work where they often need to be aggressive and argumentative in order to accomplish their work. These same people need to adjust to the "servant leader" attitude in which the tables are turned from what "I think" and what "I want" to what is best for the parish community. Prayer helps to clear minds and hearts for the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Pastoral council prayer cannot be perfunctory - something to "get out of the way" before the meeting starts. Members who view prayer this way do not properly understand the spiritual leadership role of pastoral council members. Some council members may feel uncomfortable praying as a small group. If this is the case, the pastoral council should seek assistance and training from the parish staff or parishioners who are skilled in group prayer. These people can be invited to help the council become a more prayerful group through modeling and practice.

Another misconception is that spiritual leadership is measured by one's display of involvement in liturgical prayer. Spiritual leaders don't have to get up in front of the church and lead prayers. Pastoral council members do not have to publicly articulate their relationship with God, but pastoral council members must provide good examples and be models of Christian living. They need to be visible members of the parish community. Above all, they need to be approachable and good listeners, even when they may not like what they are hearing. Pastoral council members need to be able to set aside their own opinions and prejudices in order to try to understand the feeling of others.

Developing the spiritual leadership of a pastoral council involves five factors:

• Developing a habit of praying together,
• Learning more about the culture of the community,
• Learning more about the mission of the Church,
• Developing leadership and group skills, and
• Carrying out the parish mission.

To discern means to come to full knowledge. A process of prayerful discernment is one in which we come to know the will of God for the parish. The process involves calling upon the Spirit to be present, being open to the broadest possible input from the community, and providing the opportunity for prayer and reflection in each step of the process.

Discernment of pastoral council membership is a process of prayer, formation, and the deepening of people's relationship with the Lord as individuals and as a community of believers.

A pastoral council tries to make recommendations that are not only in accord with God's will, but are actually an eager response to His call. This involves discernment; another name for finding God's call for us. The Holy Spirit bestows different gifts and talents on different people to further the Kingdom of God. As members of the faith community, we are required to share our personal gifts and talents to foster ministries that address various needs within our community. These needs are discerned by the Parish Council under the guidance of the Pastor. This is the most challenging task of the council.

The following is a process of prayerful decision making in which a pastoral council can attempt to discern God's call to them and their parish.

Before the pastoral council gathers together as a body to discern God's call in some important matter, each member of the council should have already taken the time to discern it on his or her own. This private discernment process has the following components:

• Prayer - for the light to know what God is calling us to; for the freedom to recognize what is holding me back or blocking my objectivity; for strength to follow my discernment.
• Gather the facts as well as possible.
• Pray over them over a period of time.
• Weigh the matter - what have I discovered in my prayer? In what option do I most feel the peace filled presence of God, which I have come to recognize from my own relationship with him? What freedom do I have? What constraints? What do I want to do? What do I think we should do?
• If I do not experience the presence of God in any of the options, then I resort to practical wisdom, such as weighing the pros and cons.
• Pray for confirmation of my decision; in thanks, in openness, and in commitment to my decision.

This personal discernment should be characterized by times of quiet, fasting, scripture reflection, and setting aside personal ambition and concerns.

After pastoral council members have individually discerned how they hear God calling the parish in whatever decision is to be made, they go to the pastoral council meeting with that discernment. Then as a group they enter upon communal discernment.

There are a number of prerequisites for communal discernment: vision, sensitivity, and prayer. The members need to have a faith view of history, a belief that God is present to them and calling them, a vision of the Kingdom yet to come. They need to desire to find God's will, even if it were different from their own. No one ought to go to a pastoral council meeting with his or her mind utterly made up about an issue under discussion - each member ought to truly listen to other members. Pastoral council members also need an active prayer life that has given them some experience in listening for God's call and disposing themselves to receive God's wisdom. All must desire to find a decision that everyone can agree upon, or at least live with.

When the pastoral council members come together for their meeting, they use a process that moves toward consensus decision making. It includes three steps (used by St. Ignatius Loyola): Prayerful Reflection, Gathering of evidence, and Confirmation. Prayer is absolutely essential for authentic discernment and for the avoidance of self-seeking. The Pastoral Council is committed to the following 13 step process to achieve a true discernment of the needs of the Parish.

• Prayer (shared or led by one council member)... for purity of heart, for trust of self and others as instruments of the Holy Spirit, for the group and its decision.
• Silent, prayerful reflection in which each member finds all the reasons he or she can be against the proposal under consideration.
• The group shares the cons ... no discussion at this time (let alone argumentation). Questions only for clarifications.
• Prayer again, as in step one.
• Silent, prayerful reflection in which each member finds all the reasons he or she can be in favor of the proposal.
• The group shares the pros - no discussion or arguments at this time. Questions only for clarification.
• The council president (or facilitator) tests for unanimity. If there is a consensus, a decision has been made. Then pray over it to experience God's confirmation.
• If there has not been consensus, pray again, as in step #1.
• Group process of weighing the pros and cons. Facilitator tests for unanimity. If there seems to be none, the group tries to isolate points of conflict and resolve them. Possible alternative proposals can be suggested which might be agreeable to all (suggestions, not evaluations at this point).
• (Throughout the process, and especially at this stage, the object is not to win one's point, but rather to find God's will in some decision that will be acceptable to all, or at least everyone can live with. Avoid confrontations in which someone will have to lose face. Try to generate a cooperative spirit of search for an acceptable solution).
• Evaluate all possible decisions. Choose one. Consensus is required if all the group's resources are to be utilized. The interest of the minority should be sustained after the decision, and they become part of the implementation.
• Pray to the Lord for some confirmation of the decision. If there is confirmation, there will be an experience of deep inner peace. Pray in thanks and a sense of commitment to the decision.
• Begin the planning process.

Some will criticize the above process by saying that it is long and cumbersome. However, once a group is accustomed to it, it will seem easy and will save time. For minor decisions, the process can be abbreviated, or a simple majority vote may be taken. Prayer is always important. And isolated discussion of first the cons and then the pros seems a good way to insure dialogue instead of argument.

The development of parish unity and harmonious relationships is one of the pastoral council's primary goals. To accomplish this end, St. Timothy's pastoral council uses the consensus process.

Consensus is a processes of arriving at a decision through compromise. The process is designed to provide a forum where creative input, active listening, and discernment is required by all participants. Requirements for using this decision-making process are:

• All participants agree to support the decision of the whole.
• All participants agree to come prepared with homework completed, individual discernment done, and supporting factual data for items on the agenda for discussion and/or decision.
• All information submitted by each member of the decision making body must be based on factual. research, not emotional perceptions.

Advantages:

• It puts more emphasis on maintaining the unity of the Christian community in the council;
• It gives a higher priority to persons and the growth of the Council as a community of persons;
• It is less rigid, formal, and competitive;
• It is another way of saying that people are more important than efficiency and productivity;
• It provides a better forum for exercising the gift of discernment and the emergence of the prophetic voice.

The consensus system will be effective only when councils are genuine faith communities, not polarized around strong personalities or not being manipulated by pressure groups

In actual practice councils spend most of their meeting time, not in decision making, but in decision reaching.

Footnotes:

1. The Parish: A People, a Mission , a Structure, 1980. National Conference of Catholic Bishops
2. Living the Spirit, 1991. Archdioceses of Milwaukee
3. This vision was developed by the Community on December 4, 1993. It was the culmination of two weekends of work.
4. Restated from: Pastoral Councils in Today's Catholic Parishes, Fischer, Mark F. p.167
5. From the Archdioceses of Milwaukee