“So ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Luke 10: 2

Initial Goals

• Establish and organize Pastoral and Finance Councils.

• Extend the Leadership Team’s culture of trust and prayer to the councils.

• Evaluate and form current volunteer base and leadership.

Ongoing Principles

• Align all parish groups and ministries with the overall vision and mission of the parish.

• Discern the unique gifts & charisms of individual parishioners and invite them to missional commitments

• Form and empower parish volunteers and groups to use their charisms and evangelize

Diocesan Resources

• Lay Leadership Formation Cohorts: Program to equip lay apostles to share the Gospel in their parish communities

• Franciscan at Home: Online learning modules for human, intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral formation

• Parish Councils Resources

  • Pastoral Council

  • Finance Council

Recommended External Resources

• Called by the Spirit Gifts Discernment: Simple inventory for identifying and building up one’s God-given spiritual gifts

• Catherine of Siena Institute: 

  • Called & Gifted Discernment Process: In-depth program of charism discernment, guided by professional coaches

  • Ananias Training: Practical online training for parishioners and parish leaders in the “art of spiritual accompaniment”, how to better encounter those who approach the Church

• Revive Parishes: Free online courses for parish staff and volunteers, ranging from basic evangelization to small group formation to serving the poor

  Other Resources

• Instruction "The Pastoral Conversion…" - 2020 instructions from the Congregation for Clergy about the Parish and the New Evangelization including instructions for Pastoral Councils

• Parish Pastoral Councils: A website full of resources about Parish Pastoral Councils