Pastoral council is a vital part of energized parish
By Mary Stadnyk
News editor
HAMILTON SQUARE – Although many are unfamiliar with the term "pastoral council" a pastoral council is a vital part of an energized parish.
Chat with Anita Usmiani for about a half hour and you'll learn pretty much everything you've ever wanted to know about pastoral councils.
Sitting in a small parish conference room in St. Gregory the Great Parish, the obviously ever efficient Usmiani, who is in her fourth year as president of the parish's pastoral council, came prepared with folders, binders and handouts, ready to talk about a topic which is often vague and confusing. The best part is when she presents her material, she does it in such an energizing fashion that her enthusiasm is contagious.
What ignites Usmiani's passion for being involved in her parish comes from her profound gratitude to God for the many blessings she has received and the treasured camaraderie she shares with fellow parishioners.
"I see serving my parish as a way of giving back because God has been very good to me," she said. "I love the Church. I love the universal Church and I love my own Church very much. We also have a great bunch of people at St. Greg's. We're a family. It's a close community. It gives me great joy to be part of it."
Usmiani recalled when she was president of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and had the privilege of taking part in the Fourth Diocesan Synod in the early 1990s. At that time, she said, the development of parish pastoral councils were generally in the infancy stage. The council at St. Gregory the Great had continuously evolved since its establishment some 15 to 20 years ago. At one time, the council was structured as an administrative body in which the heads of different organizations sat on the council board.
As the needs of the parish continued to change over the years, so did the role of the council, she said.
The organizational skills and wealth of knowledge that Usmiani brings to the table is attributed to the good, practical experience she gained in her "former life" working for 40 years as an educator with the Hamilton Township public school system, including 32 as an administrator involved with staff training and program development, along with the insight she acquired serving as president of the diocesan Pastoral Council in the 1980s, and her more than 30-year membership at St. Gregory the Great where she has been as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and chairman of the publicity committee for Renew 2000.
"Not every parish in the diocese at that time had a parish council. And, there were probably as many interpretations of what a council should be as there were parishes. I think people were trying to find their way in determining what the needs of their parishes – whether it was financial, spiritual or liturgical," she said.
Noting a similar pattern on the Diocesan Pastoral Council in that there was not much direction provided to its members, Usmiani said that "we, too, had to find our way," Usmiani said the Diocesan Pastoral Council served more in an informational capacity where the bishop would present the members with new initiatives or directions that were taking place in the Church at-large or within the diocese.
Usmiani made it a point to say how appreciative she was to learn that the diocese now employs a diocesan Office of Pastoral Planning as a means of support to the Diocesan Pastoral Council and to parish pastoral councils, Parish councils, she said, don't become involved with the "brick and mortar" aspect of the parishes. That's an administrative aspect of the parish and something of concern to the pastor and the pastoral staff.
"Pastoral planning is looking at the long range vision of the parish. It's about seeing where we are right now as a parish" in terms of various ministries and how they work together.
Usmiani said the council has organized the many ministries by boards and the parish council sees that the boards work in unison and address the needs of the people which is how the parish pastoral council at St. Gregory the Great Parish accomplishes its goals. The council also studies the ministries, their current impact on the parish as well as what impact they might have in the future whether it's one year or five years down the road.
One challenge that the council has encountered when meeting with the heads of the various ministry boards is finding ways to get more parishioners involved as well as with "succession planning" in encouraging more parishioners to want to step up to the plate, and take on leadership positions within the various ministries.
Another key element of the parish pastoral council, Usmiani noted, is that it must be a comprised of a group of people who are "stable, caring and motivated" to serve as a base for the parish, especially during times of transition, such as when there is a change in pastors or key pastoral staff personnel.
Along with the trustees, Usmiani said she thinks that parish pastoral councils "need to be that foundation that can make a parish move forward and not regress in times of change," she said. "Just because a pastor leaves does not mean the parish will crumble. I think a good pastor will see that there is a leadership team in place that can continue in his absence."
When speaking of fellow parish pastoral council members at St. Gregory the Great, Usmiani had high praise for how willing they are "to having a stake in their positions as leaders in the parish and planning for the succession of growth in different ministries."
For a person to become a parish pastoral council member, he or she must be invited, Usmiani said, adding that from her observance, she believes that prospective members give much consideration before accepting the invitation.
