Councils

Pastoral Council

Current Members

Laura M'Guinness - Chair

Nick Creech

Andrew Siersema

David Cortese

Steve Lencioni

Nathan Standifer

Christine Deklotz

Jessica Lynn

Brian Barry

The Threefold Task of the Council – investigating, considering and recommending conclusions – is called pastoral planning.

The Pastoral Council:

Develops, if one does not already exist, and communicates the parish mission.
Develops goals and prioritizes them based on the needs of the parish, the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.
Chooses the highest priority goals to focus on for a particular period of time.
Works collaboratively with parish groups to develop specific plans to achieve the goals.
Publishes and communicates about the plan to the parish on a regular basis.
Assists parish organizations to implement these plans.
Regularly evaluates results and measures success. For gathering input and establishing priorities, the council reaches out and listens to parishioners on an ongoing basis, e.g., by holding periodic town hall meetings.

Diocesan Guidelines for Parish Pastoral Councils in the Diocese of San Jose is in the link below:
https://www.dsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Diocesan-Guidelines-for-Parish-Pastoral-Councils.pdf

Parish Finance Council

Current Members

Tim Maloney - Chair

Sean Finigan

Carlos Proano

Sabrina-Mone Lamontagne

Role of Parish Finance Council

In the administration of temporal goods of the parish, Canon 532 defines the role of the pastor as the authoritative representative of the parish. “The pastor represents the parish in all juridic affairs in accord with the norm of law; he is to see to it that the goods of the parish are administered in accord with the norms of canons 1281-1288.”

Canon 537 introduces the Parish Finance Council as a mandated body having an advisory and consultative role with the pastor. “Each parish is to have a finance council which is regulated by universal law as well as by norms issued by the diocesan bishop; in this council the Christian faithful, selected according to the same norms, aid the pastor in the administration of parish goods with due regard for the prescription of canon 532.”

Every parish therefore is required to have a Parish Finance Council, both by adherence to the Code of Canon Law and by local norms issued by the diocesan bishop. To be effective the Parish Finance Council should meet regularly with specific agendas and should have access to all the relevant financial information and policies of the parish.

Links:

Diocesan Guidelines for the Parish Finance Councils: https://www.dsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/9-Parish-Finance-Council-Charter.pdf

Diocesan Financial Policy Manuel: https://www.dsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSJ-Financial-Policy-Manual-v2018.pdf

Spirituality Council

THE PURPOSE of the SPIRITUALITY COUNCIL is to envision and provide adult spiritual and faith formation beyond Sacramental preparation. The Council provides opportunities for the parish community to learn and discover life-giving spiritual habits that lead us into a deeper relationship with God and others.

ACTIVITIES OF THE COUNCIL include, but are not limited to: organizing retreats, parish missions, Sunday reflections by the laity during Advent and Lent, consulting with the Liturgical Commission as to the spiritual theme of the year, bulletin thoughts, organizing presentations/study on various Church documents (such as Laudato Si), and other events for spiritual formation.

COUNCIL MEMBERS: It is recommended that the Spirituality Formation Council be composed of 8-10 members. They are to be active members of St. Martin of Tours Parish, committed to the Eucharist and the Word of God.

SELECTION PROCESS: Council Members are selected by a process of prayer and listening, known as discernment. The selections are made by the existing members of the Council and in collaboration and guidance by the Pastor, Parochial Vicar and Director of Faith Formation.

The candidates participate in anywhere from two to four sessions as outlined below.

Invitation from the Pastor, Parochial Vicar, Director of Faith Formation or a current member of the council.
Information Session: the candidate is invited to a meeting that is designed to give them all of the information that they need to enter into their own discernment about their suitability at this time or they may meet with the Pastor, Parochial Vicar, Director of Faith Formation or a member of the council who will share this information. At the end of the session they are asked to take the next week to pray about whether they might be called to offer themselves as a candidate for the council for the coming term.
The final decision is made with the Pastor, Parochial Vicar, Director of Faith Formation, members of the council and the candidate.

COMMISSIONING: The Spirituality Council members will be commissioned within a scheduled Sunday Mass.

TERM: The term of memberships is three (3) years. It can be renewed for another term. As the Council begins, membership will be staggered so there is no year of complete turnover of members. After 2 years, 33% of the group will be replaced and that will continue each year thereafter.

COUNCIL MEETINGS are usually held once a month. The agenda and minutes of the previous meeting will be circulated by email before the scheduled meeting date.

Council meetings are approximately 1.5 hours in length. It begins with a 15-25 minutes of prayer. Members take turns in preparing the prayer.

COUNCIL CHAIRPERSON & RECORDER: Each fiscal year, in July, a chairperson will be chosen to facilitate the meetings and another council member will be chosen to serve as the recorder by the council members. The Chairperson and Recorder will be nominated by other Council Members and selected by a majority vote.

The chairperson is responsible for the formulation of the agenda. The recorder’s role is to generate the minutes of the meeting and an accurate representation of the discussion and decision made.

COUNCIL VISION AND DECISION PROCESS: The council will work to implement the Mission, Vision and Pastoral plan of the parish. The Spirituality Formation Council at St. Martin of Tours will continue to unfold in the context of the Council’s prayerful discernment and discussion. In all cases, the intention will be for the Council to reach unanimous support for a particular decision, but the Pastor may need to make decisions on behalf of the Council in cases where the Council cannot reach consensus or the Council’s efforts may not align with the Parish Mission and Vision.