Pastoral Council

The Parish Pastoral Council Guidlines for the Archdiocese of Washington explains the purpose the Pastoral Council:

The parish pastoral council is a consultative body for the pastor. Through reflection, prayer, planning, motivation and support, the parish pastoral council serves the pastor by helping identify and encourage those ministries or services that are needed for the growth of a living parish community, evaluated and implemented on a regular basis. Thus the pastoral council must carefully consider the needs of the faithful and search within the community to recommend to the pastor ideas and means that will adequately respond to these needs. This responsibility of the parish pastoral council does not diminish the continued mission and responsibility of the parish as a whole. Each baptized parish member remains responsible in his or her own way for the mission of the parish. In this way, the parish pastoral council is an instrument to help the pastor and the parish better discern, clarify, and communicate its responsibilities for proclaiming the Good News.

The main objective of the parish pastoral council is “to promote pastoral activity that will help the parish achieve its supreme purpose, the salvation of souls.” The parish council assists the pastor with discerning and achieving the overall good of the parish and its mission. The work is both contemplative and active. With the pastor, the council practices discernment. Through reflection, prayer, planning, setting goals and priorities it responds to the movement of the Holy Spirit in the life of the parish and to the Bishop’s pastoral vision for the archdiocese. In action, council members take leadership in the coordination, motivation, support, and evaluation of pastoral activities in the parish. Concerned with the overall pastoral development of the parish, the pastoral council will often serve as liaisons to the various parish groups or coordinate the implementation of specific initiatives at the request of the pastor.