See Rick Krivanka’s comment below, and post new comments at the bottom of this page. Click here for past discussions. You can also follow discussions connected to recent books.
Online Book Reviews
- Paul F. Peri, Catholic Parish Administration: A Handbook (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2012).
- Vincentian Center for Church and Society, A Concise Guide to Catholic Church Management, in the Concise Guide Series, edited by Kevin E. McKenna (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2010).
- Debra Snoddy, Jim Campbell, and Andrew McNally, Parish Pastoral Councils: A Formation Manual (Dublin: Veritas Publications, 2010).
- Sr. Brenda Hermann and Msgr. James Gaston, Build a Life-Giving Parish: The Gift of Counsel in the Modern World (Ligouri, MO: Ligouri Publications, 2010).
- Charles E. Zech, Mary L. Gautier, Robert J. Miller, and Mary E. Bendyna, RSM, Best Practices of Catholic Pastoral and Finance Councils (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2010).
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As the parish changes, there’s always something new to consider.
Dan R. Ebner, Servant Leadership Models for Your Parish (Mahwah and New York: Paulist Press, 2010).
Resources
Pastors and councillors who want to improve their work can benefit from a free online Introduction to Parish Pastoral Councils. It offers an overview of the Church’s teaching about councils, with lectures, quizzes, readings, and reflections. Councillors who take the course individually at home can then discuss what they learned when they reassemble for the next meeting of the council. Click here for PowerPoints about the purpose of councils and the relation between pastors and councillors. Covering the same material as the online course, it is suitable for orienting new members or refreshing the knowledge of veterans.
Do you have any helpful conceptual designs for Parish Pastoral Councils that clearly spell out their purpose and practical function with the best latest thinking?
I have a concern from a pastor who has done a governance type council a few different times. He said that it ends up being largely ineffective and struggles to have a meaningful purpose.
When it reaches that stage it goes through a meandering death via having no purpose.
“Governance type” councils can mislead parishioners and create a false understanding of the role of the pastor. A good design for a PPC should spell out its purpose and function.
My basic contention is that the Diocesan Pastoral Council was the “first” pastoral council, recommended in the 1965 Vatican II Decree on Bishops, no. 27. In 1973, the Vatican extended the DPC concept from dioceses to parishes. So I argue that the pastoral council is a single type of council, whether it exists on the diocesan or the parish level.