Holy Spirit Parish 2011 - 2012 Pastoral Council
Council members: Seated, left to right: Lisa White, Nancy Kellar, Caroline Ferris,
Katie Shellene, Fr. Tom Murphy, Carolyn Houston, Linda Wickert, Jennifer Smith
Standing, left to right: Paul Mamone, Carol Hickman, Rosanne Smith, Kathy Baker,
Jane Smith, Don Kreppin, Richard Bois
Catholic pastors consult pastoral councils in order to be better
leaders. Bishops and priests ask their councillors to investigate some aspect of
the church, reflect on it, and recommend their conclusions. In brief, the work
of the pastoral council is pastoral planning.
Pastoral councils were first recommended during Vatican II.
They
exist in three-fourths of the 18,000 Catholic parishes in the
Yet even today, almost fifty years after Vatican II, the debate
about the nature of the pastoral council still continues. People discuss what
councils do, how they do it, and the motive for putting their gifts at the
service of the Church.