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Diocese Pastoral Plan PALS: Forming Parish Pastoral Councils - May 2006
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| PALS: Forming Parish Pastoral Councils - May 2006 |
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The focus of the working team is to establish a parish pastoral council in every parish by December 2007. PALS (the working group of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan that is supporting the formation of parish pastoral councils) discussed the work of forming parish pastoral councils with the priests of the diocese in February 2006. It was hoped at that stage that six parishes would participate in the formation process in the autumn of 2006. Over the last few months we have been in consultation with parishes that expressed an interest in forming parish pastoral councils. As a result, the following has been agreed: Haggardstown and Blackrock, Aughnacloy and Holy Redeemer are all renewing the membership of their councils. Haggardstown will participate in the formation programme in May/June while the others will hold theirs in September 2006. Magherafelt and Dromintee will begin their formation programme in September. Moneymore-Loup will hold their formation programme in October. Cooley and Faughart will begin the formation programme in November. The parish of Ardboe is making steps toward the formation of a parish pastoral coouncil as are the parishes of Drogheda, Kilmore and Knockbridge. The parishes of Armagh, Ballinderry and Kileeshil have expressed an interest. PALS is planning a day for priests who are preparing to form a parish pastoral council or who already have a parish pastoral council with Jim Campbell of the Institute of Cultural affairs. The purpose will be to reflect on the role of the priest within the parish pastoral council. It will be held on either Wednesday 13 September or Wednesday 18 October, 2006. In supporting the development of parish pastoral councils PALS has outlined a number of stages in the formation of a parish pastoral council. Stage one – Meeting with the Parish Priest to consider the needs in his parish, adapt the process accordingly and agree the way forward. Stage two – Prepare the parish for the Parish Gathering. The parish priest forms an action team (three – five creative task oriented people) who will spearhead the parish's efforts to form a parish pastoral council. The Parish Gathering is spoken of at Masses and a general invitation is offered to parishioners to attend the Parish Gathering. Stage three – Parish Gathering. Its purpose is to help parishioners deepen their understanding of parish pastoral councils, hear more about the training programme and commit to participating in the training. Stage four – A four-evening training programme is offered to interested parishioners. The themes are origins, vision, pillars and values. The new council will be formed from among those who participate. Stage five –The new parish pastoral council is commissioned at one of the Sunday Masses. Stage six – Making it happen. This stage entails the formation of a three-year pastoral plan. It would begin with the creation of a mission statement and team charter. A three month action plan would be formed the following month. Then the three-year pastoral plan would be formed three months later. It will be the responsibility of the parish pastoral council to form the plan and to implement it over the three-year period. It is possible and desirable to include others in the formation of the plan without them having the same responsibility for its implementation. The formation of the pastoral plan will happen over four sessions. In the light of the mission statement they will outline their vision for their parish (session 1), identify the blocks that stand between them and their vision (session 2), consider ways to move toward achieving their vision (session 3) and make concrete plans for making that vision a reality (session 4). Michael O'Dwyer PALS Chair |
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