Pastoral Council

Contact: Fr. Kirk Davis, OSA | (805) 646-4338 x105 | [email protected]

Purpose and Function

The pastoral council has its roots in Christian antiquity and in the concepts of collaboration, charism, and the parish as the local church.  Nevertheless, it is a new creation of Vatican II, and its function is to engage in pastoral planning. Councils help pastors plan the parish’s pastoral program. Pastoral planning is the shorthand term for the threefold purpose of examination, reflection, and recommendation.

A pastoral council’s first task is to examine matters presented to it by the pastor. These matters can be anything that pertains to the pastor’s work, including the well-being of the community, the needs of the parish, and matters that will need attention in the future. The pastoral council may help to identify these issues and, at the pastor’s invitation, studies them thoroughly.

The council’s next task is to consider the matters it has examined, looking beyond facts and figures to discern their meaning and implications. What do facts and figures say about the faith of the parish? What are its strengths and weaknesses? What problems loom on the horizon? When the council considers pastoral matters, it seeks to understand how God is present in the situation. It discerns how God is inviting the parish community to act.

Finally, once the council has examined a situation and pondered, it must make a judgment. It recommends to the pastor what the council believes he should do. The council judges, not what is right for parishes in general, but what is right for this parish in particular. The goal is to keep the parish in conformity with the Gospel.

If you are interested in being a member of the Pastoral Council, please contact Fr. Kirk or Deacon Phil for more information.