Pastoral Council

The Pastoral Council is a parish leadership group in collaboration with the pastor in his responsibilities as shepherd of the parish community. The purpose of the council is to discern the needs of the community, set vision and priorities in the area of spiritual growth, pastoral planning and goal setting. The council makes the strategic plan that is then implemented by the parish staff.

The Pastoral Council consists of from six to nine members plus the pastor and Sr. Rose Hacker and Sue Dorrel as consultants. The members are selected through a discernment process conducted on a periodic basis. Council meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of the month, except in July and December, at 7:00 p.m.

The Pastoral Council has spent much time defining their goals, reviewing the Diocesan Millennium study that outlined the areas of pastoral work for parishes in the Diocese. They recently have done an extensive needs survey of the whole parish and are working to use that data in preparing a strategic plan for the parish.

Each year the council reviews the needs of the community and then sets priorities and programs to be implemented by the parish staff and funded by the finance council.