The people on the parish pastoral councils "are committed to their faith," she said. "They are deeply devout Christians who want to live out their faith in some tangible way. They feel that it's an important position and want to make sure the have the right heart and mind and motivation to serve their fellow parishioners. The council members are the eyes, ears and voice of their fellow parishioners. We serve the whole community in a special capacity. It's a responsibility that we do not take lightly."
Members who give of time and talent
Other than only being aware that a parish pastoral council existed at St. Gregory the Great, Maureen Stimmel really did not know too much about it or its function. But that changed 16 months ago when she was invited by former pastor Father Richard LaVerghetta to be a member.
Although surprised, Stimmel accepted and figured the invitation was based on her participation in "quite a range" of ministries. Currently, she serves on the Elizabeth Ministry and social justice/respect life committee. Before she returned to work two years ago, she was a sacristan, a member of the JustFaith committee and a small faith sharing group facilitator. Across the parking lot, Stimmel, who is the mother of three children, two of whom currently attend St. Gregory the Great School and the third who is a graduate of the school and currently attends Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, devotes time to the PTA's social concerns committee.
Stimmel became familiar with the parish pastoral council when she proudly spearheaded a major parish project to generate funds to sponsor two houses for low-income, inner-city Trenton families.
Noting that the undertaking was part of Martin House, Stimmel said that one house was sponsored by the parish and the other was sponsored by the children of the parish school, religious education program and youth group.
"I had to make a presentation to the parish pastoral council about the project," she said, and that's when Father LaVerghetta approached her about serving on the parish council.
Referring to her participation on the parish as an "interesting experience," Stimmel told of the meetings that are held twice a year with the council members and all of the ministry leaders and the discussions how the parish's mission and vision statements could be implemented in each parish ministry.
"The parish council's role is to represent the parish and to bring the different ministries together," said Stimmel, noting that she sits on the council's Christian Service and Outreach Ministry Board. The other Ministry Boards are Faith Formation, Community Life, Prayer and Worship and Lay Leadership and Stewardship.
"I think the parish council has been tremendous in being able to bring all parish ministries together and to open up the lines of communication between them," said Stimmel. "There are so many ministries at St. Greg. It's unbelievable as to how many there are and parishioners don't necessarily know about all of them. Through the parish council, there's a lot of opportunity for promotion and for bringing the ministries together. If the ministries work together, there's potential for them to multiply exponentially."
Parish pastoral councils -- from a pastor's perspective
Although it's been less than a year since he was named pastor of St. Gregory the Great Parish, Father Edward Griswold fully supports the role of the parish pastoral council.
"I'm pleased," he said, noting that the council structure is similar to what he was used to from his previous assignment as pastor.
Father Griswold said the role of the parish council is to help articulate the mission and vision of the parish and determine where the parish needs to grow, where it can improve and to "make sure that we are living out the mission statement that was articulated by the parish."
"It is a group that listens to the concerns of the congregation, the needs articulated by the parish staff and where we need to go. The council also gives the pastor the kind of direction that will be helpful to his pastoral leadership which must be collaborative and lay empowered," he said.
While Father Griswold, too, acknowledged that there are various types of parish council models, he spoke of the past when members became discouraged because it became involved in the "nitty gritty" administration decisions.
"Fortunately, we're out of that mode and are now in a place where some discernment can occur about the future development of the parish and living out the mission and vision," he said.
Putting perspective on what it takes to develop a vibrant parish council, Father Griswold said that since there is nothing that goes on in the parish that isn't part of the pastoral council's "arena of concern, there must be a desire and real commitment of leadership to collaboration, dialogue and lay empowerment," he said.
"If the leadership in the parish isn't committed and there isn't any desire to create an effective council, then it's just not going to work," said Father Griswold.
The parish pastoral council, said Father Griswold, is another structure to help people realize that a parish belongs to them.
"While the bishop sent me here to provide leadership for as long as I am here, St. Gregory the Great is still the people's parish," said Father Griswold. "We priests and religious come and go, but the people are here and the parish pastoral council puts into a structural way the message that we all need to work together to help the parish grow and to reflect the reign of God in this community."
"Because the members are so good, dedicated and committed to the Gospel and to this parish, we can take delight in a parish pastoral council especially when you it has the parish's best interest at heart."
