Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
Advisory Councils
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Parish Finance Council
In accordance with Canon Law and Diocesan Statutes, every parish must have a parish finance council. The parish finance council is to have an active and defined role in advising and assisting the pastor in administering the temporal affairs of the parish by utilizing the skills and expertise of the finance council members in monitoring the financial activity of the parish.
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Pastoral Council
What is a parish pastoral council? The parish pastoral council is a consultative body. The council provides counsel to the pastor on matters relating to the pastoral life of the parish. Councils do this most effectively when they advise the pastor on the vision, mission, continuing objectives, and long-range goals of the parish. To say that the council is consultative does not mean that its role is insignificant. Church norms admonish pastors to neither easily dismiss nor readily discard the advice provided by pastoral council. What do parish pastoral councils do?
The documents of the church state that the pastoral council is to investigate, ponder, and make recommendations regarding the pastoral life of the parish. Investigation means looking at facts, statistics and trends. It also means listening attentively and intensively to how God’s Holy Spirit is at work. Pondering involves not only analytical thinking, but also creative and imaginative thinking as well as prayerful consideration of what has been learned through investigation. Finally, the council recommends to the pastor as shepherd of the parish.What is the role the parish pastoral council?
Historically and within our grouping of four parishes, councils have fulfilled their consultative role in different ways. Some have been a source of consultation on an “as-needed” basis. Others have assisted the pastor by coordinating all of the apostolic activity within the parish. Others have filled their role by working with the pastor on developing a pastoral plan for the parish. While each of these possible roles for the pastoral council have merit and benefits, Father Rushofsky has determined that our grouping would best be served by a council that is a visionary and planning body. -
Buildings and Grounds: The Building and Grounds Committee is responsible for the care, maintenance and improvement of all Parish buildings and grounds in order to ensure that they are functionally efficient, clean, attractive, safe, and operational to effectively provide for and promote the mission of the Parish and to sustain the spiritual needs of the faithful of the Parish.