Parish Pastoral Council

 

Chair	Jessica Patterson
Secretary	Jet Bautista
Other members	Damien Bowen
	Ann Brown St Francis Xavier's
	Anna Rowe
	Fr Sean Fernandez Cathedral Dean
	Joan Lim
	Tony Meyrick

The council welcomes the input of parishioners. Please click on feedback button to left of screen.

Role of a Pastoral Council

The Pastoral Council’s role is to promote the Church’s mission to live and communicate the love and values of Christ in our world. The Pastoral Council shares in the responsibility for the ongoing life and development of the faith community, working together with the pastor and parishioners to provide support for their efforts to live as followers of Christ.

Functions of a Pastoral Council

A Pastoral Council seeks to:

• enrich the quality of parish life
• provide opportunities for parishioners to grow in holiness and to discover and live out their personal and community call to mission to live as Catholics who effectively transform society.

Council Membership

There are nine members consisting of the dean, and nine members who represent the community and who come with diversity of age, gender and ethnic origin. Aside from the dean and ex-officio members, the term of membership is 2 years with a possible extension of another term.

Promoting the Church’s mission to live and communicate the love and values of Christ in our world.

Tasks of a Pastoral Council

A Pastoral Council will:

• search out and respond to the hopes, ideas, needs and concerns of parishioners
• grow in knowledge and awareness of what is happening in the parish
• encourage and support the good work of existing groups within the parish
• evaluate carefully information gathered in order to contribute towards the making of decisions that reflect the values of the gospel and the teachings of the Church
• set long-term and short-term pastoral goals for the parish
• provide opportunities for parishioners to grow in their relationship with God and with each other
• develop, implement and improve parish initiatives that assist parishioners in their continuing efforts to live as effective Christians in society.

Consensus

The consensus approach is used in the process of contributing towards the making of parish decisions, with each member offering input towards the final outcome.

Responsibilities of Members

In a spirit of prayerfulness each member of the Parish Pastoral Council will:

• Attend the regular meetings of the Parish Pastoral Council.
• Provide input to deliberations of the Council.
• Develop a spirit of enquiry and the ability to listen and understand the issues affecting the lives of parishioners.
• Provide prayerful support and encouragement for other members of the Parish Pastoral Council.
• Actively participate in the implementation of finalised plans of action.
• Embrace opportunities for personal faith development and for gaining skills to assist with effective participation in the Council’s operations.
• Represent the Parish Pastoral Council when required e.g., other Parish meetings, deanery or diocesan meetings.

Communication with the Parish

The Pastoral Council will report to the parish community regularly. It will seek the input of parishioners through various means, e.g., parish consultations, focus meetings, conversations, etc.