"The parish pastoral council is a consultative body (Canon 536 §2) by which the Christian faithful of a parish, together with those who have pastoral authority in the parish, ‘give their help in fostering pastoral activity’ (Canon 536§1). It’s work is to be informed and inspired by the vision of the Church, exemplified in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council."
In the Tri-Parishes there are three meetings per year occurring on the first Tuesday in October, February, and June. Each meeting explores and discusses a specific area of parish life: October – Justice & Peace and Marriage & Family Life; February – Spirituality, Liturgy and Devotions; and June – Evangelization, Catechesis, and continuing formation of both youth and adults.
The general format will be as follows: An agenda will be put out nine (9) days before the date of the meeting announcing the general topic, more specific topics if any, and an invitation to participate (this will include more specific invitations based on the topic(s) under consideration).
This first agenda item in these meetings is “Thanksgiving for Blessings Received”; in this item those assembled seek to enumerate those things that are being done well within our parishes. Not every item is going to be something done under the direct sponsorship of our parishes, but will sometimes be things done by members of our parishes under the auspices of other community organizations (i.e. Scouts, 4-H, local food pantries, etc.) How these can be done in a way that evangelizes the culture will be discerned and discussed. Because discernment is an important part of knowing and following God’s will, time for prayer will be an important part of these meetings. Thus, they are scheduled to last two hours.
All members of the Tri-Parishes are invited to attend and take part in meetings of the Tri-Parish Pastoral Council.
