THE SEVEN ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF PARISH LIFE

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THE NUTS BOLTS
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• Getting
• organized

3
Do you elect a president?

• NO,
• The Pastor is the Presider of the council
• You are his consultative body
• Without the Pastor, there is no meeting

4
Do you select officers?

• No,
• You assign roles based on the discernment of
  peoples gifts

5
Meeting roles

• Presider
• Convener
• Facilitator
• Recorder
• Timekeeper

6
Do you have by-laws or a constitution?

• NO
• Well, maybe a little
• You should have a format, and some rules of order
• Less is more!

7

• Having a meeting?

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Meeting mechanicswhat is the most important
component of a meeting?

• AGENDA

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Elements of good agenda

• Time, date, and place
• Roles for the meeting
• Prayer
• Approval of minutes
• Issues to discuss
• Task assignments next steps
• Follow up reports
• Evaluation
• Next meeting

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Agenda items

• Pastors comments
• Hotspots
• Information items/ discussions
• Planning issues/discussions
• calendaring
• Good of the order

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Should you time your agenda?

• Yes!
• Help your facilitator and timekeeper
• Control the flow of the meeting

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Lets make an agenda

• Your meeting is 7pm to 9pm next Wednesday night,
  September 26th

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Meeting facts

• RCIA has sent a memo to the council
• The food bank has sent their monthly report
• Thanksgiving and Advent are around the corner
• Cars were broken into for the third time on
  Sunday
• The building committee has sent questions about
  the proposed new hall
• Father has an important issue to discuss with the
  council
• The parish calendar is filling fast as you move
  toward the holiday season
• The Legion of Mary wants to bring a speaker to
  the parish.

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• topics

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So, what do you talk about?

• Planning issues
• Consultation
• Pastoral care
• Parish life

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Planning issues

• The pastoral council should be the primary
  planning body for the parish
• Master Plans
• Strategic planning 3 to 5 year plans
• Short term project planning
• Keeper of the plans

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Consultation

• The Pastoral council is the primary consultative
  body for the Pastor
• You represent the community
• Your membership must be a reflection of that
  community.

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Pastoral care

• In consultation with your Pastor you develop a
  Pastoral Care Plan for your parish

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Parish Life

• Safety
• Safe environment
• Facility improvements
• Community building

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• What should you not talk about?

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• The everyday business of the parish should be the
  responsibility of the Parish council
• Do not do their work.

22

• How do you make choices?
• Oops, recommendations!

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Decision making

• Consent decision making
• Consensus decision making

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Consent decision making

• Informal
• A common form of process
• May or may not involve some form of a vote

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Consensus decision making

• Primary form of decision making
• Does not involve a vote
• Encourages full discernment of a topic

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Consensus is,

• Is built on prayer
• Seeks Gods will, not mine
• Is based on mutual trust among the decision
  makers
• Honors the teaching and scripture of the Catholic
  church

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Consensus is not,

• majority rule no votes are taken
• Compromise people dont give in to keep
  the peace
• Competition there are no winners here
• Quick decisions working to a consensus take
  time
• Dependence on a leader all engage in coming to
  a decision.

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4 steps to a consensus process

• Input
• Discussion
• Reflection
• Review

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Input

• The issue is clearly stated
• Background information is presented
• Opportunity for clarification is given
• Waits for everyone to understand the issues

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Discussion

• The facilitator introduces the issue, others
  respond
• The facilitator keeps the discussion on the
  issue
• When most viewpoints have been expressed, the
  facilitator tests for consensus

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Reflection

• Does what is proposed support the Gospel?
• In light of the Parish mission statement, will
  this be good for the entire parish?
• Can each of us live with this and support it?

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Review

• summarize the issue the basic background the
  areas of agreement and disagreement make a
  statement of consensus
• If there is no consensus, isolate the
  problematic areas and continue to discuss

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When do you use this process?

• when doing any planning that affects the entire
  community
• when discerning major decisions that affect the
  Pastoral Life of the community
• when making major decisions that affect the
  Parish life of the community.

34
When do you not use the process?

• When dealing with operational or
• day-to-day issues, things that you will refer to
  the Parish Council.
• Use the consent form of process for these issues

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What if we are struggling?

• If you are going in circles, drop the matter and
  continue the meeting return to it later.
• If information is missing, do more research and
  gather data before returning to the process
• Postpone further discussion until all have had an
  opportunity to pray and reflect

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What attitudes harm consensus?

• Rigidity of opinions
• Hostile or suspicious attitudes
• The need to win
• Sabotage of the process
• Why do we have to do it this way?, a resistance
  to change

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What attitudes help consensus

• Openness, the mind of a beginner
• Honesty
• Respect for the truth in everyone at the table
• Patience
• Enthusiastic support for a new outcome, often a
  new idea.

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What if I am the one outside of the circle of
agreement?

• Are you thinking about what is best for
  everyone?
• Do you understand the research and data?
• Have you fully and carefully justified your
  reasons for disagreement?
• Can you say, I dont agree completely, but I
  see the validity of your position and I can live
  with that

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Is all of this easy to learn?

• NO
• It takes patience, time, commitment, and prayer
  to learn these skills

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• At the heart of the council process there is
  prayer and formation.
• Your Pastor is more than the presider, he
  establishes the spiritual connection to the work
  that you are called to.
• You are building the City of God,
• not a Burger King